The Plymouth Sex Murder

A Band-Aid Solution To The Mystery

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Episode 370 tells the story of a World War II era veteran whose mental issues earned him an honorable discharge from service, but he slips through the system, wreaking havoc among the women in the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. What does it take to get creeps like this off the street? Murder, apparently.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Pull Puder Calm, Wilkesbury, Pennsylvania, February seventh, nineteen forty five.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Missus Mary Euloses, twenty nine years of two seventy one
Vine Street, Plymouth, wife of Bernard who loses serving in
the US Navy, was found dead this morning in a
gully formed by Brown's Creek, not far from Bull Run
Crossing in Plymouth. Indications were that the woman was the

(00:38):
victim of a brutal murder. The police investigation revealed that
the victim wore a wristwatch on her left arm, and
this was stopped at three thirty o'clock. Her clothes were
badly torn in the snow. On the ground in the
vicinity of where the body was found was trampled and
showed evidence of a stroke. The woman's left shoe was

(01:02):
on her foot, but her right shoe was off and
about ten feet away. Her left glove was on her hand,
while the right glove was clasped tightly in her right hand.
The woman's body was discovered at ten o'clock this morning
by mister and Missus Lawrence Bairrett of Carver Street, Plymouth,
were on their way to the business section of the

(01:23):
town on a shopping tour after sighting the body in
the gully about ten feet below the level of the
car tracks. At that point, the couple continued on their
way to Main Street, where they met Patrolman Joseph Mallow
and High Constable John Jones. They informed the police officials
what they had seen, and they in turn contacted Chief

(01:46):
of Police Lawrence Kendick. While the theory that the woman
may have fallen from a nearby trestle was first advanced,
the subsequent discovery of a belt about the victim's neck
established the murder theory. Shortly afternoon, the body was taken
to where it lay in the gully to the Fitzpatrick Morgue,

(02:07):
from where it was to be taken to Nesbitt Memorial
Hospital for a post mortem examination to determine the exact
cause of death. How long the victim lay along the
creek is not known, but the police during the early
stages of their investigation learned that she had been at
the Packard Cafe at one forty seven East Main Street,

(02:30):
Plymouth about midnight last night. When she left the hotel,
she was with Helen Casper to eighty three Vine Street,
a girlfriend, and the latter was accompanied by a young man.
Miss Casper and her friend walked ahead up the railroad
tracks leading from bull Run Crossing. They told the police

(02:51):
they knew nothing of what happened to missus Uloses until
after the gruesome discovery was made this morning. In the meantime,
missus Eva mccoskey, mother of missus Uses and with whom
she made her home at the Vine Street address since
her husband went into the service, contacted Patrolman Mallow, residing

(03:12):
next door, at seven o'clock this morning, and reported her
daughter missing. The officer was on Main Street looking for
the young woman when the Barretts reported their discovery to him.

(04:00):
True Crime Historian presents yesterday's news tales of classic scandals, scoundrels,
and scourges told from historic newspapers in the Golden Age
of yellow journalism. Episode three hundred and seventy tells the
story of a World War II era veteran whose mental

(04:21):
issues earn him an honorable discharge from service, but he
slips through the system, wreaking havoc among the women in
the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. What's it going to take
to get creeps like this off the street? Murder apparently
I'm true crime historian Richard O. Jones, and for your

(04:42):
horror and indignation, I give you the Plymouth sex murder,
a band aid solution to the mystery. February eighth, nineteen
forty five. State County and Borough Police early this morning

(05:05):
were questioning a suspect who, according to evidence gathered by
investigating officers, was the last person seen early yesterday morning
with a Plymouth woman found strangled to death yesterday near
bull Run Crossing. Police declared the man had been picked
up for questioning in recent similar attacks made on women

(05:26):
in the valley. Missus Mary Loses' body was found yesterday
morning near eleven in a dry creek bed along the
Wilkesbury Traction Company, right away from bull Run Crossing and
near Carver Street. An autopsy performed at Nesbit Memorial Hospital
yesterday afternoon revealed the woman died from strangulation. It could

(05:52):
not be determined. County Coroner Reese said whether she had
been criminally attacked because of the lapse of time between
the murder and the finding of the victim's body. In
addition to having been strangled, the woman bore lacerations in
the left temple and when found the position of the
body indicated the criminal attack may have taken place. Missus

(06:16):
Uloses's body was cited by mister Missus Lawrence Barrett of
Carver Street, Plymouth, who reported their find to Patrolman Joseph
Mallow and High Constable John Jones, who had been notified
by the woman's mother that she had failed to return
home Tuesday night. Mallow and Jones investigated, and when it

(06:38):
was determined the woman was dead, Chief of Police Lawrence
Kendig notified the Coroner's office. Preliminary investigation by the officials
discounted the first theory that the woman had fallen from
a small trestle near where the body was found, and
a minute examination of the body before its removal disclosed

(07:00):
the victim had been strangled with a brown belt from
her coat and a fascinator or babushka she had been wearing.
County detectives Richard Powell and Henry S. Jones and State
Police detective Kenneth Tissue joined in the investigation, which brought
to light that missus Uloses had been in the Packard

(07:21):
Cafe at one forty seven East Main Street, Plymouth with
Helen Casper two eighty three Vine Street a friend. Miss
Casper told Chief of Police Kendig that the two had
been dancing when they saw Andrew Wargo, another neighbor, and
decided to go to their homes the same time he

(07:43):
did for company. The girl told police missus Ulosis agreed
to the suggestion and left the place of business with them. However,
the man now being questioned that the barracks is reported
by police to have followed the trio from the building
and to have insisted he accompanied missus Uloses to her home.

