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That Murphy Secret Pay off Stirs Up Fuss At State Capitol BYG. MILTON KELLY (By Associated Press) LANSING, April 4—Murder and violence and the disclosure of a secret political deal punctuated the story of government in Michigan this week. Members of the state parole board told how, because there was no law to let them do otherwise, they had to allow the release from prison of Dominick Piccone whom they knew as “homicidal.” Piccone went back to prison Thursday—just 16 days later—after a rampage of killing in which he took three lives. At the Boys Vocational School in Lansing, disorders occurred among youthful iromates of the correctional institution as Garrett Heyns took office as its temporary superintend ent. Assigned as a “trouble shooter” to institute reforms in its adminis tration, he said he found evidence that interference by politicians in school affairs, notably the selection of lesser employes, has been an un settling factor in the past. The capitol building, where poli ticians normally favor spectacular disclosures involving high officials, experienced a noteable lack of hol ier-than-thou utterances when a clerk’s error brought to light a sec ret arrangement to allow Lieut. Gov. Frank Murphy $16 a day and ex penses for attending meetings of the state administrative board's de fense committee, of which he is a member. : Attorney General Herbert J. Rush ton declared in a formal opinion the $15 a day allowance in addition to Murphy's regular salary of about $3,600 a year, was illegal. He is to prepare a supplemental opinion on the expense account. They're Out on Limb Republicans and Democrats alike —in fact a majority of the admin istrative board—conceded they were “out on a limb In the Murphy deal through having either sanctioned it or at least raised no open question of it, and through having tried to keep the matter secret. The board is composed of four Democrats and four Republicans, and each side has wooed Murphy's vote on partisan is sues, since he has been none too friendly with fellow Democratic members. A. Ross Pascoe, parole board chairman, disclosed his group had refused to release the revenge-seek ing Piccone from prison before ex piration of his maximum sentence, because it considered he was rn po tential murderer and a menace to society. Psychiatric examination substan tiated this theory, the board’s rec ords showed, but because Piccone was not “frankly psychotic he was released instead of being turned over to an institution for incar ceration of dangerous mental cases. Mandatory provisions of the law had shortened Piccone's prison term from six years to 39 months, now he 's back in prison for the re venge killing of Cassius E. Barber, 71, near Oxford, his one-time bene factor, and other other persons against whom he bore no grudge. The board members said his crimes were “in character.” Says Politics Out At the vocational school, Heyns cautioned staff employes that per sonal politics was “out” and under took to establish order. He served notice he had assumed the job without commitment to the penal philosophies of reform groups which had investigated the school, or of politicians, that he would run the school in his own fashion. He ap pealed to the young inmates to have confidence in him. The controversy over Lieutenant Governor Murphy's pay focused at tention on fundamental problems surrounding his office. Originally almost entirely a legislative post, carrying with it presidency of the Senate, the office now also carries with 16 responsibility of membership in the administrative board. A special commission is studying a need for a revision of the state con stitution, and among these prob lems is what should be done about the leutenant governor position. A majority of the commission was re ported to be in favor of making it an administrative position with higher pay, but a strong ‘minority was reported to feel there was no valid reason why the position should not be abolished.
Newspaper Details
Benton Harbor News Palladium
Benton Harbor, Michigan, US
Sat, Apr 04, 1942
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Amie P.
USA 03 Jun 2026
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