The Charleston Daily Mail from Charleston, West Virginia • Page 1

here today with his wife Opal plead guilty To a federal. WmeaE'has sued more than me 10 years and 10 weeks since Us 1961 inauguration as the governor of West Virginia. son, of a Presbyterian minister and cntlMe dent; climbed steadily if un specucuiany up tne political ladder i mayor of Elkins, two terras in the legislature, a hitch as a statehduse appointive official, elected attorney general in 1956, elected gover n.iaou. i I960 Drimarv and ooner al' election, campaigns, thrown into uproar by a tape recording and a charge based on it, provided a less than auspicious, nrelude to his adminis tration, One of Barron's I960 prima ry opponents for the Demo cratic nomination for governor was Orel J. Skeen, then Birne treasurer, a before the; Skeen charged that: Barron had offered' bim CHARLEY WEST Spring is here, the Charlies are coming, and things are looking better all the time.

Now watcn it snow 3 feet. $65,000 to stay out of the race. Skeen produced a somewhat ambiguious tape recording as corroboration. 1 Barron denied the charge, branded the rtapja recording rigged and sued Skeen for $300,000, for slander and libel. Skeen ran a distant third in the three man primary behind Barron and Hulett C.

Smith, then state Democratic chair lan. In the fall camnaien. the Republicans obtained a copy of the recording. The GOP nominee for governor, Harold E. played it at a news conference.

Barron filed a $400,000 slander suit against Neely. Neither suit came to trial. Barron moved one of the most successful of recent governors He obtained passage of a state personal income tax his first year in office. Also enacted during his term was administration legislation creat ine state uvit, service Jm: the Human fttehfe Commiasion, the Department of Commerce and the austnai Development Authority. But for the scandals in the wake of his admitustration, Barron probably would be oest rememnered as West Virginia's centennial governor.

The year long centennial celebration in 1963, highlighted by a visit by President Kennedy on Statehood Day in June, was generally acclaimed a success. Much of the credit accrued to Barron. The first big scandal, broke in October 1964, three months before Barron's term ended. Six persons, one of them a Department of Commerce employe, were indicted connection with handling nf federal funds received for repair of damage caused by a disastrous 1961 flash flood in Charleston. The charges which did not directly touch Barron involved use of dummy corDora tions and falsification of state Seas Rip Tanker; 33 Lost PORTSMOUTH, Va.

(AP) of 44 crewmen were missing today from the tonkerJTexaco Oklahoma, which broke in two in heavy Atlantic seas 120 miles northeast of Cape Hatteras, N. C. Eleven men of the tanker's crew were' rescued from a life raft by a passing freighter, which headed for New York as the Coast Guard resumed a this morning for pos mAt Most of missing crewmen jrtre from £rf area of fort Arthur, Tes, tanker was jgded with mjm aircraft from its air station at Elizabeth City, N. were oent this morning to search aa expanded area of 3,600 sonars miles centered around the; feea in which the Texaco; Oklahoma went The tankers Texaco Nebraska and Texaco D3inois joined in the it was a mystery why nearly two thirds' of the erewmen apparently the ttwai Jl sours after fflft aMoot mtti brake twe to The word, came in the form of two messages from the Liberi an freighter Sasstown saying it had nicked un 11 survivors bf a life raft. The Sasstown, en route to New York, sighted the life raft about 4 Sunday.

The Coast Guard' had difficulty learning details of what happened, but a spokesman one sasstown quoted tot survivors is saying the stent section' they abandoned sank half in afterward. Tbjjy were repsrtod to wiVe for the last time at midnight, hours after they launched the raft. They did not see the rest of the Ship sink, nor did they see any other rafts, the Coast Guard By the time the Coast Guard got a plane into the air late Sunday, all it found was a huge on slick. The pilot, Lt. Cmdr.

Patrick H. Cannon. said the Sasstown by then was 145 miles, east of Elizabeth City, N.C^ in seas running to 10 feet. The Texaco Oklahoma was twite from Part Arthor to Bottom, with tT'Mittl' records to hide the true amount of work awarded to a construction company formed by. people with administration coons, uiuv two convic tions were obtainedrbow later overturned by the State Supreme Court.

several outer Barron admin istration figures came to Brief in court after he was succeed is governor bv Hulett Smith. Some still held, under Smith, the posts to which Bar ron oaa aooointed mem. uaiTon motor 1 1 commissioner was sentenced payroll padding. Barron's top Hisvswm ana ins aiconor oev erane control commissioner drew federal prison sentences tor income tax evasion. state Road Commission offi cial went to prison for engi neering a complex federal surplus equipment swindle.

