In the mail awhile back, someone sent me a news clipping concerning a Eugene Eckman who tried to rob a casino. At the bottom of the Associated Press article there was another paragraph that could have been part of that story or - knowing the way papers used to run everything together and avoid white space like the plague - it could a completely separate article. The article read: Eckman Killed Woman in St Louis in 1922 Eckman, who formerly lived in St. Louis, shot and killed Mrs. Nora Gartland in her home at 2944 Cass avenue, Sept 19, 1922. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison when he pleaded guilty of murder. Mrs. Gartland and Eckman had been partners in a bootlegging business and quarreled over that . The article about the casino had the dateline "MIAMI, Fla, Feb 27". A handwritten note above the article reads "1932". It is conceivable that Eugene Eckman is the Eckman who was a bootlegger in St Louis, and who quarreled and killed his partner, Nora Gartlan...
by Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman