A Shortage of Witnesses

An hour before sunrise one day last week, Sheriff Jenkins Hill of Clarke County, Ala., drove up to a Thomasville undertaking parlor, swung open the back door of his new Chrysler, and told an attendant to get a "friend" out of the car. The attendant found the body of Moses Jones, a Negro, sprawled on the floor like "you would throw a dead hog." Stocky Sheriff Hill explained he had been forced to kill Jones, a prisoner who had "grabbed me and attempted to get my gun." There were no witnesses to confirm or refute the familiar story; there rarely are.

But there were some interesting circumstances about the death of Moses Jones. In 1952 Sheriff Hill, named as the head of a bootlegging ring, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of "conspiracy to violate the Internal Revenue laws as they pertain to liquor." One of the most important witnesses against Hill was the same Moses Jones, who testified that the sheriff had tried to cut in on his small time, independent bootlegging operation. When the trial ended with a hung jury --ten for conviction and two against--Moses Jones wasted no time in removing himself from Clarke County. He moved to Bessemer, Ala., and got a job as a construction worker. Meanwhile, the U.S. attorney prepared to try Hill again.

Indicted with Sheriff Hill were Sam Deas and Pat Rone. When word, got around that one G. C. ("Doc") Allen was going to become a Government witness, Defendant Deas shot and killed Allen, admitted it in court, pleaded self-defense, and was acquitted--largely on the say-so of Sheriff Jenkins Hill, who just happened to be the only witness to Allen's killing. That made one less person to testify against Hill, whose new trial was scheduled for early this year. But Moses Jones was still alive.

One night last week, Moses Jones was arrested in Bessemer on a fugitive warrant sworn out in Sheriff Hill's Clarke County. The warrant charged that Jones owed $154.25 to Clarke County for fines for reckless driving and bootlegging. Sheriff Hill, Bessemer police said, was to drive over to nearby Birmingham and pick Jones up. Jones's wife, knowing her husband's fear of Hill, collected enough money to pay the fines, but was unable to get Jones freed, despite frantic efforts. Sheriff Hill arrived at 2:30 a.m. and drove away with the handcuffed Jones. Mrs. Jones watched, afraid even to call out goodbye to her husband. She never saw Moses again. The undertaking attendant got his orders a few hours later, and the Government was fast running out of witnesses against Sheriff Jenkins Hill.

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