Feb. 14, 1968 Democrats called it their "Valentine's Day Massacre." Afederal Barron, looking pale and wan because of his three day bout with i federal court, pleaded guilty to three of four counts of jury tampering. Judge John A. Field after imposing the maximum prison sentence of 25 years on the 58 year old former governor, ordered him to undergo a 90 day classification study at Springfield, HI. Barron also could face an accumulative fine of $90,000 if the.

court wishes to impose it. In a courthouse filled almost to capacity and in the presence of his family, Barron pleaded guilty to all charges through his attorneys, Martin C. Bowles and John T. Kay. The new indictment that also named Attorneys Robert G.

Perry and Bonn Brown in the conspiracy, bribery and obstruction of justice indictment, supersedes an earlier charge of bribery against Barron and his wife, Opal Marie Barron. The new indictment Tiad been sealed since last Wednesday night. There had been speculation that three persons would be named. U. S.

Attorney W. Warren Upton, set the stage for the denouement when he asked Judge Field to break the seals. The noise of the crac kling paper could be heard tnrougnout the courtroom. The conspiracy stemmed from a $25,000 bribe paid to foreman Ralph E. Buckaiew of Dunbar to influence the 11 other members.

He was elected foreman bv jurors who served during the 1968' trial of Barron. Brown Burl A. Sawyers and Vincent J. JonmcosKi. All had been charged with bribery and conspiracy in con nection with alleged Kickbacks while Barron was governor.

At that Sawyers was state road commissioner and Johakoski his administrative orison on state charges of ine crusmne wow fell on Sec SCANDAL, Pg. 2, Col. 3 The jury found Sawyers, Brown and Johnkoski guilty. It. acquitted Barron.

A short time later rumors began to circulate that a member of the jury had been given a payoff to influence the jury's decision. Since lhat time the grand jury has met on at least six occasions to hear testimony from federal agents, members of the jury and others. When the. first indictment was announced several weeks ago, Buckaiew pleaded guilty and immediately was sen 3 Die, 7 Missing As Old Inn Burns CANANDAIGUA, N. Y.

An intense fire, with flames that could be seen for miles, raced through the' 117 vear oid Canandaigua Inn early today, leaving at least three persons dead, seven missing and sending 14 persons to hospitals. Firemen searching the smoldering rubble found two charred bodies buried in the wreckage. A third man died of a heart attack. Stanley Rypka, a former pa i tient at a Veterans Administration Hospital here, collapsed at the scene and died at the hospital. Detective Anthony Decere said the fire broke out on the top floor of the four story brick and wood building shortly after midnight and engulfed the ground floor within minutes.

Occupants of the 70 rooms included students at the Finger Lakes Community College and patients recently discharged from a nearby Veterans Administration hospital. Barnhart Walker, 24, a second floor occupant, said he was in his room when he heard people shouting. "I ran into the hall and pieces cf burning wood started to faU on me," Walker said. "At that time, the desk clerk me. We ran upstairs and began pounding on doors.

"Even tnougn lire was burning around them and the rooms were filling with smoke," walker coots "some people started packing clothes. One man didn't want to come out until he finished packing. We hid to pall him A spokesman for the hospital said a staff member at toe made coated with most of the former patients and reported them "okay." A number of persons were rescued' by ladder from the top floors and others were led down fire escapes to safety. More than' 150 firemen and equipment from communities as far as 20 miles away were called in. At the height of the four hour blaze flames were visable for almost ten miles.

of conspiracy, and 15 years on a bribery count. The tense atmosphere in the courtroom remained until Judge Field asked, "Is there anything else, gentlemen; SAIGON I8i North Vietnamese sappers ran through a U. S. artillery base in the jungle south of Da Nang early Sunday, killing 33 Americans and wounding 76 within an hour. It was believed to be the highest American death toll of the war in an attack on a U.

S. installation. The U.S. Command reported 12 of 'the sappers were killed, some of them inside the base and some by helicopter and C119 gunships. Much of the base was overrun, but it remained in American control today.

"Extensive" action is being conducted in the area," the Command said. There was a general stepup in enemy action, much of it in ine wang region. U.S. officers said the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong were taking advantage oi tne care oi me moon is always higher enemy activity about this time because it's easier for the enemy to get into position without being detected," one officer said. Viet Cong sappers raided a resettlement village 25 miles south of Da Nang early today, killing 13 South Vietnamese, wounding 21 and burning 100 houses.