(08:06):
Miss Casper and mister Wargo walked ahead, and the victim
and suspect in the rear. Wargo and Miss Casper took
a short cut up the tracks, and while they noticed
that missus Uloses was not following, they thought nothing of it,
as they concluded she walked up Main Street. Divine. Detective

(08:27):
Kenneth Tissue showed a picture of the suspect to Miss Casper,
and she recognized him as being the person who was
with missus Uloses. State Police Sergeant Ryan with Detective Tissue,
went to the suspect's home, a farm in the Red
Rock section, about twenty five miles from bull Run Crossing,

(08:48):
and brought the man to the barracks. Also picked up
for questioning was a male friend of the suspects, whom
he said had been with him in the Packard cafe.
The second man admitted he had been with the suspect
in the building, but had not accompanied him when the
suspect left. As police questioned the two men, some officers

(09:12):
expressed amazement that the body had not been discovered sooner,
or that the noise that possibly had been made while
the woman struggled with her assailant had not attracted attention.
The Traction Company right of way from Bull Run Crossing
is much used by people of the Welsh Hill section
of Larksville and Plymouth residents of Mountain Road and Vine

(09:33):
and Carver Street sections beginning early in the morning. The
Traction Company's Larksville cars maintained regular schedules, but the body
was not noticed by any of the motormen nor by
the passengers of the cars. Missus Euloses resided with her
mother at the Vine Street address while awaiting the return

(09:54):
of her husband from service. Seaman Uloses entered the service
on December twenty seventh, nineteen forty three. Was trained at Sampson,
has been in the Pacific area since last March, who
was last home in February of last year, when he
spent a fifteen day furlough with his family. February ninth,

(10:21):
nineteen forty five. A badly soiled finger bandage known as
a band aid, picked up at the spot where Mary
Uloses was found murdered on Wednesday morning was the chief
bit of evidence that uncovered the trail of Raymond Maholchek,
twenty year old farm hand and timbercutter who last night

(10:42):
admitted the sex slang of Mary U Loses, found garrotted
Wednesday morning in a gully near bull Run crossing Plymouth.
The timber cutter Raymond Maholchek, gave a statement to police
in which he acknowledged his guilt twenty four hours after
having been taken into custody. Maholchik, known as Snowshoes to

(11:06):
his friends because of his large feet, as one hundred
and eighty five pound well muscled young man who staunchly
denied his guilt until witnesses who had seen him dancing
with the victim in a Plymouth cafe were brought to
face him. The trail to Moholchik, who had been arrested
several times before on suspicion of having been involved in

(11:27):
other attacks on women in the valley. Was opened when
Miss Casper and others recognized a picture taken from police files.
But it was the little band aid casually picked up
by one of the county detectives near where the body
of the woman lay on Wednesday morning, which forged the
final link in the chain of evidence which brought the

(11:48):
truth from the accused slayer. It was wild Chief County
Detective Richard Powell and his fellow officers were questioning Miss
Helen Casper that the story of the band aid was
brought out. The girl had given a description of the
missing partner of missus Uloses, with whom the latter had
some drinks and danced in a Plymouth cafe late Tuesday night.

(12:12):
She told of his having left the cafe with missus Uloses.
Pressed for more details as to his personal appearance, she
described him as being about six foot tall, athletically built,
weighing about one hundred and eighty five pounds, and muscular.
She was pressed for a description of his hands as

(12:35):
to whether or not they were the hands of a workingman.
She explained that he wore gloves, but that they were
not on all the time, and that she had observed
that he wore a band aid on one hand. In
the meantime, a picture taken from police files and shown
witnesses further fastened suspicion on Maholchick. Miss Casper had told

(12:58):
Chief of Police, Lawrence K. D of Plymouth that at
midnight she suggested to missus Euloses that they go home
with Michael Wargo, the neighbor for company. The trio agreed
and left the tavern to be followed by Maholchick, whom
they had met for the first time in the cafe,
who insisted on accompanying Missus Euloses' home. Mister Wargo and

(13:21):
Miss Casper walked ahead, with Maholchick and the victim following.
When they got to the bull Run crossing, Wargo said
Miss Casper turned into the Wilkesbury Traction Company right of way,
a short cut used by most persons in the Welsh
Hill and Vine Street sections. They had gone some distance
when they turned and noticed Missus Euloses and Maholchick were

(13:44):
not following. They concluded that missus Uloses and her companion
had also taken a short cut and thought little more
of the disappearance of the couple until the next morning,
when the body was found in a gully not far
from bull Run Crossing and near Carver Street. Taken into
custody at the farm of Amos Brown, by whom he

(14:07):
was employed, near Red Rock, Maholchick was removed to the
Wyoming barracks of the State Police, where the telltale impression
of the band aid, which had been removed from one
of his hands, was observed. It was assumed that the
band aid was pulled from his hand during the tussle
at the scene of the crime. In spite of this,

(14:29):
the prisoner steadfastly denied his guilt in the face of
several witnesses who confronted him and told of having seen
him and his companion with the murder victim and the
Casper girl in the Packard Cafe on Main Street Tuesday night.
Maholchick was taken into custody late Wednesday afternoon at the
Red Rock farm. When approached by State Police Sergeant Paul V. Ryan,

(14:54):
Maholchick remarked, what do you want me for? This time?
Has another woman been attacked or something. The Hoholchik was
picked up by city police in question in the attack
and attempted attack of two women on city streets, and
was picked up again several weeks ago when a young
wife of a Kingston soldier was criminally attacked on Main
Street in Kingston. However, there was not sufficient evidence against him,

(15:18):
and in all cases he was let go. Not however,
before State police had taken the picture which led to
his arrest in the Plymouth sex slang. When taken into custody,
he wore a slouch hat, a heavy knit blue sweater,
and a light shirt without a collar. His arms are
of exceptional length and his hands are much longer than

(15:42):
those usually found among timberjacks. Also taken into custody was
a farmer's son, but police last night absolved him of
any connection with the sex slang and he was given
his release. He was just a victim of circumstances, said police.
Brought to Wyoming Barracks, Maholchick was questioned Wednesday night and

(16:05):
all yesterday through the day. Maholchick clung to his cool,
self possessed attitude and did not waver in his denials.
Saying he left Missus Euloses at bull Run Crossing and
returned to his companion. The repeated appearance of those who
had been in the cafe, however, soon began to have

