Archive

1942

“Guilty…”

June 18, 2026
1942


New York Times, June 18, 1942, p.23

GUILTY IN BABY’S DEATH; Nurse Who Gave Fatal Dose to Be Sentenced on July 2

Irma Twiss, 32-year-old nurse, of 355 West Fifty-first Street, pleaded guilty yesterday in Bronx County Court to manslaughter in the first degree in the death of a twenty-hour-old baby on Feb. 8 entrusted to her care in the Bronx Maternity and Woman’s Hospital, 165th Street and the Grand Concourse, the Bronx.

Judge Lester W. Patterson will sentence Miss Twiss on July 2. She can receive from a suspended sentence up to twenty years in jail. The nurse was indicted by the grand jury for first degree murder, but was allowed to change her plea of not guilty to that charge and plead to the lesser charge.

Miss Twiss was the nurse on duty in charge of the infants on Feb. 8 when the babies’ cries unnerved her, she told police. She gave several drops of tincture of laudanum to the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Castro Valle of 1269 Grand Concourse. The baby died. She also gave a few drops to the four-day-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Fantagone of 249 East 144th Street, the Bronx, but the infant recovered.

New York Times, June 18, 1942, p.23

“…fifteen to thirty years…”

June 3, 2026
1942


New York Times, June 3, 1942, p.14

Gunman’s Aide Gets 15 Years

General Sessions Judge Owen W. Bohan sentenced yesterday Paul Vaccaro, 26 years old, to a State prison term of fifteen to thirty years on his recent conviction of being a confederate of a gunman who was shot and killed by a patrolman in plain clothes on Feb. 2, when four men started to hold up a billiard room at 344 Broome Street. Vaccaro previously had served a term in Elmira Reformatory and another imposed in Malden, Mass., for hold-ups.
New York Times, June 3, 1942, p.14

“…covered with newspapers …”

April 17, 2026
1942

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NY Daily News, April 17, 1942 (All NEWS fotos by Engels and Amy)

1. Stanely Sandler, 23, and Francis Whelan, 32, both of Astoria, lie on pavement of Third Ave., near 42d St., after car driven by Whelan crashed into El pillar. Sandler is dead.
2. After recovering from first shock of accident, Whelan went berserk, battled with police. Bystander fans him with newspaper as police hold the struggling driver
3. Clothes torn and his face covered with blood, Whelan gains his feet, continues his struggles with cops, who hold him firmly.
4. His face covered with newspapers, the dead Sandler receives last rites from Father Thomas McNulty. Sandler was riding in rear seat. Another passenger, Joseph Mahoney, was injured.
5. Whelan lies on floor of ambulance, still held by police. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for observation.
6. After caroming off two El pillars the car came to a stop and burst into flames. Driver of car escaped death miraculously in accident, which occurred at 5 o’clock yesterday morning.
7. The fire’s been put out and here’s all that remains of the car. It hit pillars between 41st and 42d Sts. while making U-turn.
8. Carmine DeNote and Pvt. Arthur Hayden examine axle and wheel which landed 40 feet from where car hit. Technical charge of homicide was lodged against Whelan.
New York Daily News, April 17, 1942

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New York Herald Tribune, April 17, 1942 (Herald Tribune – Acme)

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PM, April 17, 1942, p.7 (No photo credit)

1. Few minutes before photo, this car was going north on Third Ave., near 42d St. It smashed into L pillar, burned to this wreck.
2. Wheel of car rammed curb 40 feet from car body. Stanley Stanley, Astoria, died in wreck. Car was driven by Frank Whalen, Astoria.
3. Whalen, injured, battled with cops after recovering from shock of crash. He was handcuffed, forced into ambulance by officers.
4. Under double-bill movie marquee, body of Stanley was covered with newspapers and coats by policeman. Technical charge of homicide was lodged against Whalen, who was taken to Bellevue Hospital for observation. Another passenger, Joseph Mahoney, also was hurt.
PM, April 17, 1942, p.7

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Weegee, Naked City, 1945, p.89

This man covered up with newspapers was killed in an auto accident. The driver of the car was arrested, but he put up such a terrific battle… cops had to put handcuffs on him.
Weegee, Naked City, 1945, p.89

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Weegee, Weegee’s Secrets, 1953, p.32


Weegee’s World, p.61 (Joy of Living, 1942)

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Not the Naked City, p.89, 2015

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April 16, 2015

“…got more attention…”

November 16, 2024
1942, LIFE, Weegee Life


Life, November 16, 1942, pp. 34-35


Life, November 16, 1942, p. 34

Thomas E. Dewey of New York got more attention than any other Republican last week, and he deserved it. The voters of the most populous state in the U.S. elected him their first Republican Governor in 20 years. Dewey’s vote was larger than that of his Democratic and American Labor Party opponents combined. He pledged all-out support of the war effort in his State.
Life, November 16, 1942, p. 34

“…he calls himself the Spider…”

July 5, 2024
1942, Coney Island, PM


PM, July 5, 1942, p.7, PM Photo by Weegee

Coney Island At Noon Saturday: The crowd came later, according to Weegee, who wanted a photo that showed some beach and not too many people. The masked man said he was a laundry man, but would only be photographed incognito. The mask is a gag of his; he calls himself the Spider, and likes to frighten people. Weegee didn’t get the names and addresses of the others in the photo, either.
PM, July 5, 1942, p.7