Murder of a Journalist: The True Story of the Death of Donald Ring Mellett

10. The Dutch Baker Defends Himself

154 · murder of a journalist 10 The Dutch Baker Defends Himself B y the conclusion of the next session of the stark County grand jury, June 9, former Canton police chief saranus A. Lengel was indicted for the murder of Don Mellett. in an ironic twist, that day also marked the twentieth anniversary of Lengel joining the police force; if he hadn’t been fired, if he had worked until June 23, he would have been eligible for a pension of $137.50 a month.1 instead he faced a murder charge, with his trial set to begin July 11. Jury selection for Lengel’s trial began Monday, July 11, 1927, in the same large courtroom in the county courthouse. Judge Clevenger presided again as visiting judge. However, unlike some of the previous trials, “the spirit of brevity was apparent in the proceedings,” according to the Daily News.2 Lengel’s senior defense counsel was Frank rollin Hahn of youngstown. The forty-seven-year-old Hahn was a defense attorney with years of experience, and the first of several from the Mahoning Valley who would aid Lengel’s defense. Hahn’s primary assistant was W. Bernard rogers, who represented Lengel in his first civil service hearing. seated beside the defendant and volunteering to assist in the defense was old Lengel friend W. K. Powell, a newly licensed attorney who, until a few months ago, had been chief of police in youngstown.· 154 · the dutch baker defends himself · 155 Lengel, despite all the allegations of being on the take, had almost no money in the bank. He requested public assistance to pay for his defense. This was denied when it was discovered that his house was in his wife’s name and that he had $1,500 in cash value in a life insurance policy. He had to mortgage his $7,000 home to pay his attorneys. expecting acquittal, Lengel made it known that he intended to press for reinstatement to the police force and refile his $50,000 libel suit against the Daily News as soon as the criminal trial concluded. This Dutch baker, as the sharp-tongued Jansen had derisively called him, would be more of a test for prosecutors than the previous four defendants had been.3 Lengel’s defense strategy was straightforward: attack the weakness of streitenberger’s accusations; rely on the strength of Lengel’s reputation and denial of what the state’s star witness had to say; let Lengel’s standing in the community contrast with the words of a convicted murderer and perjurer who admitted that all he knew of the ex-chief’s involvement he got secondhand from Louis Mazer.4 Jury selection proceeded with lightning speed on Monday, July 11, with forty-six potential jurors examined and some seated. For Tuesday, a new group was ordered up. The courtroom was hot, and everyone had to talk over the incessant whine of electric fans.5 Judge Clevenger, in a rare break in decorum, invited the gentlemen to remove their coats because of the oppressive heat, but only the spectators did so. By Tuesday afternoon, a jury of five men and seven women was seated to determine Lengel’s fate. As with the other trials, the jury was taken to the murder scene immediately after being sworn in and before being sequestered. The press reported that Lengel was quiet and drawn. The gravity of a murder charge was sinking in, and the confidence he’d expressed days before—“streitenberger knows i’m not guilty”—had faded.6 He frequently turned to his wife, Carrie, and daughter, Daisy, but otherwise he shrank from the stares of reporters and spectators. The experience he’d gained in the courtroom in twenty years as a police officer deserted him. After dispensing with the usual parade of prosecution witnesses testifying to establish a crime for the legal record, the state commenced by putting steve Kascholk on the stand. His now-familiar 156 · murder of a journalist Former Canton chief of police Saranus A. Lengel confers with his daughter, Daisy, and wife, Carrie, during his first murder trial in July 1927. Cleveland Public Library story received no cross-examination. select Daily News editorials and articles were read into the court record since the state contended that the January 2, 1926, editorial and the March 1, 1926, article under Mellett’s byline were inciting factors in the murder. Then...