Twenty five 100 pound rockets hit the Da Nang air base and the nearby Marble Mountain air facility, damaging a few planes and helicopters and wounding several Enemy gunners also shelled the headquarters of the U.S. Americal Division at Chu Lai, south of Da Nang, but no casualties or damage was reported. The attack on the artillery FINAL EDITION THE WEATHER VARIASL2 to Details cc Page 2 VOLUME 156 NO. 74 CHAJtlESTON, WEST VIRGINIA, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 27, 1971 TW CENTS Barron Given 25 Years For Bribery Indictment Claims Attorney Perry, Bonn Brown $0,000 Delivered mSm Accused In New Indictment To Barron By Perry By BOB MELLACE JMy Men Aisociate Charleston attorney Robtrt G. Pen? is accused, in a federal made public today, of delivering to former Gov.

Barron used to bribe a juror in Barron's 1968 contrary trial. And the government says 110,000 of the money came from Elkins attorney Bonn Brown, indicted today with Barron and Perry on new conspiracy counts. It does not say where the other $15,000 came but it does say that Perry lied to the grand jury here last month when asked if he bad told other lawyers, representing other defendants in the 1968 trials, not to strike the juror, Ralph The indictment says: G. Perry did, in fact, recall, remember and know that be bad specifically discussed the advisability of selecting Ralph E. Buckaiew as a member of the jury in the trial United States v.

WiBiam Wallace Barron, et and the reasons therefore prior to and during' said trial, that he affirmatively wished Ralph E. Buckaiew selected as a juror, that be had instructed, induced and coerced counsel for the co defendants in said trial not to exercise a peremptory challenge with respect to Ralph E. Buckaiew, and that be was a ware at the time of selection of said jury that Ralph E. Buckaiew had Joeen in touch with his client, William Wallace Barron, during the period preceding the trial, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1623." In the indictment is part of Perry's grand jury testimony on Feb. 20, with this key passage: Isn't it a fact you wanted him left on because you knew he would be favoraWeto the defense? No, I did not know, that." The indictment, however, al AMERICANS SAID KILLED IN PAKISTAN NEW DELHI in Tbe United News of India said today that some Americans working on ah irrigation project in the Kushtia distriet'of East Pakistan, were killed Sunday in a bombing raid by Pakistani planes.

The agency a dispatch from Calcutta said its report came from across the border. A U.S. Embassy spokesman said no such word had been, received in New Delhi, but he added that such a report would be sent direct to Washington. The State. Department in Washington said it had not received any confirmation of sach.

an incident. The Spokesman said there were Americans working on an irriaation, program known as the Kobadak project in the Kushtia district, which js 80 miles west of Dacca ana 20 miles east of the Indian bor der. He said it was assumed that they were employed by theT American Agency for International Development on temporary contracts. East Pakistani 'rebels, were reported holding out at; fflis noints todav. but the West Pakistani army appeared to oe control 01 uacca, me pro vincial capital.

leges that "On or about Aug. 27, the defendant Robert G. Perry delivered to the defendant William Wallace Barron a brown paper bag containing $25,000 in cash." The following day, the indictment says, Mrs. Barron delivered to Buckalew's wife "$25,000 in cash in a brown paper bag" and instructed her not to spend large Mrs. Buckaiew, her husband who is now in federal prison on a guilty plea, and Mrs.

Barron were namtbV today as co conspirators, but not as defendants. After the $25,000 was delivered to. Mrs. Buckaiew, the indictment says that two days later Buckaiew "used his best efforts to influence the deliberations of that jury and the verdict returned by it." Barron was acquitted but Brown and three others were found guilty of conspiring to rig state The mdktment makes it plain that the government feels Barron, Brown and Per ry were responsible for aQeged of the money to Mrs. Bucweit count says taey were directly and indirectly rapon sibie.

And, once me money been passed, the indictment said Mrs. Buckaiew communicated this to ber husband "at times when members of the jury in that trial were permitted to meet with a their families and would communicate to him the substance of her meetings with Opal Marie Barron and would receive messages from Ralph E. Bockatew." The indictment relates that the first contact between: the Buckalews and Barrons oc curred on June 17, 1968; when Buckaiew got the Barron tele phone number from Mrs. Bar ron. Then, it saod; Buckaiew and Barron met at 'the Imperial Towers on or about July 1.

Buckaiew was selected as a juror on Aug. 12 and, on or about the same date, Barron, tnrougn rerry, instructed counsel for his co defendants not to suite Bucfcatew. Brown is not mentioned many times in the indictment. wMcb says he met Barm on or aoouc Aug: ana Aug. 27.

