He Killed the Judge

In a Warren, Pa. courtroom last week, Norman Moon, 26, an electrical construction worker, convicted of failure to support his wife, stood up to hear his sentence. "Have you anything to say?" asked Judge Allison Wade, 51. "No," murmured Moon sullenly. Then he reached under his coat, pulled out a .45-cal. automatic and fired wildly at District Attorney Myer Kornreich. Kornreich fled from the courtroom and Moon turned toward the bench. Judge Wade jumped to his feet, shielding himself with a chair. "Don't shoot," he begged. "I'm not going to sentence you." Moon fired twice. The judge staggered, clutched his chest and stumbled from the bench. "He shot me, he shot me," he gasped. In front of the empty jury box, he fell to the floor and died.

The killer waved his pistol at the frightened spectators, ran into the street and got into his car. Just outside town, two state troopers spotted him and began a careering cross-country chase. After six miles, Moon was forced to stop when one of his tires was shot out. As the police approached him with drawn revolvers, Moon jumped from his bullet-riddled car, put his pistol to his throat and fired, ripping out part of his tongue. This week he was expected to recover and stand trial for murder. Said a policeman at Connellsville, his home: "It should never have happened. That boy has never been in trouble in his life."

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