A coroner's jury yesterday determined the death of Angelos Magalas, of 1110 Langham Avenue, was superinduced by a bullet wound received during the holdup of a card game.

It was the second time a coroner's jury had been drawn in 29 years in Camden County. Witnesses said Magalas, a chef in a midtown restaurant, was shot on January 10 during a holdup at the home of Samuel Ermelois, of 725 Penn Street, and died in Cooper Hospital on January 23.

Several unusual developments pro­vided excitement during the inquest.

One witness, arrested with others as players in the card game, was asked to explain why he ran outside during the holdup and held the door so that others were unable to get out.

An attorney who sought to thwart questioning by Patrick H. Harding, assistant prosecutor, on the claim that he represented Frank Luggi, holdup suspect in the case, was silenced with the contention that he could not represent Luggi as long as the latter remained a fugitive from justice.

The case went before a coroner's jury of six men, Rev. James Pemberton, Earl Jackson, Harry Chew, Howard Friant, Lawrence Ball and Guy Clokey, with Coroner Franklin P. Jackson III presiding.

Samuel Bosco, Camden barber, one of the principal witnesses in the fatal shooting of Angelos Magalas, chef, during the holdup of a card game on January 10, is shown above at the Inquest yesterday. Bosco testified he held the kitchen door after making his escape from the scene of the robbery at 725 Penn Street. Bosco (right) is shown with N. Thomas Smaldore, an attorney, who attended as a spectator.

Tells of Holding Door

Samuel Bosco, Broadway barber, testified that he was playing cards in the Penn Street house when the holdup man came in.

"When I turned around and faced the wall like the man ordered us to," Bosco said, "I was facing the shed door. I ran out, pushed the door shut and held it. Five or six times somebody tried to get out but I held the door. I tried to get out the back way but I couldn't."

Bosco was the only one of the witnesses who said he was unable to identify Frank Luggi, a fugitive, identified by the others as the hold up man from pictures shown them.

Bosco told of a man calling him from his barbershop a few days before the holdup and attempting to borrow $5.

"Ermelios was in my shop at the time." Bosco testified, "and said "'Watch out he don't hold you up!’"

Bosco was asked by Harding if he could identify the man who tried to borrow the money as Luggi and was shown a photograph of the man sought for the crime. Bosco said he could not.

Tried to Escape

"Why did you try to get out?"

Harding asked.

"I tried to escape," Bosco said. "There were six or seven others there. There was plenty of protection," said Harding.

"The door was in front of me, so I went out," Bosco maintained.

"Why did you hold the door?"

Harding asked.

"I didn't know who was trying to come out," Bosco declared.

"Did the holdup man ask for you when he came to the house?" asked Harding. Bosco said he didn't know. Asked if his car was parked in front of the house and if Luggi knew his car, Bosco said:

"I don't know."

At this point, Elmer Bertman, an attorney, demanded that all testimony concerning Luggi be stricken from the record.

"I represent Luggi," Bertman said. "This is an investigation into the cause of a man's death, not a fishing expedition of the prosecutor's office. 

Can't Produce Suspect

"You have no right to appear here," Harding said. "You cannot represent a fugitive from justice. No attorney has that right."

Bertman maintained that the guilt or innocence of no party could be injected into the hearing. Coroner Jackson asked Bertman to sit down.

"If I have no right here." Bert man said, "neither has the prosecutor's office."

Harding said he represented the state and demanded that Bertman produce Luggi if he represented him.

"I can't" said, Bertman. "I don't know where he is," Bertman said he was serving notice on the coroner and the prosecutor's office, however, that he, represented the fugitive.

Dr. David S. Rhone, county physician, said he did, not wish to give a statement when he felt that the gunshot wound, a broken arm, the serum and the brain lesion contributed to Magalas' death.

Harding instructed the jury as to its duty to inquire into the evidence presented in order to obtain all in formation available as to what caused the death of Magalas. There was some question as to whether Magalas died of natural causes or by violence, he said.

A Difficult Patient

Dr. Edward R. Ristine, of Cooper Hospital, said he examined Magalas January 11 and that he was a difficult patient. Magalas, the physician said, sought to strike doctors and nurses and scratch them whenever his condition needed attention. "He was far from normal, Dr. Ristine said.

