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Twenty-four
By JOHN DRESCHER
First of two parts.
As the story goes, 24 years ago on a
cold November night he drove into
North Carolina and brutually shot his
way into a spot in state history. He was
the subject of one of the largest man
hunts jn FBI history. Captured in Cali
fornia, he was tried in North-Carolina
where teenage girls screamed and
squealed at his intense good looks. The
rest of the public despised him as a
crazed, savagely ' cold-blooded killer
and called for his execution. He was
convicted of murdering two state high
way patrolmen and sentenced to life in
prison.
He is Frank Wetzel, and for any na
tive North Carolinian old enough to
, remember life in 1957, he is a living
legend. For nearly 25 years he has been
in and out of the news, an incredible
timespan especially considering that
he's been in prisons for most of those
years that matches even the most
famous of celebrities. A month ago
Wetzel was allegedly caught while
devising an escape plan from a prison
in Caldeonia and was mysteriously
found guilty by a prison committee that
released only the verdict and no details
about the case. It was the latest chapter
in the often bizarre story of North Caro
lina's most famous convicted murderer..
GO
It all started on the night of Nov. 5,
1957. Highway Patrolman Wister Lee
Reece stopped a speeding 1957 Olds
mobile in Ellerbe and pulled the car to
the side of the road. The patrolman was
shot and killed. One hour and 50 miles
away in Sanford, Patrolman J.J. Brown
also stopped the speeding car and was
also fatally shot
A day after the slayings, a black 1957
Oldsmobile coupe stolen from Brad
ford, Pa., was found abandoned in Chat
tanooga, Tenn. A .44 magnum revolver
was found in the car. Fingerprints in the
car and on numerous other objects in
the iar were matched with those of
Frank Wetzel, a 36-year-old escapee
from a Willard, N.Y., mental hospital.
The search was on.
o o o
And what a search it was. FBI of
ficials called it one of the largest man
hunts in history and even compared it
to the sensational search for one-time
criminal king John Dillinger. The FBI
placed all its resources into cooperation
to find Wetzel for two reasons, the
bureau said. One was because of the
vicious nature of the slayings. The sec
ond reason was because the killer could
be expected to kill without warning in
the future.
The FBI distributed "wanted flyers"
a description of Wetzel, his photo,
fingerprint classification and an ex
years .later, "the
planation of what to do if he was spot
ted all over the United States. "From
my knowledge, this was the first attempt
at such blanket coverage," Charlotte
FBI chief MP, Chiles said in December
of 1957.
, Wetzel became Public Enemy No. 1
in North Carolina when he was listed at
the top of the State Bureau of Investiga
tion's Most Wanted list, replacing a
black man named Eddie Dlbbs, who was
charged with killing his wife and two
children. There could be little doubt
that authorities wanted Wetzel ever-so-much
that in the southern state of
North Carolina in 1957, they listed the
white Wetzel ahead of a black child-
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killer as the most wanted man in the
state ' ' ' ". ' . : '
Less than three weeks later, the man
hunt came to an end in Bakersvil'e,
Calif. There, two patrolmen arrested
Wetzel when they caught him loitering
in an alley next to a sporting goods
store that sold guns. He gave his name
as Paul Cameron and the next day was
sentenced to 30 days in the county jail
as a vagrant. Soon after, police found a
car with Missouri Jicense plates parked
'near the sporting goods store. Wetzel's
fingerprints in the car were identified by
the FBI as the man w-ntcd in North
Carolina for two counts of murder:
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legend of Frank
In California, Wetzel refused to talk
to police about the slayings in North
Carolina. "I will say this though." he
said. "I got the urge to kill when I was
cooped up in prison in New York." With
that he was extradited to Rockingham,
N.C., to face trial for the killing of
Patrolman Wister Lee Reece.
o -, .
First Wetzel had to face a preliminary
hearing on Dec. 9. It was then that the
state's case against Wetzel began to
take shape. On that day, a black man
who claimed to have been picked up by
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Wetzel . while hitchhiking identified
Wetzel in a line-up and said he saw
VVetzel kill Reece. The hitchhiker,
Robert Terry Jr., confronted Wetzel and
"positively identified" Wetzel as the
slayer. Superior Court Judge W.A. Le
land McKeithan found probab!acause
and ordered Wetzeffo be held without
bond pending trial.
Terry said that when the highway
patrolman pulled the car, Wetzel step
ped, reached into the glove compart
ment and grabbed the gun that ended
Recce's Kfe. Terry said he jumped into a
ditch as ha heard the pistol hre.
Wetzel Urns
Wetzel, who did not have a lawyer at
the hearing, cross-examined Terry him
self. Wetzel recalled that after the kill
ing, Terry told police the motorist was
about 24 or 25 years old and apparent
ly" cf Latin descent" Wetzel was 36
years old and white.
"What nationality would you say I
am now?" Wetzel aiked.
"White," Terry replied.
When Wetzel asked why he describ
ed the driver as apparently of Latin des
cent, Terry said, "I tried to explain your
complexion as it appeared to me." Even
with the discrepancy of Terry's state
ments, there was little doubt that Wet
zel would be convicted in the coming
trial. The question was: death in the gas
chamber or life in prison?
o o o
The state wanted the death penalty.
Pointing at Wetzel during the trial, pros
ecutor M.G. Boyette said, "That man
has less respect for law and order than
any man who ever drew a breath of life."
Wetzel had little chance of acquittal.
The state had witness Terry, plus vari
ous pieces of evidence in cars with Wet
zel's fingerprints positively identified.
In fact the defense did not prepare a
case, choosing to plea for mercy. It of
fered no witnesses and no evidence.
Wetzel remained composed and
straightfaced throughout the trial and
never took the stand.
Even so, the courthouse in Rocking
ham was jammed every day. Wetzel,
dark and violently good-looking, always
neatly groomed and dressed in the
latest style, had a mysterious charisma
that attracted women who gazed in
tensely and men who hated with equal
intensity.
On Jan. 10 a jury of 10 men and two
women found Wetzel guilty of first
degree murder and recommended life
imprisonment Teen-age girls, who had
been rushing to the trial when school let
out squealed and clapped their hands
when it was announced Wetzel would
not die. In a statement to the court Wet
zel said, "Everyone in the state has
been real nice to me."
o o o
In March Wetzel was given another
life sentence for the killing of the other
highway patrolman. He was sent to
maximum-security Central Prison in
Raleigh, where many assumed he would
spend the rest of his life. Years later,
when he was attempting to be moved
into a medium-security prison in order
to be paroled, a Raleigh newspaper
came out against the move. Said the
1973 headline "The public can never
forget" Perhaps no, other statement is
more indicative that after nearly 25
years, the legend lives.
'Next wecJc "The mcA dipterous pri
soner in North Carolina."
chn Dtacher, a senior journalism and
t.hiory rSjor from foegft, is associate
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