{"id":10785,"date":"2019-11-28T19:05:48","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T03:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10785"},"modified":"2019-11-28T19:12:29","modified_gmt":"2019-11-29T03:12:29","slug":"end-of-watch-nathan-oscar-longfellow-thanksgiving-day-1923","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/?p=10785","title":{"rendered":"End of Watch: Nathan Oscar Longfellow — Thanksgiving Day, 1923"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There is no such thing as a routine day in law enforcement.\nOn Thanksgiving Day, 1923, a City of San Fernando motor officer, Nathan Oscar Longfellow,\nrode out to the scene of a reported riot on the 1300 block of Celis Drive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
NYPD motor officer on his motorcycle c. 1920<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One hundred people filled the street, none of them too stuffed\nwith turkey and pie to celebrate the holiday. There was no riot. The large gathering\nwas peaceful except for one man, Francisco Casade, 45, a laborer who was drunk,\nloud, and creating a disturbance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Longfellow rolled up on his motorcycle prepared to quell a\nriot. He found one unruly drunk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nathan Oscar Longfellow<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Before a crowd of witnesses, Longfellow placed Casade under\narrest for disturbing the peace and placed him in the sidecar of his\nmotorcycle.  As the motorcycle pulled away\nCasade attempted to escape. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witnesses watched as Longfellow tried to restrain his\nprisoner.  Casade produced an automatic\npistol he had concealed under his vest. He fired three times. Longfellow\ndropped to the pavement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crowd, enraged by the shooting, fought Casade to the ground\nand held him until other officers arrived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ambulance transported Longfellow to the San Fernando\nHospital where he died a few days later. The officer was a 21-year-old former\nclerk who had had joined the San Fernando Police Department 13-months earlier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fearing that citizens in the neighborhood would storm the\nlocal jail and lynch him, police took Casade to the Los Angeles County Jail and\nheld him without bond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The county grand jury heard testimony from J.W. Thompson,\nChief of Police in San Fernando, Deputy Sheriff Charles Catlin, who investigated\nthe case, and Mrs. G. Strathern, a witness to the shooting. The statements were\nenough indict Casade for Longfellow\u2019s murder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On January 11, 1924, the jury in the Francisco Casade trial\ninformed Judge Reeve that they could not reach a verdict. The judge ordered\nthem sequestered until the morning of the 12th<\/sup>. Maybe all the jury\nneeded was an overnight incentive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The jurors tried, but they squared off: six for hanging and\nsix for life imprisonment. A conference between the District Attorney\u2019s office\nand the judge resulted in a continuance until January 14.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Judge Reeve had no choice but to dismiss the jury after the\nforeman told him that six of the jurors held out for hanging and would not\nbudge. They ordered a second trial to begin on January 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casade\u2019s public defender tried to use his client\u2019s\nintoxication as a mitigating circumstance. He failed to convince his\nrecalcitrant client to plead guilty and avoid the death penalty. Casade rolled\nthe dice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two hours of deliberation, the jury returned a verdict\nof guilty for first degree murder. They sentenced Casade to hang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Appeals are automatic in a death penalty case, and Casade\u2019s\nsnaked its way through the system to the State Supreme Court.  In September 1924 the court upheld the\nsentence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Holidays proved unlucky for Casade. He killed officer\nLongfellow on Thanksgiving Day 1923 and hanged for the crime on Valentine\u2019s Day\n1925. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this day when we give thanks, let\u2019s honor those people\nwho have paid the ultimate price to keep us and those we love safe: law enforcement,\nfirefighters, members of the military. They deserve our respect and support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Nathan Oscar Longellow<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In memory of Nathan Oscar Longfellow, a young man who never\ngot the chance to fulfill his dreams, the following poem by an unknown author. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“P<\/em><\/strong>oliceman’s P<\/strong>rayer“<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

W<\/em><\/strong>hen I start my tour of duty\nGod,
\nWherever crime may be,
\nas I walk the darkened streets alone,
\nLet me be close to thee.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

P<\/em><\/strong>lease give me understanding\nwith both the young and old.
\nLet me listen with attention until their story’s told.
\nLet me never make a judgment in a rash or callous way,
\nbut let me hold my patience let each man have his say.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

L<\/em><\/strong>ord if some dark and dreary night,
I must give my life,
Lord, with your everlasting love
protect my children and my wife.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There is no such thing as a routine day in law enforcement. On Thanksgiving Day, 1923, a City of San Fernando motor officer, Nathan Oscar Longfellow, rode out to the scene of a reported riot on the 1300 block of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,615,263,259],"tags":[1908,2636,2634,2635,2638,2637,2639,2633,128],"class_list":["post-10785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1920s","category-end-of-watch","category-hanging-2","category-homicide-2","tag-1908","tag-deputy-sheriff-charles-catlin","tag-francisco-casade","tag-j-w-thompson","tag-judge-reeve","tag-mrs-g-strathern","tag-policemans-prayer","tag-san-fernando-police-department","tag-san-quentin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10785"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10795,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10785\/revisions\/10795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derangedlacrimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}