(16:25):
a telling effect, and last night, near seven, he informed
his questioners he would tell the true story. Then came
his statement, in which the well built, athletic appearing timber
worker cleared the twenty four hour mystery of the grotting
of the Plymouth woman. Maholchick, an orphan who roomed for

(16:48):
a while at the local y MCA, admitted his guilt.
Court stenographer Olin W. Evans was summoned to the barracks.
He took in shorthand the story Maholchick had to tell.
The statement was transcribed on fifteen pages of paper and
was read to Maholchick at the office of District Attorney

(17:09):
Leon Schwartz. When the reading was completed, Maholchick is reported
as saying it was correct, with one slight exception. This
concern the buying of beer and the Packard cafe, where
the murdered wife of Seamen Bernard, who Loses, had danced
with him prior to her departure for home about midnight,

(17:32):
District Attorney Schwartz announced. Maholchick signed each of the fifteen
typewritten pages, said it was all true and that he
was the slayer of the woman he had endeavored to
attack criminally and who fought off his advances. Slender build
with dark brown hair and brown eyes, the timber cutter

(17:54):
told state police, District Attorney Leon Schwartz, and County and
Plymouth police he had not known the young woman until
Tuesday night, when he met her in the Packard Cafe
on Main Street in Plymouth. Maholchick, who was born and
raised in Ashley, said he came into Plymouth Tuesday night
with the son of a farmer at Red Rock and

(18:16):
went to the cafe where they had a few drinks.
The two men danced with Missus Euloses and her girlfriend,
Miss Helen Casper during the evening. In his statement, he
told of having traveled from bull Run Crossing in the
general direction of the victim's home at two seventy one
Vine Street in Plymouth when they reached the gully where

(18:37):
the body was found. Maholchick said that as they approached
the gully along the traction company right away, he picked
up a stone and struck Missus Euloses over the left
temple several times. At the same time, he pulled the
woman down into the gully, where both were out of
sight of Wargo and miss Casper. The timber cutter said.

(19:02):
He then took the woman's belt from her coat, wrapped
it around her neck once, and strangled her. State police
said last night the strength in Maholchick's arms and hands
developed by his trade was sufficient to reduce the size
of the woman's neck by half. Maholchick said he was

(19:23):
attempting to ravish Missus Euloses, but he glanced at her face,
which had become distorted by the blows on the temple.
In the terrific pressure of the belt, her eyes protruded,
Maholchick told police, and they scared him so he jumped
to his feet, realizing the seriousness of the crime. Maholchick

(19:44):
then fled back to Main Street, where he met his companion,
and the two proceeded to their home in the Red
Rock region. Police last night again expressed amazement that Missus
Eulos's body was not discovered hours begare before it was
seen by mister and missus Lawrence Barrett of Carver Street, Plymouth,

(20:05):
Wednesday morning at eleven. Hundreds of persons past the spot
daily going to work in Plymouth and to reach streetcar
and bus lines. Larksville Cars maintained a twenty minute service
on that line, which also ran within a few feet
of the body's location. Neither motormen of the cars nor

(20:25):
passengers made any report to police on seeing the body.
Missus Uloses, who is childless, will be buried Monday morning
from the home of her widowed mother at two seventy
one Vine Street, with requiem mass to be held at
Saint Casimir's Lithuanian Church.

Speaker 3 (20:55):
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(21:20):
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Speaker 2 (21:32):
District Attorney Schwartz, after announcing that Maholchick had signed a confession,
said that the case was broken against the stubborn suspect
by these facts. The reversible jackety war while in company
with the victim, and other garments were blood stained. His
tie was bloodstained. Other articles of apparel he wore bore bloodstains. Next,

(21:54):
a band aid used as a bandage for slight laceration
on the right hand, was found at the scene of
the crime by an never watchful detective. Such a band
aid had been noticed on the suspect's right hand while
dancing at the Packard cafe with the victim and others.
It was missing when he was arrested. The blood stained

(22:16):
clothes held by county authorities as circumstantial evidence to refute
any possible attempt to set aside a statement were found
at the farmhouse where Maholchick lived. He could not explain
them away. The band aid, when shown him, and when
he could not account for its absence, evidently produced the

(22:37):
conviction that Maholchick knew the police were on the right trails.
Strong arm methods, according to the District Attorney, are not
in use in well regulated police forces that have learned
how to apply psychology through questions in a way to
establish the facts. Trail of the suspect led from the

(22:57):
Packard dance room to the scene of the crime and
thence back to the shan a restaurant where Maholchick is
alleged to have entered a woman's room and washed his
bloody hands following the murder. It was there he thought
he had left the band aid. Continuing the trail, further
detectives learned Maholchuck took a street car from Plymouth and

(23:20):
went to Hanover Township, where he visited a restaurant there
and where he had hoped to meet his buddy from
the farm Lands for the return journey to Red Rock.
As a youth, Maholchuck resided in Ashley and attended the
schools of that borough and reached first year of high
school when he left. Both of his parents are dead,

(23:41):
but he is said to have several brothers and sisters
residing in Ashley. Drafted into the United States Army, he
was discharged some time ago. Records showed that he was
honorably discharged from a veteran's hospital for medical reasons. Raymond
Maholchick twice ran away from the Veteran's hospital at Lyons,

(24:01):
New Jersey, where he was sent after being medically discharged
from the Army. On May twenty ninth, nineteen forty three,
at Lincoln, Nebraska, according to his brother, Stanley Maholchik. The
brother said that he knew nothing of the murder until
this morning, when he was on his way to work.
His brother enlisted in the Army at Missoula, Montana, on

(24:23):
February ninth, nineteen forty two. Prior to that time, he
was a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps for about
a year and a half. After enlisting in the Army,
he served as a telephone operator in the Air Corps.
In July nineteen forty three, he ran away from the
hospital and came to his brother's home in Ashley. Officials

(24:45):
at the hospital conferred with the Ashley man and he
signed papers for a trial visit, during which time he
was to take treatments twice a week at the Wilkesbury
General Hospital. The brother said that during Raymond's stay with him,
he realized that his brother was mentally ill, and he
tried to keep him in the house, but he disappeared.