But me main body; of the indictment says: "It was a further part of this coiBDiracy that me defendant Bonn Brown would contribute $10,000 of theaforesaid sum of 525.000 in order to influence the actions of Ralph Buck aiew as a lueuioer ana lore man 01 saia jury." Quake Shakes Chile SANTIAGO; Chile (AP) A earthquake shook the central Chilean province of Valparaiso Sunday but officials 'reported no casualties or damage. A lighter tremor was felt in INDICTMENT FIGURES Former Gov. Barron, center, is shown when he appeared in 1KB at the federal building with two men indicated with him today on charges of bribing the foreman of a jury that acquitted Barron three years ago. They are, Idt; Elkins. attorney Bonn Brown, convicted in the 1968 trials, and Charleston attorney Robert G.

Perry, who represented Barron to the first trial. Barron pleaded guilty today to jury Mail by Chester Hawes. SCANDAL RIDDEN Barron Public Life Spans Ten Controversial Years THI AMOCIAT1D William Wallace Barron, who jpeared in U.S. District Court By TOM CUM5HNGS Cf Vat Daily Mail Staff William Wallace I fenced to a federal prison. He Humohreys.

Arrangements were i is undergoing a ciassfication made to tr3Bsport Bamm to Barren, wtt month zzr to final today became its first chief cision executive ever to be convicted in a state or federal court. 0 base 50 miles south of Da JNang began about 2 a.m. with a barrage of 50 to £0 mortar rounds that pinned down the less than 400 Americans de fending the base. "They put in some mortar rounds and our people took cover," said one American field officer. "There were sappers going through the place throwing satchel charges into our bunkers and firing positions.

The sappers swept across the base and dropped the charges as they went across. They did most of the Springfield Gordon Coen, chief deputy, was specifica'Jy assigned to the task. It was Coen who delivered Buckaiew to Lewisburg and later re turned him for an appearand before the grand jury, i This was the first time that a jury tampering case bad erupted in a federal district When there was no answer, he here. The case and to remarked, ''This court is re toe grand jury's proceedings Barron and his attorney im to tne otiice Marshal Irvin naa causea consiaeraoie conjecture. Judge Field read the See BARRON, Pg.

2. Col. 1 OVERRUN U.S. BASE Red Raiders Kill 33 GIs VICT NAM LAOS fsopaOTJCiUl SOUTH 1 Sto in the war Ga. (J Heavy antiaircraft and StLSS tog torcea cancellation of a South Vietnamese commando raid today on a major North Vietnamese headquarters in the Laotian panhandle south of the area involved by the Saigon troops during their recent operations across the border.

ON INSIDE PAGES 24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS Page 12 Classified 20 Comics 14 Crossword 14 Dear Abby 10 Editorials 6 Financial 15 Hot Line 13 My Answer Obituaries Sports Sr. Forum Theaters TV Johnny Wonder's 14 U.S.. helicopters were to drop more than 200 South Vietnamese troops to "inflict maximum casualties, then get back out," while U.S. helicopter gunships provided close air cover. But the raid was called off when massive U.S.

air strikes failed to suppress enemy antiaircraft fire, and fog mixed with dust from the bombs sharply reduced visibility. The U.S. Command reported two more American helicopters shot down in the aftermath of the Laotian operation, one in southern Laos and the other on the Vietnamese side of the border. One crewman was wounded in the two crashes. The command said this raised to 99 the number of helicopters lost in the operation, with a total of 66 Americans killed, 28 missing and 84 wounded.

The steady reduction of U.S. forces in Indochina continued, and the U.S. Command reported total American strength dropped by last Thursday to 306,500 men, a reduction of 6,400 men in the previous week. Galley Judge Will Decide On Jury Help liam Calley's murder jury if it needs help in its deliberations. Anyuung do at tins mint certainly is dangerous," the judge said.

ine lurv was in the 13th day of deliberations todav and showing no signs of being near a vercuct. "The government can sit here forever business as usual, business as usual," de lense attorney George Latimer complained. "But what about the accused?" The prosecutor, Capt. Aubrey DaDiel, had warned that to make any inquiries cf the jury would have the effect of coercing a Yerdict. "We have no indicaticn this jury has difficulty in reaching a verdict," Daniel said.

"What we do have here is that they are calmly and rationally deliberating all these issues as you directed. "They have not indicated they need any assistance. They have not indicated they are having any difficulty. They have not indicated (bey cannot reach a.