Show It was a slight slip of the tongue but it proved a criminal's undoing clue On of the extra lable sy A-he- ad 30-m- ile By William T Brannon J y r 4 r - t m t- i - Jf v LI t i r A n(? " a raw rainy night in December 1944 Herschel J Powell finished his run as a railway mail clerk at Chattanooga Tenn and picked up his car drive of him lay a to his home in Lafayette Ga He was across the Georgia line when he saw two figures beside the road their bodies hunched against the rain Powell skidded to a stop and off ered them a ride One got in front the other in back Powell commented on the nasty weather "Yeah" said the man in the rear "It's even worse up north I hear it snowed today all the way from Knoxville to Pennsylvania"' Tn the dim dashboard light Powell noted that the man beside him was near middle age thin faced with a high forehead sparse dark hair and a dark mustache But he had only glimpsed the other man who was younger Now suddenly the man in the front seat produced a gun and pressed it into Powell's ribs "Do like I say" he ordered "or I'll blow a hole in you!" The mail clerk was so unnerved that he veered to the shoulder of the road The gun poked him "Don't wreck this car or you're dead" the gunman said As Powell recovered his composure and brought the car back to the road the older man began frisking him He found the 32 caliber revolver that had been issued to him to protect the mail while on his run The man in the back grabbed it uttering an exclamation of pleasure "Where's the lake around here?" the man' in front demanded "I don't know" Powell replied "It's here and we'll find it" He glanced toward the rocky crags of Lookout Mountain "Maybe it's on the other side" "Why bother to look for a lake?" the younger man called "Toss him from one of the bluffs" They drove in silence for a few miles Powell decided the men were fugitives that they needed his car and that they planned to kill him and dump his body so he couldn't alert the police "Stop here" the older gunman said When the car stopped Powell was shoved out into the ' (if -- :V: nt tK VmafHifrlitc TTp tVioiiaht then that his time had come But the Jights of another car flashed rr1 '( 4 V in the distance and the gunmen changed their plans Powell was ordered back into the front seat but the thin-facman slid behind the wheel himself The car lurched forward in the beginning of a wild ride They went over and beyond Lookout Mountain slipping sliding and skidding around turns Twice the car stopped and Powell was forced to get out The two men debated whether to kill him and leave his body beside the road Twice the older man raised his gun as if to shoot Both times the approach of a 11 i i mm car stoDDed jeinauy" ' ne i stuffed a gag into Powell's mouth blindfolded him with another handkerchief and pushed him back in the car He drove a few miles and stopped again Powell hunched down in the front seat pulled the blindfold up just enough to peer out He saw a house with a single light bulb burning on the front porch A woman came to the door The younger man still in the back seat reached over and iabbed the revolver in Powell's back The blindfold slipped back into place Within a few minutes the other outlaw was back and they startedriding again Both men voiced threats of death Powell had no idea where they were going His only chance to survive was to open the car door leap out and make a break He resolved in trv it at the first oDDortunitv Then unexpectedly the gag and blindfold were removed "We're coming to a town" said the older man "You sit up and and act natural If you try to get help we'll kill you and then fight it out with the police!" ed — — 4 Powell glanced around and Vi icnrrniindinfs O " — They were entering Trion and the no Tt tunc nat miHnicrht " O hotied Powell Avr hut a few places in the business sec- tion would still be open This was his chance With a barely perceptible move he rested his "right elbow against the door handle The two men apparently didn't notice The driver made a bumpy crossing nmr emna railrnnfi tracks' and Powell lurched with the car His elbow pressed against the door VJI — w V s f 1 n- r- — handle but not quite enough to force it open The car sped into the business section and Powell noticed the bus station was still open It was now or never! He pressed hard on the door handle and rolled with one movement The door flew open and the captive bounced out By the time the car skidded to a stop Powell only slightly bruised was on his feet and run nmg for the bus station ine thugs saw they couldn't overtake him and sped on At the bus station he called the police They quickly recognized Powell's description of the thin-facman as Hoyt Ledford a parole violator for whom the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had issued a wanted order His wife lived in the vicinity Powell was taken to the home of Ledford's wife and identified it as the place they had stopped The woman admitted she and Ledford had planned to leave for Florida as soon as Powell was disposed of She insisted she didn't know where her husband was Powell's car was found 15 miles from Trion Ledford was caught two weeks later after he had stolen another car He confessed i ii kidnaping rowell out stuDDorniy refused to name his accomplice Ledford was convicted of lar- "ceny assault and kidnaping and was sentenced to M years m pn- son But he still refused to name his companion Police decided he was Silas Campbell 17 Ledford's closest friend at the Georgia State Peni- tentiary A wanted order was is- sued for Campbell and he was captured three monuis later Pnwpll looked at him but couldn't identify him "Have him talk" the mail clerk suggested "Have him say Pennsylvania" This was done and Powell identification oositive made Camobell confessed and went to trial he too was sentenced to 27 years teacher A former school Powell- had noticed at the begin- ning of that wild ride that the younger man had spoken of with an extra Pennsyl-a-vani- a syllable ine same misiaKe re peated led to Powell positively identifying Campbell as one of his abductors ed 1 1 - — The car stopped and Powell was forced to get out The two men debated whether V to kill him and leave his body beside the road Iwice V i t i t s If Trie mmc$:?mu JBC I iaiou iu yun v i w wvui nine 41 trji V t oiuer man If Family Weekly July 20 1958 mo vvu nulla |