(25:07):
On January fourteenth, nineteen forty four, mahol Chick started back
to the Lions Hospital to secure his permanent release, but
he got into trouble in Newark, New Jersey, and was
held on a disorderly conduct charge. After his release by
the Jersey Police, he was returned to the Lions Hospital,

(25:28):
from which he again ran away on March twenty fourth,
nineteen forty four. He left his brother's home in August
and took a room at the YMCA. The brother had
not heard of Raymond since Christmas time and thought he
was still at the YMCA. District Attorney Schwartz said Friday

(25:48):
night that Stanley had called the prosecutor's office and asked
if he could see his brother. Schwartz said such a
meeting could be arranged. Quote, Stanley came to my office
at the courthouse yesterday afternoon upon my promise that he
could see his brother at four thirty. I got him
in touch with the prisoner and told him that his

(26:09):
brother has to see him and that he would be
at the county prison at four thirty, Schwartz said. The
prisoner asked, do I have to see him? And Schwartz
said no, not unless you want to. Then Raymond said,
I don't want to see him. Keep him away from me.
The brothers did not meet within a short time. Mahol

(26:35):
Check he was arraigned for a preliminary hearing. Charge was
that he did, with malice a forethought caused the death
of missus Uloses by using her belt as a garat,
after striking her head with a stone and choking her
with his powerful fists. After the charge was read, the

(26:56):
young lumberjack stepped forward and was about to make his
own plea when District Attorney Schwartz interrupted with these words
quote as District Attorney, I want to warn you of
your rights and suggests that you enter a plea if
not guilty. Maholchick turned and again seated himself by the
officer who had brought him manacled into the office of

(27:17):
the magistrate. He said not a word, and the district
Attorney directed that the plea be not guilty. Magistrate Pierce
quickly directed the prisoner be committed to the county prison
without bail, to await action of the grand jury. Maholchik
is a clear faced, bright eyed youth who has togged

(27:38):
in the raiments in which he worked as a wood chopper.
He wore black work shoes and was hatless. His near
raven locks were neatly brushed back a pair of reinforced
new overalls encased his stout limbs. His shirt was dark
gray of the work type, and atop this was a

(27:59):
striped waistcoat, a back belted top coat, setting off his attire.
The prisoner appeared tired and at times yawned. Now and
then he closed his eyes, either in deep thought or
longing for the rest he needed. Only once did he smile,
and then his thick lips parted, his eyes twinkled, and

(28:21):
his countenance gave just a faint ray of mirth. This
was occasioned by a remark not concerning the case, made
before the hearing got underway. The prisoner suffered from a
sore throat. He had been given aspirins by the officers
who had him in charge. In reply to a question,

(28:41):
he said his throat was still bothering him, and the
way he swallowed indicated this was true. Only three witnesses
were heard by the magistrate, County Detective Richard Powell, prosecutor
in the case, Sergeant Paul Ryan of the State Police,
and Chief of Police Lawrence Kendom of Plymouth, Maholchick was

(29:02):
without counsel. Detective Pale stated he was the prosecutor. Chief
Kendig told that he had visited the scene of the
crime and recognized the body found there of that of
missus Uloses. Sergeant Ryan testified he had a conversation with
the prisoner on Thursday and that Maholchick admitted he was

(29:23):
the woman slayer, stating death was caused by strangulation. The
officer said that no promises had been made the prisoner,
said the district attorney, following the commitment of Maholchick to
the county prison, quote, this is a most serious case.
The trial will mark an epic and criminal courts of

(29:43):
the county for the reason that it will establish a precedent.
In this case. We have the prisoner a discharged army man,
the victim the wife of a seaman still in service.
Then there are the facts of the prisoner's discharged from
a veteran's hospital because of a nervous condition. And not
to be overlooked is the background of Maholchick, who has

(30:06):
been a suspect on other sex cases and who has
been arrested for other charges. Maholchick has a bank account
of nine hundred and fifty dollars, he informed Schwartz. He
did not mention where it was deposited. Because he has
such money, he must employ his own counsel. He has
been told that after he has conferred with friends, relatives,

(30:27):
or others, he may call for his own lawyer, said Schwartz.
When he does, we will see that he gets the
lawyer he wants. May twenty first, nineteen forty five, Raymond
Maholtchick pleaded guilty before Judge John S. Fine to the

(30:50):
charge of murder and fatally assaulting Mary who Loses twenty
nine of Plymouth on the night of February seventh. The
defendant threw himself on the mercy of the court. At
eleven thirty, following a conference with his attorneys Edward mc
govern and Patrick O'Connor, Maholchook appeared in court dressed in

(31:12):
a dark blue serge suit. He was outwardly calm and reserved,
and in contrast to his looks, when arrested, he made
a striking appearance. He measures six feet two inches and
weighs one hundred and seventy five pounds. Occupying the first
row in Judge Fine's court room were two brothers and

(31:33):
a sister of the defendant. While on the front row.
On the opposite side was seated the husband of the
dead woman, Bernard Uloses, twenty eight, wearing a sailor uniform.
He may be called as a commonwealth witness. Uloses is
at the trial on a furlough from a US assignment

(31:54):
pier in New York City. He is six feet one
inch and weighs two hundred twenty five five pounds. It
is a second furlough since the murder of his wife.
During the latter part of February, he visited the office
of the District Attorney and asked for permission to talk
to Maholchick at the county jail. He was not permitted

(32:16):
to see the defendant then, and today was the first
time he ever saw his wife's assailant and he was
not permitted to talk to him. The courtroom was crowded
when criminal Court opened this morning, and the spectators remained
until noon, where an adjournment was taken until two pm.
The degree of the crime will be fixed by the

(32:37):
court after all the testimony is heard. Defense attorneys are
planning to put up a fight to save Maholchick from
the first degree verdict with electrocution and will make an
effort to prove that the defendant has a psychosis. At
the trial, Ready to be called as a witness were
two government physicians who treated mahol Chick for mental disorder.

