|
NAME:
|
Li, Yun Tieh
|
#:
|
102-807
|
|
RACE:
|
Asian
|
RELIGION:
|
Catholic
|
|
CITIZEN:
|
Alien
|
BORN:
|
Hong Kong
|
|
AGE:
|
24
|
PHYSICAL:
|
5' 7-3/4", 130 lbs
|
|
MARITAL:
|
N/A
|
CHILDREN:
|
N/A
|
|
RES.:
|
Chinese Seamen’s Association, Canal St., NYC
|
NEXT OF KIN:
|
None in U.S.
|
|
EDUCATION:
|
7th, China
|
EMPLOYED:
|
Yes
|
|
OCCUPATION:
|
Laundry Worker
|
|
|
|
CRIMINAL HISTORY:
|
|
|
|
|
CRIME:
|
Beat, choked, suffocated Marjorie Jasey, hotel room, robbery, 1-24-43.
|
|
|
|
ACCOMPLICE:
|
Lew York Ming (#102-808)
|
|
|
|
MOTIVE:
|
Bad company
|
|
|
|
ATTORNEYS:
|
Alexander I. Borke, 51 Chambers St., NYC
|
|
|
|
CONVICTED:
|
N/A
|
COUNTY:
|
NY
|
|
COURT:
|
General Sessions
|
JUDGE:
|
Jonah J. Goldstein
|
|
SENTENCED:
|
12-21-43
|
JAIL TIME:
|
195 days
|
|
RECEIVED DEATH HOUSE:
|
12-21-43
|
|
|
|
FILED APPEAL:
|
1-17-44
|
|
|
|
COURT OF APPEALS ACTION:
|
Denied appeal, fixed week beginning 8-28-44 as date for carrying out original
sentence of death
|
|
|
|
FEDERAL COURT ACTION:
|
None
|
|
|
|
GOVERNOR:
|
Dewey
|
RESPITE/STAY:
|
|
|
CLEMENCY:
|
No
|
|
|
|
DISCHARGED:
|
Executed 8-31-44
|
|
|
Convicted
at the height of World War Two, on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, this non-English-speaking
Asian man was convicted of murdering a white woman.
After his conviction,
on December 14, 1943, the head of the Probation Department wrote to the
sentencing judge:
Dear Judge Goldstein:This
defendant professes to be unable to speak or understand English, and as
a consequence cannot be interviewed without an interpreter. We are making
arrangements to secure such service and to interview the defendant and present
our report as soon as possible.Respectfully
submitted,IRVING
W. HALPERN
Chief Probation Officer
Court of General Sessions
On 8-27-44, Miss
Helen Perrone of 79 Mott Street, Manhattan, a young girl who knew him and
his convicted associate, wrote to the Warden of Sing Sing as follows in an
effort to assist them:
Monday, August 27, 1944
My Dear Warden,
I have never written a letter of such a serious nature before,
nor to such an important person as yourself, therefore if I make an error
of some kind, kindly excuse me.Mr.
Snyder, this letter is to ask a favor of you, and I'm writing directly to
you, because I believe you are the only one who can grant the a request of
this nature. I am only a young girl of 18, and I'm not well acquainted with
the technicalities of our laws, therefore if the request I ask is impossible,
please pardon me for asking it. Just bear in mind that I had only good intentions
in asking you, and my only thought was to bring a last note of good will to
2 condemned men. I know you are a busy man, Mr. Snyder, so I will get to the
point.You see, Sir,
I read in Sunday's paper, about the two condemned men, Yun Lieh Li and Lew
York Ming, who are about to be executed shortly, for the strangling of a woman.
This article caught my attention, because I've known the two defendants for
a long period of time. You probably think this unusual, that I, a white girl,
would know these two young Chinese boys, for such a long time. Let me explain
to you, that I was born, raised and am now living in a section of N.Y. known
as Chinatown. That's how I've come to know the two men. They might not remember
me or my name, as I have not seen them for quite some time. I
had heard of the trouble they were in some time ago, but could hardly believe
it. They were always such fine upstanding boys, a trifle reckless, but not
really dangerous. But Sunday, when I realized they were to be executed for
murder, it seemed frankly, impossible. I know not the circumstances
of the crime, but whatever they may be, I'm sure they must have fallen into
some terrible temptation, and committed the crime by some accident.Warden,
they are not killers!! No matter what the verdict was, or how they
were judged. I believe in my heart, that they could willfully commit
a murder any more than you could. Now I have to stand helplessly by,
and watch two young lives being snuffed out, because of a cruel trick of fate!
I grew up in the same neighborhood as these boys and came to know them as
well as my friends and relatives. I could never have foreseen what life had
in store for them, because if I had, I would have offered any assistance in
my power.Now that
they are about to die, the only way I can assist them, is by praying to God
to have mercy on their souls, and to be with them in their last hour.I
have written the both of them notes, which I have enclosed in this letter.
The request I ask of you, is that my notes be delivered to them, before they
are executed. I have left them unsealed for your careful examination. You
can read them and see that they are perfectly harmless notes, and they may
bring comfort in their last hour, to these poor condemned men. I beseech you,
sir, to kindly have these notes delivered, for although this effort is of
no help to me, I'm sure it will be beneficial to those boys, who are to meet
such a terrible fate. I ask your kindest indulgence, in granting me this request.
If it cannot be done, then I thank you just the same. I would be grateful
if you answered this letter, and let me know whether my plea was successful
or not. Thank you a million times.Respectfully
yours,
Helen Perrone
Warden Snyder denied her request to be able to correspond with LI and MING.
NOTE:
Although he was exonerated in a last-minute confession by his alleged accomplice,
Ming, both men were executed.
SOURCE: Sing Sing
Death House, Case files B0145-80, Case file 8(3)/Legal Action Log, NYS Archives
|