"Serum was administered," the doctor went on. "Afterward, the condition and mental reactions of Magalas remained abnormal. We took him from Red to change his environment but when we put him in a chair on the sun porch, we had to tie him in the chair with a sheet. Then, in some manner, he slid down, breaking the arm which had been wounded.

"Death was due to a psychosis, a condition which may have been initiated by the wound, and then aggravated by the serum, the reaction to the breaking of the arm and shock."     

Under questioning, Dr. Ristine said emphatically that, the gunshot wound was not the cause of death. The autopsy, he said, showed the man's brain was swollen, and not normal. This condition, he said, he could not explain. 

Brain Being Examined

Dr. Rhone, county physician, said the autopsy showed the membrane adhering to the brain. He said that while he felt the pressure was not the immediate cause of death, he had ordered the brain sent away for thorough examination.

Richard Powers, a policeman, told of making the arrests of the card players. Detective Thomas Murphy told of finding the weapon used by the holdup man on a chair. Powers was first to mention Luggi, saying that photos of the man had been identified by witnesses.

Ermelios gave a graphic description of what occurred, "We were playing cards in the kitchen," he said, "There was a knock on the door and my wife, who went to answer it, did not appear at once. I went to see who was there. I got as far as the dining room when 1 saw a man with a gun behind a curtain.

"'This is a stickup!' he said. " 'Get into the kitchen. My mother is sick and I need money. No one will get hurt if they are nice. Throw all your money on the table.' "

One of the other players, William Caras, Ermelios said, threw his money on the floor. When the bandit attempted to pick up the money the players jumped on him, taking the weapon away from him. In the scuffle that followed the gun changed hands again and when Magalas fell to the floor the others turned to aid him and the holdup man fled.

Woman Testifies

Mrs. Mabel Ermelios, in whose home the holdup and shooting took place, told the jurors she answered the door when the two men appeared .

"I was lying down on the bed in the front room," she said, "and when the bell rang I told my husband I would answer it. I looked out of the window first but I couldn't see anyone. As I opened the door one of the men put his foot in the opening.

"He asked me 'Is Bosco here?' and when I told him I didn't know he told me not to stall. Then he came into the house and told me he was holding the place up. The second came followed him in. He must have been hiding in the shadows of the porch. I didn't see him when 1 opened the door,

"The first man had the gun. He told the other one to grab me and I noticed he had something which looked like metal on his knuckles. He pulled my arms in back of me and held me. In a few minutes I heard a shot. The man who was holding me let go of me and ran out.

Saw One Jump Into Car

"I followed him and saw him jump into a tan car across the street.' I went to a neighbor's home and called the police. When I returned they were carrying Magalas out."

"Was Bosco the first one to arrive at your house that night?" Harding asked.

"I don't recall. I know his car was parked outside."

Mike Dandrea, another of the hold up victims, testified that he tried to follow Bosco out the shed door but he pulled it closed so fast he was unable to get out of the kitchen.

"I tried several times to push the door open and escape but Bosco was holding it and I couldn't do it," Dandrea said.

Harding announced after the jury had rendered its verdict that the entire case with the jury's finding will be presented to the grand jury.

"Will a murder indictment be sought?" he was asked.

"I can't answer that Harding said, "All the, evidence will be presented and they can return indictments against anyone they see fit."

Anthony Mona
Bart Sheehan
Clifford Carr
Gus Koerner
Thomas Murphy

South 3rd Street

Camden Courier-Post - December 21, 1953

Gettysburg PA Times - December 23, 1953

Detective Is Held For Shooting Son

Camden NJ (AP)- A Camden city detective, Sgt. John V. Wilkie, is being held on a manslaughter charge in the shooting of his 17 year-old son.
       Police said last night Wilkie told them his son was killed accidentally as he and the youth struggled for his service revolver Sunday morning.
       The boy's death had been called a suicide by Camden County Coroner John A. Healy. A pathology report indicated that the head wound sustained by the younger Wilkie was self-inflicted.
       Camden County Prosecutor Mitchell H. Cohen said the detective told him he tried to take his own life after his son was shot but the pistol misfired.
       Wilkie was charged with manslaughter and held in custody pending a hearing to set bail.

Camden Courier-Post - December 24, 1953

Camden Courier-Post - December 26, 1953

Camden Courier-Post - December 28, 1953

Camden Courier-Post - December 31, 1953