(33:00):
Defendant was an inmate of a governmental mental institution in
New Jersey for more than a year. On one occasion,
he made his escape and was recaptured and brought back
to the institution for further treatment. He was released from
the government hospital through the Red Cross on an application
presented by his brother. Enjoy ad free listening at this

(33:33):
Safehousewawawa dot Patreon dot com. Slash true crime historian nineteen
forty five, Raymond Maholchek publicly confessed he slew missus Mary

(33:56):
who loses. He entered a plea of guilty to a
general charge of murder, and in so doing waive trial
by jury. Judges Don S Fine, John Oponnick, and J.
Harold Flannery yesterday afternoon sat to hear testimony to fix
his degree of guilt. The plea came unexpectedly. Attorneys Edward F.

(34:18):
McGovern and Patrick O'Connor, defendant's counsel, submitted the plea when
District Attorney Leon Schwartz called Maholchick to trial as the
first case on the list for the week. Judge Fine
at once announced testimony would be taken before three judges
at two. At that hour, the defendant was brought into

(34:40):
the courtroom. He was manacled a steel cuff binding his
wrist to that of a deputy sheriff, while four other
deputies formed a guard around him. The courtroom was filled
with police officers, witnesses, and the usual crowd of curious
seeking thrills. The Marius were not altogether disappointed as the

(35:02):
story of missus Ulos's brutal slaying unfolded. The county prosecutor
had marshaled his facts in sequence, and from the start
of his presentation of exhibits and witnesses it was evident
he had a strong case, one well prepared by the
dovetailing of facts by Borough, County and state law enforcement officers.

(35:26):
Maholchik was a study and despondency who was neatly attired,
choosing a somber black suit set off only by a
pin stripe of gray and a tie of Paisley effect
on a dark red background. His hair was neatly combed,
brought over the right forehead in a somewhat wavy effect.

(35:47):
He was cleanly shaven. Soon as his handcuffs were removed,
he seated himself to the rear of his attorneys deputy
sheriffs flanking him right and left. He rested his elbows
on the arms of a chair, interlocked his fingers, and
dropped his head, staring at the floor, never looking up.

(36:09):
This pose he held through the two and a half
hours he was in the courtroom. His eyes were closed
most of the time in somewhat sleepy fashion, although he
gave some evidence of being conscious of what was going on.
Another deeply interested man sat within the bar enclosure, not
far from the defendant. He was Bernard, who loses, wearing

(36:32):
the blue uniform of the Navy, on which was conspicuous
a large service bar who loses as a powerfully built man,
towering well over six feet and carrying two hundred and
twenty five pounds of hardened flesh. He had been furloughed
to attend the trial, and it was yesterday he got

(36:53):
his first glimpse of the slayer who made him a
widower who loses his keen eyed, and he privetted at
times an icy stare on the one whose life is
at stake. He was sober, faced, resolute, and listened with
rapt attention as the story of his wife's death was
told from the stand. It was not until the last

(37:17):
witness of the afternoon, miss Helen Castner, the companion of
Missus Loses during a night of frivolity, and her subsequent
companion of that victim's march of death, that the story
of Mary Loses began to unfold. Witnesses had laid the
preliminary grounds. An engineer identified maps of the vicinity of

(37:40):
the crime. Lawrence Barrett told how he and his wife,
walking in the direction of Plymouth, had seen a body
resembling a woman in the bed of a snow covered
Brown's Creek. Joseph Mallow, police officer, told how an anxious
mother had inquired about the whereabouts of her daughter, who
had not returned for the night. Mallow said he was

(38:02):
directed to the body and identified it promptly, having known
the woman. He related, he covered the body with a
cardboard box and a strip of carpet borrowed from a
neighborhood fence to conceal exposed parts of the victim's body.
Doctor William Lanyon pathologist at General Hospital who performed the

(38:23):
post mortem gave it as his conviction that the strangulation
alone had caused death. He had found lacerations of the
head produced with the blunt instrument having a flat surface.
Bruises were found on each thigh, and on the neck
was a fur belt used to snuff out life. He
identified clothing of Maholtik that had been submitted to him

(38:46):
later for laboratory tests, and he said trousers, sweater shirt
and other clothing of the defendant were splotched with human blood.
A band aid found that the scene of the crime
was tested and this showed human bloodstains too. Chief of
Police Lawrence Kendig had related how other officers had summoned

(39:07):
him to the scene and gave direction for a complete examination.
County Detective Richard Powell and Michael Classock informed the court
of their investigations at the crime scene. The former had
directed a set of pictures be taken. He made a
mental survey of the site, and he informed the juris

(39:27):
of the finding of the band aid as well as
a pocketbook. The search for the lethal weapon had not
availed anything more than a bloodstained rock trooper Musser of
the State Police had identified a set of pictures and
they became exhibits of record. Doctor Ben Davis said he
had been summoned and found the woman dead. Deputy Coroner C. A.

(39:51):
Miller said he attended the post mortem and removed an
undamaged wristwatch from the victim. Coroner Lewis Reese told of
being at Nesbitt Memorial Hospital where the post mortem was made.
He had cut the belt from the throat of Missus
Euloses and saw the ridge that rounded the neck and
cut off breath. The coroner said he had taken a

(40:14):
navy pen from the blouse of the woman, and he
had removed the only ring she wore. It was not
a wedding ring, but rather a gold ring set with
one small diamond. Missus Antonia Lucas Savage, a neighbor living
near the scene of the crime, related that at about
twelve thirty a m. February seventh, she had heard a

(40:38):
woman's scream, just one, that was all. She did not investigate.
Missus Anna Coronis, also living near the scene, had heard
a scream at about the same hour, but she insisted
the scream was a continuous one of about twenty minutes,
and she wouldn't change her story. Then came Helen Castner,

