On
April 17, 1942, a U.S. District Judge at Abingdon,
Virginia, sentenced Charles Joseph Lovett and James
Edward Testerman to life imprisonment after a jury
found them guilty of murdering Hubert J. Treacy,
Jr., a Special Agent (SA) of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), on March 13, 1942. Still later
on November 19, 1946, they were given additional
sentences.
The
series of events culminating in the death of SA Treacy, as well as the
serious wounding of SA Charles L. Tignor, began on
March 11, 1942. On that date,
Lovett, 21, and Testerman, 22, who were assigned to a Machine Gun Troop,
Third Cavalry, Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, decided to desert from the U.S.
Army. Shortly after midnight on March 12, 1942, in accordance with their
carefully arranged plans, Lovett and Testerman entered the room of Sergeant
Clifton H. Hall, who was in charge of quarters, and bludgeoned him into
unconsciousness with an iron bell on the mess hall
porch. They then stole four .45 caliber
U.S. Army Smith and Wesson revolvers and approximately 100 rounds of ammunition
from an adjoining room.
The
men escaped from the military reservation and reached
a nearby highway. Testerman and Lovett then commandeered
a taxi cab and forced the driver at gun point to
take them from Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, to a site
near Cleveland, Tennessee. At that location, the
taxi driver was forced from the cab, searched, and
robbed of $23, the fleeing deserters continuing on
with the automobile. The fugitives proceeded to Sweetwater,
Tennessee, where they abandoned the cab. Then they
traveled by bus to Abingdon, Virginia, where they
arrived late in the afternoon and spent the night
at an inn. En route, however, they stopped at Knoxville,
Tennessee, and purchased a handbag in which they
could carry the firearms and ammunition without attracting
attention.
In
the meantime, a vigorous investigation was being
conducted by the FBI. The Knoxville Field Office
was notified of the activities of these soldiers
on the morning of March 12, 1942, and Agents were
dispatched from several eastern and southern field
offices to apprehend the deserters, prosecution against
them having been authorized and warrants for their
arrests issued in connection with violations of the
National Motor Vehicle Theft Act and the Kidnapping
Statutes. Investigation developed that Testerman
had a girl at Abingdon, Virginia, and the Richmond
Field Office of the FBI was promptly furnished this
information.
At
9:35 a.m., on March 13, 1942, SA Hubert J. Treacy,
Jr., and Charles L. Tignor, to whom this particular
phase of the investigation was assigned, were driving
into Abingdon, Virginia, when SA Treacy observed
two soldiers walking along the street. They resembled
the descriptions of Lovett and Testerman. The Agents
parked their car and walked into a cafe which the
soldiers had entered a few moments before.
The
suspects were sitting in a booth, and had given their
orders for breakfast. Agents Treacy and Tignor approached
the booth, identified themselves as Agents of the
FBI, explained they were looking for two deserters,
and asked the soldiers their identities.
Lovett,
without warning, suddenly produced a .45 caliber
revolver from his belt, and fired at SA Tignor, who
was knocked to the floor and wounded in the right
arm. In the same motion, Lovett turned the gun on
SA Treacy as the Agent was drawing his revolver.
Lovett shot him in the face, and the impact knocked
SA Treacy to the floor. Lovett turned and fired several
more shots at SA Tignor, who was attempting to draw
his revolver with his left hand. Before leaving the
cafe, Lovett fired again at SA Treacy, who was lying
face down on the floor. Testerman had risen from
his seat in the booth, and as he left the cafe he
fired a shot at SA Treacy. SA Tignor rose from the
floor of the cafe and attempted to pursue the murderers,
but collapsed after reaching the street due to his
injuries.
Both
Agents were taken to an Abingdon hospital immediately.
SA Hubert J. Treacy, Jr., was pronounced dead upon
arrival at the hospital; a bullet entering his back
caused his death. Agent Charles L. Tignor was seriously
wounded and was confined to his hospital bed for
several weeks as the result of receiving gun shot
wounds in the chest, right arm, and left hand.
After
running from the cafe, Lovett and Testerman unsuccessfully
attempted to commandeer an automobile. They did,
however, secure a second car belonging to a local
citizen. As they approached a street intersection
in Abingdon, a member of the local police department
drove his car across the intersection to prevent
their escape and a furious gun battle ensued. They
fled from the scene of this encounter and took refuge
in a basement of a house located on the outskirts
of that town. While fleeing from the murder scene,
they also shot at four women who were riding in a
car in Abingdon.
