艾拉庫柏 (Ira Cooper) 破獲珠寶搶劫案

十一月 10, 1924, 太太. A.W. 史蒂克尼正要離開聖. 路易斯鄉村俱樂部, 當兩名非裔美國男子接近她時. 膚色較淺的男子告訴女士. 史蒂克妮交出她的珠寶，否則他會從她手中奪走它們. 由於擔心她的安全, 太太. 史蒂克尼把她的珠寶交給了這名男子, 估價為 $17,000.00, 和 $85.00 in cash.

太太. Stickney reported the robbery to the St. 路易警察, who assigned Sgt. Ira L. Cooper and his team to the case. 軍士. Cooper oversaw a team of highly successful African-American detectives, who solved many cases over the years.

Based on the description of the robbers and the method used, 軍士. Cooper thought he knew who robbed Mrs. Stickney. 軍士. Cooper’s suspicions were confirmed, when an informant came forward with critical information. A chauffeur, working for Mrs. Stickney’s friend, told a dealer in stolen goods about Mrs. Stickney’s jewelry. The fence contacted two men, who he provided with the information to rob Mrs. Stickney. One of the men was Sgt. Cooper’s suspect.

軍士. Cooper, Detective Johnson and Detective Harris arrested Alonzo Dowell, a 29-year-old man, who was out on bond from two other robbery charges. Dowell admitted the robbery and implicated Homer Brown as his accomplice. Cooper said as soon as he heard the description, he suspected Alonzo Dowell.

軍士. Cooper and his men were able to recover Mrs. Stickney’s jewelry as well as solving the case. For their efforts, 軍士. Cooper, Detective Johnson and Detective Harris received a $3,000 reward. $1,000 came from Mr. Stickney and $2,000 was provided by the St. 路易斯鄉村俱樂部. 軍士. Cooper donated $600 to the Police Association Relief Fund and then divided up the $2,400 with his men.

In June 1925, Alonzo Dowell and Homer Brown were sentenced to 25 years in prison for the robbery. Homer Brown continued to declare his innocence both before and after the trial. He was paroled in 1935 and stayed out of trouble. 在 1941, he was granted his voting rights again, which may have indicated some official doubt about his guilt. 太太. Stickney identified Dowell but never could say Brown was the other man.

Alonzo Dowell was paroled in 1939. Unlike Homer Brown, Dowell went back to his criminal ways. After committing several burglaries, Dowell was returned to prison in 1942 to serve the remainder of his original sentence and the new sentences. Dowell died in the prison hospital on March 3, 1947 from the effects of pneumonia. Dowell was 50 歲.

軍士. Ira Cooper and his team solved many difficult crimes. This case is only one of their cases but it was one of the most newsworthy.

You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post in the comment section below, on my Facebook頁面, Twitter的個人資料 和Google+專頁.

Sources: 聖. 聖路易斯郵報, 十一月 28, 1924 版, P. 1, 十二月 2, 1924 版, P. 7, 十二月 8, 1924 版, P. 13 and July 24, 1941 版, P. 8. 聖. Louis Star-Times, 十一月 28, 1924 版, P. 2, 十一月 29, 1924, P. 3 and June 18, 1925 版, P. 1. Missouri Penitentiary Database and Missouri Death Certificate Database.

別起來