(41:00):
a frail girl with raven locks, the friend of Mary
Loses and often her companion. Mary, she said, had come
to her the night previous and suggested going out. They
went to the Packard Cafe on Main Street, Plymouth, a
tap room with a dance hall in the rear. While
they were in the beer garden, just Mary and Helen

(41:22):
alone at a round table, a husky youth sitting in
a nearby booth invited them to join him. They refused,
the witness said, and then the youth later identified as
Maholchek came to their table. With them was Amos Brown.
Raymond was a braggart that night. He gloated about having

(41:45):
a good job making plenty of money, with one thousand
dollars and more in the bank. He took a fancy
to Mary, danced with her, and between times he drank
a couple of beers in the presence of the women.
And how many he had drunk at the bar, the
witness did not know. Mary and herself, the witness related,
confined there drinking to two bottles of porter and a

(42:08):
few drinks of soda. Then she said it was growing late,
and a good friend who lived in their neighborhood came in.
She expressed a desire to go home, and the friend
said he would escort. Maholchik offered himself as an escort
to Mary, and she accepted, Mary having said she rather
liked Ray. The foursome started up Main Street in the

(42:31):
direction of bull Run crossing, walking for abreast. At the crossing,
Helen and her escort walked off alone Ray and Mary
following some distance from bull Run. Helen looked back, but
there was no trace of Mary. She concluded Mary had
taken a short cut home. She heard the next day

(42:52):
of Mary's murder, but did not visit the scene, going
to the victim's home after the body had been taken there.
Up to this point, the defense had not indicated what
it might have to offer in behalf of the defendant.
Attorneys mcgovernor and O'Connor asked only casual questions of the witness,

(43:12):
to the point Miss Castner took the stand under cross
examination by McGovern Miss Castner had been an outstanding witness
for the Commonwealth, although she was highly nervous on the
stand and at times indicated she might give way to emotion.
Miss Castner had insisted that Ray had only two drinks

(43:34):
of beer and two pop drinks up to the time
of departure, but as McGovern plied her with questions, she
said Ray had slipped to the bar several times and
she really didn't know how many drinks he had imbibed.
She did relate that Mary had admonished Ray not to
drink any more, stating he was showing the effects quote.

(43:55):
Mary and Ray talked about a date. She wrote what
she pretended was her name on a slip of paper
and gave it to Ray, and the address she gave
was two eighty three Vine Street, Plymouth, Maholchik, The witness said,
stated that he was lonely and asked Mary how she
would like to become a farmer's wife, and Ray practically

(44:16):
proposed on the spot. The witness could not remember what
reply Mary had made to Max's proposal of marriage, but
she did inform the defendant that if he proposed calling
on Mary, he should write her a card to that effect,
telling him that Mary is a busy woman and out
quite often. The witness repeated that Mary and Ray had

(44:38):
danced and that Mary said he was nice, but she
wouldn't say that Mary had promised to marry him. She
also repeated that Mary had admonished him about drinking too much,
after which Ray switched to carbonated drinks. Then she told
again of the departure from the beer garden, her journey home,
and the sudden disappearance of an insanity. Defense was offered

(45:10):
in the afternoon in an effort to save Maholchick from
going to the electric chair. Testimony was completed at three
o'clock without the defendant taking the stand in his own defense.
The main witness for the defense was Captain Joseph Michaels,
head physician at the Veterans Facility Hospital, Lions, New Jersey.

(45:32):
Captain Michaels testified that Maholchick was in the hospital for
treatment over a year, during which time he had been
under observation. The witness said that on March thirteenth, nineteen
forty four, the defendant was insane. The fate of Maholchick
will be decided by three jurists Fine, Flannery and Uponic.

(45:55):
The court on his plea and under the law could
find him guilty of first or second degree murder or manslaughter.
If Maholchick is a judge guilty of first degree, they
must fix the penalty either death by electrocution or life imprisonment.
Shortly before noon, District Attorney Leon Schwartz introduced a signed

(46:15):
confession by Maholchick, who dramatically put into writing the story
of the killing of the Plymouth woman. Maholchick, in his statement,
said he knew missus Uloses by the name of Mary
Mack the names she gave him, and that he thought
she was single, and he made an offer of marriage.
He claims he did not know she was already married

(46:38):
to a United States seaman. The confession, read to the
three judges in a crowded courtroom, traced the events of
the evening when the prisoners struck up an acquaintance with
missus Uloses and her friend Helen Kastner while the three
of them were in the Packard Cafe at Plymouth, telling

(46:59):
of the acts will assault. The confession read as follows,
with District Attorney Schwartz asking the questions and Maholchik giving
the answers question, what is your best recollection now as
to the time you left the packard. Answer, we left
the packard to go home at five after twelve. Question

(47:23):
who left first? What couple? And who left? Second answer?
I went out the door first, and then Mary, and
then this other soldier and then Helen. We started to
walk up the street, and we wanted to walk forsome.
They didn't want to, and Helen and the soldier walked
up front, and we were walking in the back. Question

(47:45):
going back to Mary, we're still talking about the same Mary.
She had a coat with a belt. Was her head covered? Answer?
I think she had a handkerchief for some kind of
bandana something like that. Question Then, how far had this
couple been ahead of you Helen and the soldier when

(48:05):
they got to the bull Run crossing? Did they keep
on going? Answer? Yes they did? Question in what direction?
Answer up the tracks? Question up the railroad tracks? Answer yes.
Question Now, when you got to the corner of bull Run,
how far ahead of you were they? Answer? Well, we

(48:28):
stopped there and I started to kiss her a while,
and they kept on going, and I would walk a
little and stop and kiss her, and kept this up
like that. We couldn't even see the next couple in
front of us. I said to her do you want
to marry me? We were talking about her marrying me
in the barroom and I said you were going to
marry me when we were in the packard, and she

(48:50):
said I was only fooling you, And she said she
had someone else who wanted her to marry him. And
then I went crazy, and then I said if I
couldn't have her, nobody else is going to have you.
And I run my hand along the railroad and fell
to a rock and I picked it up and I
hit her with it, and then I pulled her down
on the bank and hit her again with it. Question

