STATE OF WASHINGTON, AFFIDAVIT OF LOUIS KAELIN County of King, ss: Louis Kaelin, being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: That I reside in the city of Tacoma. Pierce County. Wash., and am 22 years of age. That on the night of July 26, 1927, I accompanied William Harvey Thompson, Goldie Napple, and Ethel Juanita Snow, in an automobile driven by said Thompson, on a trip which as I understood was for the purpose of procuring evidence that intoxicating liquor was being sold, and that we went to and visited several places in the vicinity of the city of Tacoma, and procured intoxicating liquor at such places I know that said Thompson at each of such places made a memorandum in a book kept by him, of the time, place, and quantity and kind of intoxicating liquor obtained at such places, and I know that said Thompson on one instance. at least disposed of such liquor procured by him, without drinking the same, but assuming to do so. That we returned to Tacoma after procuring evidence of such unlawful possession and sale of liquor, and that in said city on our return thereto said Ethel Juanita Snow and I left said automobile. That I know at the time we were accompanying said William Harvey Thompson as hereinabove stated said Thompson not intoxicated, but in full possession of his faculties. and drove said automobile, which was at all times in good order and condition, n a skillful, prudent, and careful manner. That said Goldie Napple, Ethe Juanita Snow, and myself were not intoxicated at any time above-mentioned That it was understood by all of our said party that said Thompson was at the time employed by the prohibition enforcement officers of the city of Seattle, and in the line of duty for said officers, and that the sole purpose of said trip was the procuring of evidence of the sale of intoxicating liquor. That said Thompson shortly before said Ethel Juanita Snow and myself left said automobile stated that he hoped before returning to Seattle to procure evidence of the sale of intoxicating liquor at two other places. That on said trip we left the city of Seattle in said automobile at about 11:30 o'clock p. m. That we left said automobile at about 9 or 9:30 o'clock a. m. and that I first learned said Thompson had been shot and severely injured about 00 hours thereafter. LOUIS KAELIN. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 21st day of August 1928. (SEAL] ARTHUR E. GRIFFIN, Notary public in and for the State of Washington, residing at Seattle. STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of King, ss: William J. Griffith, first being sworn on oath, makes this voluntary statement: That during several years prior to the year 1927 he was employed as Federal prohibition agent with headquarters at Seattle, Wash., and as such agent he was acquainted with Wm. Harvey Thompson, said Harvey Thompson being employed in the same capacity. This affiant was in a position to observe the official duties performed by William Harvey Thompson and can say truthfully that Mr. Thompson was a thoroughly reliable and capable officer, consciencious in the performance of his duties, a tireless worker and his honesty was above approach. In the days of prohibition enforcement it was the sworn duty of each and every officer to diligently act on his initiative in making cases, either on information received, or by orders received from his superior officers, and in the matter of initiative Mr. Thompson worked all hours of day and night. On the morning of July 27, 1927, William Harvey Thompson was fatally shot by a police officer in the city of Tacoma, Wash., it being the belief of this affiant that said William Harvey Thompson was on duty at the time of his death, basing this belief that knowing William Harvey Thompson and his ambition and zeal in enforcing the prohibition laws that he was on duty. William Harvey Thompson was the sole support of his widowed mother and when he died she was left destitute and to this date she is in great financial distress. The affiant has not seen or heard from Mrs. Sarah Thompson, the mother of said William Harvey Thompson, for the past several years until very recently and she contacting said affiant informed him that she was endeavoring to obtain compensation from the United States Government for the loss of her only son and sole support. It is the belief of this affiant that William Harvey Thompson died in line of duty and the further belief that the mother, Sarah Thompson, be given consideration in case she files claim for compensation. WILLIAM J. GRIFFITH. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 8th day of August 1941. [SEAL] Notary public in and for the State of Washington, residing at Seattle, Wash ARTHUR E. GRIFFIN, AFFIDAVIT OF JAMES A. JOHNSON STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of King, ss: James A. Johnson, being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: I have been a prohibition agent at Seattle, Wash., since the 22d day of September 1922 working under Administrator Roy C. Lyle. I knew William Harvey Thompson from the month of October 1924 up and to within 1 week of the time of his death. I used said William Harvey Thompson as an informant from the time he came in contact with the office, up until the time he was commissioned as an agent, and that during that period he made innumerable purchases of evidence in blind pigs, and on some occasions the department ordered me to have him check up, as he was obtaining so much evidence in so many different places that they could not keep up with us in raiding them and making arrests. During most of this time we worked on information obtained by himself. As for instance, in 1 hour during 1924, while I remained in his car, he made purchases in eight different joints in the vicinity of Jackson Street, in Seattle. As another instance, we came into Tacoma one evening and said Thompson suggested we go out and see if we could not find some places: that he took the lead, and in 30 minutes he located and we bought drinks and a bottle in each of four different places. The records will show that in 1 year said Thompson seized approximately 96 cars, seizing the evidence and making arrests, practically all on his own initiative. He was the most active and energetic agent that I have ever come in contact with. To the best of my knowledge most of the evidence he secured was upon his own initiative. I accompanied him on some prowling trips after he became an agent, and we seized a number of cars and made a number of arrests, all upon his own initiative. Reference to the records in Washington. D. C., will show the very high degree of his efficiency. The chief function of a prohibition agent is to make investigation of violations of the N. P. A. and to purchase and consume drinks, and to buy bottles, which are for evidence. There are no restrictions, so far as I know, placed upon any agent in regard to the investigation and obtaining of evidence of violations. I have never seen said Thompson so under the influence of liquor that he was not perfectly rational. Said Thompson was an indefatigable worker, in many instances working all night, and innumerable Sundays and holidays. He made many seizures of automobiles laden with whisky on Sundays, late at night. and on holidays, as the records at Washington will show. That about a week or 2 weeks before said Thompson was fatally shot in Tacoma he stated to me that he was planning to make a large number of road houses. On one occasion said Thompson came to my house at 2 o'clock in the morning and woke me up to witness a seizure that he had made, of a Ford coupe which had in the rear a 30-gallon barrel filled with moonshine whisky. At this time a woman, Goldie Napple, was with him. I had heard that said Thompson had frequently taken said woman with him in making his investigations and securing evidence. I know of two occasions when said Thompson had been shot at. Once he was shot in the cheek by a supposed dope fiend, and at another time he was shot in the arm. The newspaper clipping hereto attached, and made a part hereof, is an account published in one of the local papers at or about the time he was so shot in the arm. On the evening preceding the morning on which he was shot said Thompson, in company with G. D. Murray, seized a car containing 15 or 16 cases of whisky. It was my duty the next day to make out the complaint and take the prisoners before the commissioner. Said Thompson was the best worker, the most efficient worker, I ever saw, and one of the most agreeable men to work with I ever came in contact with. I never knew him to tell a falsehood during all the time I was in contact with him. I paid him considerable sums of money to reimburse him for the purchase of drinks, and there was never any question in my mind as to the correctness of his statement of expense. It is and was customary at the Seattle office for an officer to secure the use of a for-hire car when necessary to conceal his identity, if it would be probable that he would be exposed if he used the Government car assigned for his use. That said Thompson frequently hired cars in emergencies where his identity might be traced by the use of the regular Government car. From my observation of the work done by Mr. Thompson, it is my opinion that 95 percent of the cases he made in which he secured evidence were upon his own initiative, and that not to exceed 5 percent of the cases made by him were on information or instructions given him by his superior officers. JAMES A. JOHNSON. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of February 1929. CONSTANCE H. ALLEN, Notary public in and for the State of Washington, residing at Seattle. SEAL AFFIDAVIT OF STELLA FRYMAN STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of King, ss: Stella M. Fryman, being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: That I, in company with Mrs. Sarah E. Thompson, was in the Pierce County Hospital in Tacoma on the 29th day of July 1927. That on said day I called at said hospital to see William Harvey Thompson, whom I had known since he was 11 years old, between the hours of 2 and 4 p. m. of said day; but was permitted to remain in his presence but a few moments on account of his then serious condition That Mrs. Sarah E. Thompson and her daughter remained in the room with said William Harvey Thompson after I had left the same, and that after I had left said room I saw a number of persons whom I was later informed were prohibition-enforcement officers of Seattle, and Tacoma, enter said room, and shortly thereafter Mrs. Thompson, mother of said William Harvey Thompson, and her daughter, came out of the room in which said William Harvey Thompson was then kept, and remained with me in the hall. That said prohibition officers were in the room with said William Harvey Thompson about a half hour. That as said prolibition officers came from the room which said William Harvey Thompson was then occupying said Mrs. Sarah E. Thompson spoke to one of said officers, whom I was afterward told was W. E. Marble, and said, "Did my son make a statement to you?" That said Marble then reached in his pocket and produced a paper and handed the same to Mrs. Thompson. That Mrs. Thompson read said paper and stated to said Marble, "There is no statement here to the effect that my son was on duty at the time he was shot. Did he not make such a statement to you?" and that said Marble then said, "Yes, he did," to which Mrs. Thompson asked, "Why did you not write it down upon the statement?" to which said Marble replied, "It is not necessary because Harvey told all of us he was on duty and we all know it to be a fact." That Mrs. Thompson requested that they return and get the statement that her son was on duty at the time he was shot inserted in the paper signed by him, but that said Marble protested, saying that it was entirely unnecessary because said son had told them all he was on duty. I had seen said William Harvey Thompson at the home of his mother in Seattle Wash., shortly after the time he had been injured in an automobile accident near Mount Vernon, in Skagit County, Wash., and shortly before the time he was shot in Tacoma on the morning of July 27, 1927. That at said time there were several large cuts upon the forehead and scalp of said William Harvey Thompson, resulting from said automobile accident, which cuts had been stitched together at said time I saw said William Harvey Thompson at the home of his mother. That at said time said William Harvey Thompson, now deceased, informed me that after he had been injured in said accident a lady had taken a clean bed sheet and wrapped the same around his head, and that the same was thoroughly saturated with blood, and that he believed he had lost fully a gallon of blood as a result of said injury STELLA M. FRYMAN. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 19th day of February 1929 (SEAL) ARTHUR R. GRIFFIN, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington, residing at Seattle. STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of Pierce, 88: Nels Carlson, being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: I am a resident of Pierce County, Wash., and have resided on the Waller Road about one-quarter of a mile from the roadhouse formerly conducted by Joe Wells, and have resided at my present home for more than 10 years last past. I was well acquainted with Joe Wells during the time he occupied the roadhouse known as the White House. In the early morning of July 27, 1927, I was in the place known as the White House, and on said morning of July 27 about 2 o'clock Harvey William Thompson, in company with one man and two women, entered the place known as the White House, conducted by Joe Wells, and remained a short time, the exact duration of which I am unable to state. I know that William Harvey Thompson, also known as "Kinky" was not drunk when he came to the White House, and know that he was not drunk when he left the White House, but he had some beers while there Later, on the 27th day of July 1927, I learned that William Harvey Thompson, known as "Kinky" Thompson, had been shot by Nearborn near the school grounds in the suburbs of Tacoma. The beer to William Harvev Thompson and party was served to him that morning in the White House by George Jurgens. That Joe Wells was not present in the room while William Harvey Thompson and his party were there but there was then in that house in addition to George Jurgens a man known as "Red." I do not know the present location of either Jurgens or "Red" but have been told that Jurgens was stopping in or near Yakima, in Yakima County, Wash. There was no party being held at the White House and there was no trouble in that house when William Harvey Thompson, his male friend and two lady companions were present. I am positive of the time when Harvey William Thompson was in the White House hereinbefore referred to from the fact that I learned the same day that Harvey Thompson had been shot and seriously injured in Tacoma as stated. NELA CARKAN. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22d day of October 1936. AFFIDAVIT GEORGE D. MURRAY STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of King, ss: George D. Murray, being first duly sworn, upon his oath, deposes and says: That he is a resident and citizen of Seattle, King County, Wash.; that he was a United States prohibition agent of the Department of Internal Revenue, from May 1924 until August 1929, and was such on July 26, 1927; that he had on numerous occasions worked with William Harvey Thompson as a Federal agent making liquor-law-violation investigations; that in the evening of July 26, 1927, with Federal prohibition agent William Harvey Thompson, I had made a seizure of a quantity of purportedly Scotch whiskies from one James Michener in Seattle, Wash That this said liquor was taken by William Harvey Thompson and myself to the Federal prohibition office in Seattle, and deposited there. Shortly before this seizure, William M. Whitney, legal adviser, told said William Harvey Thompson and me to work on Ben Newman and his stills, in King and Pierce Counties. Agent Thompson and this affiant then drove to Terry Avenue and Pine Streets in Seattle, and agent Thompson at this time informed this affiant that he was going to Tacoma, Wash., to make some undercover investigations of liquor-law violations on instructions of William M. Whitney, legal adviser. GEORGE D. MURRAY Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of August 1941. (SEAL) ARTHUR E. GRIFFIN, Notary Public in and for the State of Washington, Residing at Seattle. Copy of affidavi heretofore filed with Federa Employees Compensation Commission STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of Pierce, ss: Andrew Marmo, being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: That affiant now resides at R. F. D. No. 2, Box 126-A, Tacoma, Wash., and on the 27th day of July 1927 resided at R. F. D. No. 2, Box 126-A, Tacoma, Wash. That after midnight, to wit, At about 1 a. m. o'clock in the morning of the 27th of July 1927, William Harvey Thompson came to affiant's farm near Puyallup, Wash., and inquired of affiant if affiant could direct him to the place of Ben Newman: that affiant informed said Thompson he was unable to direct him. ANDREW MARMO. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 13th day of March 1929. AFFIDAVIT OF BURTON A. BROWN, M. D. STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of Pierce, ss: Burton A. Brown, M. D., being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: That I am and was in July and August 1927, the physician in charge of the Pierce County Hospital at Tacoma, Wash., and was in charge of the said hospital at the time William Harvey Thompson was a patient therein after he had been shot in Tacoma on July 27. 1927, from the effects of which he later died. That on or about the day of August 1927, in his room at said hospital said William Harvey Thompson signed a statement in the presence of a number of prohibition officers and myself, as a dying declaration, and at said time said William Harvey Thompson stated in the presence of said officers and myself, in addition to the statement so signed by him, that he was on duty in collecting evidence for the Government at the time he was shot. BURTON A. BROWN, M. D. Subscribed and sworn to before me this 1st day of March 1929. (SEAL FRED S. DOMES, AFFIDAVIT OF MRS. CARRIE GREENOUGH STATE OF WASHINGTON, County of Pierce, ss. Mrs. Carrie Greenough, being first duly sworn, upon oath deposes and says: That I am by profession a nurse, and was in July and August 1927 employed and practicing as a nurse in the Pierce County Hospital, at Tacoma, Wash. That I rendered services as a nurse to William Harvey Thompson while he was a patient in said hospital in July and August 1927. and suffering from a gun wound received by him. That said William Harvey Thompson told his mother, Mrs. Sarah Emma Thompson, in my presence, on or about July 30 or 31, 1927, while a patient in said hospital, that he was on duty at the time he was shot. Said patient had stated at different times that he was on duty when shot. Mrs. CARRIE GREENOUGH. R. N Subscribed and sworn to before me- this day of March 1929. (SEAL) FRED S. DOMES, Notary Public and and for the State of Washington, Residing at Tacoma |