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13. The Aftermath
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178 · murder of a journalist· 178 · 13 The Aftermath O ne last detail remained to be resolved before Canton could put the two-year saga of the murder of Don Mellett to rest: distribution of the reward money. of the nearly $28,000 pledged, $24,113 was actually collected and held by the common pleas court. Wisely, the overseers chose to withhold the final distribution until all the trials and appeals were completed. By March 1928, all the appeals were over, and the time had come. ultimately, thirty people filed with the court for a portion of the reward worth about $250,000 in 2009.1 Finally on March 26, 1928, the lucky recipients were announced. Twenty-four people were deemed to be entitled to some of the money for their assistance in bringing the conspirators to justice. Former prosecutor Charles McClintock had lobbied hard for steve Kascholk and the Bitzlers as the most deserving, and the court agreed. steve Kascholk received the largest share, $10,000.2 The Bitzlers, who had a history of frequently moving and changing their name to avoid creditors , received a combined $6,000. Next on the list, despite previously denying interest in any reward, was the McDermott clan. Tom, Bernard , and Pat’s two sisters received a total of $2,500.3 The two reluctant female witnesses, Peggy Cavanaugh and Thelma Harris, each the aftermath · 179 received $500. Homer Connelly was awarded $250 for testifying about driving Pat to Massillon. The hot-tempered German salesman, William Brumme, received $500, but it was held in escrow pending the settlement of an old debt. For being honest about the events at the streitenbergers’ murder-night party, Clare Welshimer received $500, C. o. Groner, $250, and the elder Gussetts, a combined $200. Brave young Carl Gussett so impressed prosecutors that he was awarded $300. W. A. McDonald, whose clothes Pat and steve appropriated, was given $100, the half-pint of whiskey notwithstanding. Norman Clark, Mazer’s former attorney and police prosecutor once held for liquor law violations, also got $100 for his trouble. Authorities may have had more help in apprehending Pat in Pennsylvania than they admitted, since two Nanty Glo residents, Dr. H. A. Collins and C. r. Dinninger, each received $100 for their aid in capturing McDermott. Lastly, and somewhat surprisingly, three paid investigators received rewards over and above their salaries. The court said this was for the extraordinary time they put into the investigation. ora slater, who said he drove more than 1,000 miles in chasing down leads, was given $1,000. Although he didn’t admit it, he had lobbied hard for it. in a letter dated July 16, 1927, slater suggested to the common pleas court that he was as entitled as Bitzler and Kascholk because “without my apprehension of Pat McDermott i am satisfied that the murder of Don r. Mellett would now remain an unsolved mystery as other murders are in starke [sic] County.” And in a handwritten note dated March 16, 1928, he claimed to have “cleaned up the case.” His assistant C. B. Armstrong received $250, as did the current chief of Canton police, earl Hexamer.4 ora slater emerged from the Don Mellett murder case as the detective of last resort for unsolvable crimes in ohio, indiana, and Kentucky . He eventually rose to direct the Cal Crim Detective Agency in Cincinnati. on october 3, 1941, slater chanced on a robbery in downtown Cincinnati while on his way to lunch. He grabbed the thief as the man ran down the street, and in the ensuing struggle slater was shot point blank in the face. He held the man until police arrived, at which time the seriousness of the wound was discovered. slater recovered, however, saved by his upper denture, which had stopped [3.88.114.76] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 09:20 GMT) 180 · murder of a journalist the bullet and limited its destructiveness. slater died quietly at his home on February 1, 1945, after a two-year illness. He was buried in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, indiana, in a ceremony for which the Cincinnati chief of police chose the pallbearers and the indiana state police served as escorts. There’s no question that ora slater was a premier private detective in the heyday of gumshoes.5 Although prosecutors Henry Harter and Charles McClintock did not receive monetary rewards, they were able to parlay their successful prosecutions into something far more impressive. McClintock was elected to...