(49:10):
when did you pick up the rock? And what hand
did you have it? Answer my right answer question? And
about where in the head did you hit her? Answer
on the left side question pointing to the right eye
above the temple Is that right? Answer? Yes? Question? And
about how many times? Answer once up there? And then

(49:34):
I dragged her down the bank and hit her two
or three times down there? Question what was the last
word you heard her say? Answer? Let me go, mahole.
Chick then related how he used the woman's coat belt
the strangler. He became frightened when he saw her eyes
and decided to run away. He said, he went to

(49:57):
Shan's Cafe, and then to Jade's Inn, and finally back
to the Packard, where he was looking for his pal
Blackie Brown. In these cafes, he tried to wash the
bloodstains from his hands and shirt. When he couldn't find
his pal at the Packard, he left and later took
the street car home. Before he reached Tom, he went

(50:17):
to his neighbor Blackie's home. According to the confession, which continued,
quote that is next door? Answer yes, question just a
few feet away thirty or forty feet? Answer about that, sir?
Question And on what floor of the house do you go?
I think there are three families living there. Answer yes,

(50:40):
the first floor. Question what time was it when you
came in? Answer? I didn't take notice on the watch, sir.
Question who was there when you arrived? Answer Blackie and
two sailors, and his sister Lola, and a girl by
the name of Betty Marsh. Question do you remember what

(51:03):
you did when you opened the door when you saw them?

Speaker 1 (51:06):
Answer?

Speaker 2 (51:07):
Well, I knew I had to walk in, and as
I went in, I went over by the bathroom and
stepped in, and I looked there first, and then I
came out again and made a crack about the cops
are going to be coming after me, and then this
Betty marsh said, you have a guilty conscience. And then
I didn't know what to do. And then I went
in the bathroom and rubbed and started scrubbing the stuff

(51:29):
off my shirt. Question did you say what you expected
the cops to pick you up for? Answer? I said,
they picked me up for rape once before, and I
guess some girl would be raped tonight and they would
pick me up for it. The courtroom was packed during
the trial today. The defendant sat with his counsel during
the entire morning with his head drooped between his shoulders.

(51:53):
Not once during the testimony and the introduction of evidence
did mahol Chick lift his head. Seeman Bernards, as husband
of the victim, sat on the opposite side of the
courtroom and took a keen interest in the testimony. He
was subpoenaed by the Commonwealth, but was not called as
a witness May nineteen forty five, Dolly staring at the

(52:23):
floor in the motionless attitude he has held since the
trial for his life opened to Monday morning. Raymond Maholchik
lanky timbercutter, who pleaded guilty to murder, generally in the
slaying of a Plymouth seaman's wife, allowed the case to
be closed yesterday afternoon without taking the stand in his

(52:43):
own defense. After Captain Joseph Michaels of the US Veterans
Facility in Lyons, New Jersey, testified that Maholchik, the discharged veteran,
was mentally ill, and doctor Charles A. Zohler, superintendent of
bible Bury State Mental Hospital, Philadelphia, under cross examination, admitted

(53:04):
that the defendant was a psychopath, but not suffering from
a mental disease. The defense rested counsel in the case
will be given an opportunity for mitigation of sentence under
evidence before the three jurists Fine, Flannery and Uponic decide
punishment either death by electrocution or life imprisonment. Maholchik is

(53:27):
a judge guilty of first degree murder, and the judges,
rather than a jury, because of his plea, must fix
the penalty Again. Yesterday, the courtroom was jammed with spectators,
men and women, all intensely interested in the testimony. Dark
haired Maholtic, known as Snowshoes to his friends, because of

(53:51):
his big feet, appeared remorseful or depressed, and never once
all through the trial did a word pass between his
attorneys and him. On furlough from the Navy to attend
the trial, Bernard who Loses, sat within the bar enclosure,
not far from the defendant, keenly absorbed in the testimony,

(54:12):
paying scant attention to the accused man. Attorney McGovern for
the defense called Captain Michaels of the US Veterans Facility,
a hospital for the treatment of mentally diseased ex servicemen,
to the stand. Captain Michaels testified that Maholchick had been
discharged from the Army on March twenty ninth, nineteen forty three,

(54:35):
at Lyons, where he had been brought by attendants after
a board of Army doctors at Lincoln, Nebraska Camp Hospital
had determined that Maholchick was mentally ill. The officer also
added that he had found that the ex serviceman's mental
disorder was progressive and permanent, and that he was not
only dangerous to himself, but a danger to others and

(54:57):
should be hospitalized. Captain Michaels continued that Maholchick had run
away from the hospital on July ninth, nineteen forty three,
and that he was brought back on March thirteenth, nineteen
forty four by police of Newark through the American Red Cross.
The officer stated that for Maholchick's Army records, his observation

(55:20):
of him at Lyon's Hospital and examination of him on
Monday night, he considered a a psychopath personality with psychotic episodes.
Stanley Maholchick, a brother of the defendant, then called by
Attorney McGovern, asserted that their father had died when the
accused was only six months old and that their mother

(55:41):
died when he was eleven years. The defendant, he said,
entered a Civilian Conservation Corps camp at the age of
fifteen and a half years and listed voluntarily in the
Army at the age of sixteen and a half years,
and offered a birth certificate to prove that Maholchick on
next July fourth, will be twenty years years of age.