The
house in which the fugitives barricaded themselves
was soon surrounded by a posse of law enforcement
officers, including FBI Agents, local officers, and
numerous other officers from surrounding communities
who had been attending an FBI Civilian Defense School
at Bristol, Virginia. Many shots were exchanged in
the ensuing gun battle with the fugitives. Testerman
and Lovett, before their capture with the aid of
tear gas, threatened and cursed the officers in loud
voices on numerous occasions. After a sufficient
amount of tear gas had entered the basement, however,
the two fugitives threw down their guns and walked
out with their hands in the air.
A
federal grand jury at Harrisonburg, Virginia, returned
a true bill of indictment on March 19, 1942, charging
Testerman and Lovett with the murder of SA Treacy
in violation of Sections 253 and 452, Title 18, U.S.
Code, Annotated. The trial of the case began in the
U.S. District Court at Abingdon, Virginia, on April
15, 1942. On April 17, 1942, the deserters were found
guilty of murder in the first degree. Upon the recommendation
of the jury that capital punishment not be imposed,
both individuals were sentenced to life imprisonment
in a U.S. penitentiary.
In
addition to that prosecutive action, on April 28,
1942, a federal grand jury at Chattanooga, Tennessee,
returned indictments charging Lovett and Testerman
with violating the Kidnapping Statutes, as well as
the National Motor Vehicle Theft Act. Also, on May
18, 1942, at Rome, Georgia, a Federal Grand Jury
indicted these felons in connection with three other
violations. The latter indictments were stricken
from the docket with leave to reinstate, while certified
copies of the former were filed as detainers against
the possible release of Lovett and Testerman. Inasmuch
as Lovett and Testerman, although sentenced to life
imprisonment, would become eligible for parole at
the expiration of 15 years, it was decided to try
them on the federal indictments returned at Rome,
Georgia, May 18, 1942.
Immediate
trial was prevented because of the overseas service
of many material witnesses. On November 19, 1946,
therefore, a federal judge at Rome accepted their
pleas of guilty to the three indictments charging:
1) Assault on a Government Reservation; 2) Robbery
of Personal Property, U.S. Government; and 3) Interstate
Transportation of Stolen Government Firearms. The
judge imposed a ten-year sentence on the first indictment
and two years, each, on the other two. The latter
two sentences were ordered to run concurrently. The
judge ruled that the 12-year sentence imposed should
become effective upon expiration or legal release
from the sentence of life imposed upon them in 1942.
During
his early youth in Philadelphia, Charles J. Lovett
ran away from home frequently and was often involved
in petty thievery. He enlisted in the Army on June
19, 1939, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was
assigned to a Machine Gun Troop, Third Cavalry, Fort
Myer, Virginia. His record with the Army was spotted
with trouble. Lovett had received two court martials,
one for being absent without leave, and the other
for reporting for drill while intoxicated. On both
occasions he was fined and sentenced to hard labor.
James
E. Testerman enlisted in the Army on October 17,
1949, at Richmond, Virginia. He, too, was assigned
to a Machine Gun Troop, Third Cavalry, Fort Myer,
Virginia. Like Lovett, Testerman had also been in
trouble with his superiors. In May, 1941, he was
absent without leave. The deserter was returned to
Fort Myer, October, 1941, and convicted by court
martial, fined, and sentenced to hard labor for several
months.
Hubert
J. Treacy, Jr., entered FBI service on April 1, 1941.
He was born in New York City on January 13, 1913,
and attended St. Mary's Star-of-the-Sea School, Far
Rockaway, New York, and St. Francis Xavier High School
in New York City. He attended Fordham College for
one semester in 1932, and then transferred to Georgetown
University, Washington, D.C. He studied there from
September, 1932, until June, 1935, and graduated
with an A.B. Degree. He attended St. John's University
Law School, Brooklyn, New York, from 1935 to 1939,
receiving his LL.B. Degree and then attended the
graduate school for one year. Prior to entering the
Bureau's service he was employed by the Bethlehem
Steel Company.
Mr.
Treacy was a member of the Knights of Columbus, Friendly
Sons of Saint Patrick of New York, American-Irish
Historical Society, and Quartermaster Association.
He was survived by his widow, his mother, and two
sisters.
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