(56:01):
District Attorney Leon Schwartz called doctor Charles A. Zohler, superintendent
of Bybury State Mental Hospital and former superintendent of Fairview
Criminal Hospital, who had examined Maholchick on February twentieth, for
one hour and fifteen minutes. Doctor Zohler admitted that Maholchick
was a psychopath, but did not think that he was

(56:23):
psychotic or suffering from a mental disease. He testified he
found the defendant of Braggart boastful, self reliant, coherent and speech,
and egotistical. On cross examination by Attorney McGovern, however, he
granted that he had only observed the man for an
hour and felt that he had observed him for seven

(56:45):
weeks in the same way as the Army Board, that
he might change his opinion. With the completion of testimony
and cross examination of the defense attorneys. The case ended
at three point fifteen as signed confession by the whole Chick,
in which he vividly described the grotting of the Plymouth
seaman's wife in a gully near bull Run crossing Plymouth,

(57:07):
last February seventh, was introduced by District Attorney Schwartz. Shortly
before noon July third, nineteen forty five. Raymond Maholchuk, a
lumberjack who plied the axe and saw in the woodlands

(57:27):
in the proximity of Red Rock, was a judge guilty
of first degree murder yesterday by Judge John Oponnick, who
announced the finding in behalf of the court and bond.
He had confessed the brutal murder of missus Mary who
loses wife of Bernard who loses us Seamen at a
gully and a lonesome aria near bull Run, crossing Plymouth

(57:50):
on the morning of February seventh. His herculean strength and
the power of his massive hands were used as strangler
to death. In addition, he garrotted the woman with her
own belt and then bashed her head with a rock.
After his fiendish endeavors to commit criminal assault had been

(58:12):
of no avail, the court had the responsibility of fixing
the degree of guilt. After testimony was heard without jury
on the whole Chick's pleave guilty to murder. The court
found the crime well within the category of first degree,
but because of the emotional processes of the prisoner's mind

(58:33):
and decided to store him away from society by committing
him to the Eastern Penitentiary at separate and solitary confinement
for the remainder of his life. He is twenty years old.
Judge upon It gave the slayer an opportunity to speak
before the penitentiary term was announced. The haulking one hundred

(58:55):
ninety pounds of flesh didn't even tremble and uttered not
a word. Council announced they had no pleadings to make.
In a matter of minutes, Maholchick was on his way
back to the County jail, there to await immediate transfer
to Philadelphia for years behind the bars and stone walls
of prison. Judges Uponic, Flannery and Fine sat to hear

(59:19):
the testimony after Maholchick, through council announced as guilt at
the last term of criminal Court and threw himself on
the mercy of the court. George Uponick wrote the opinion
for the court in Bank and the other judges concurred
in his findings. That opinion was announced when Maholchick was

(59:40):
brought into court at ten a m. At the very
start the opinion of the court set forth. There was
no difficulty in determining the degree of guilt. The judges
found the crime was the outcome of an attempt to
commit rape upon the victim. The statute makes murder committed
under some circumstances. Murder in the first degree. We therefore

(01:00:04):
find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree.
Judge upon it's opinions set forth that it was not
so easy to determine whether punishment should be death by
electrocution or life imprisonment. Opinions of the highest state court
hold that the offensive murder may be lessened because of

(01:00:25):
mitigating circumstances arising from the emotions or pressure of events
under which the offender acted. The court reviewed the personal
history of Maholtk then took up his record of army service,
from which he was discharged on May twenty ninth, nineteen
forty three. On that date, he was admitted to the

(01:00:47):
Veterans Hospital at Lie in New Jersey as a volunteer
patient who could not be held against as will. His
discharge by the Army was based on medical reasons, and
that report shows he was deficient, possessed of criminal traits,
emotionally unstable, childish in neighbor, and possessed of criminal traits

(01:01:08):
in addition to being a vagabond possessed of strong alcoholic desires.
Moholchik fled from the hospital, enjoyed a spell of freedom,
and was later returned when his criminal desires brought him
into the clutches of Newark, New Jersey police. Once there,
he took French leave that there was never anything done

(01:01:31):
about it because he was a volunteer patient. On this
phase of the case, the court said, quote, the entire
record of the handling of this case discloses that a
shocking state of affairs that we think it should not
go unnoticed by this court. We have here the case
of a man who has been found to require hospitalization

(01:01:51):
because he is potentially dangerous to himself and others, who
is discharged from the army upon his being accepted at
a mental hospital. The military authorities, knowing full well the
defendant could not be kept at the mental institution against
his will. Such a situation is beyond our comprehension. The
defendant was turned loose by military authorities to prey on

(01:02:14):
innocent people, such as the deceased in this case, because
it was determined he was of no use to the
army as a soldier. Such action shows a complete disregard
of the rights of others, and such a situation is
highly reprehensible. We do not know where the fault lies
for this situation. We are convinced it is not the

(01:02:35):
fault of the Veterans administration nor the doctors connected with
the hospital at Lions. It may be that the fault
lies with the Army regulations or the Army personnel, or both.
We do not attempt to fix the blame for this
outrageous condition. We realize that Army hospitals an Army medical

(01:02:56):
personnel should not be kept continuously at the task of
control rolling mentally ill patients. However, we do think there
should be some provision made and some policy adopted which
would keep such patients under restraint and not turned loose
until they commit some serious crime. Unquote. Major Lee Sewell,

(01:03:17):
clinical director of the Veterans Hospital at Lion's, New Jersey,
said Maholchick was a volunteer patient at the New Jersey
hospital but left awall March twenty third, nineteen forty four.
Major Sewell said police and relatives were notified at the
time that he had left the hospital. Quote, we do
not have the police authority to return a patient to

(01:03:39):
the hospital. We made every effort to get Maholchick back,
but were unsuccessful. No steps were taken by his family
to have him recommitted Sewell said that patients were accepted
at Lions only upon recommendation of relatives or the community.

(01:04:16):
That was the Plymouth Sex Murder, a band aid solution
to the mystery, called from the historic pages of the
Wilkesbury Times Leader, the Wilkesbury Record and other newspapers of
the era. True Crime Historian is a creation of popular media.

(01:04:36):
Opening theme by Nico Vitessi. Incidental music by Nico Vitesi,
Chuck Wiggins and Dave SAMs. Some music and sound effects
license from podcast music dot Com. Closing theme by Dave
SAMs and Rachel Shott, engineered by David Hish at Third
Street Music Media Management, and original graphics for all new

(01:04:58):
episodes by Seawan R. Miller Jones. And As for me,
I hear what they're saying. I don't want to see him,
keep them away from me. I'm True Crime Historian Richard O.
Jones signing off for now.