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F.B.I. Agent Testifies Panther Told of Shoothig Murder Victim

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F.B.I. Agent Testifies Panther Told of Shoothig Murder Victim "George said that if anyone THE NEW YORK TIMES, I didn't_ like what he did they would get the same treatment," the agentlestitied.. qUoting the a F.B.I. Agent Testifies Panther defendant. d In cross-examination, Mr. S Told of Shoothig Murder Victim Metucas's lawyer, Theodore I. Koskoff, asked Mr. Twede o: whether he had ever made a By JOSEPH LELYVELD report that Mr. McLucas had w special to The Why Yon Tht4tO r said that he. obeyed the order in NEW HAVEN, July 21 ---, to make sure Rackley was dead til Wain% McLucas admitted last' Fears for Life Cited because he feared "that if he th ct yestr 'that he had fired a shot In fact, the F. B. I. agent, failed to do as ordered he into the body of Alex Rackley would be shot by George Order to make sure that he Lynn G. Twedsi of Salt Lake Sams." M was dead, an agent of the Fed- City, testified that Mr. McLucas The agent hesitated and the eral Bureau of Investigation had indicated he had "become question had to be read back to testified here today. disenchanted with the party be- to him twice before he an- m, McLucas, the first of cause of the violence" and swered directly, "yes." Fi eigh( Black Panthers to stand of wanted to quit. But he was Mr. Koskoff used the cross- trial here in connection with examination to stres small acts fo the Rackley slaying, was said afraid to do so because "Ife had of mercy Mr. McLucas had told de to have told interrogators in learned too much," the agent of performing---dressing Rack- Salt Lake City jail that he had quoted him as saying, and ley's wounds, sending out for w acted on orders from George feared he might be killed. orange juice for him and cut- to Sams Jr., who was said to have Mr. Twede testified that Mr. ting his bonds because when al handed him a .45-caliber pistol McLucas said he had been on his way to California at, his hands started swelling after h; that had been used moments the Sat* tied him to a bed. pi before by Warren Klmbro to time of his arrest and ex- sc shoot Rackley. pected to be named a Panther Testimony Is Debated to Sams and Kimbro have both "field director" with "complete pleaded guilty to second-de- authority" over the - area be- The jury was excluded from g gree murder. According to he tween Boston and the Mason- the courtroom throughout the agent, Mr. McLucas said that Dixon Line. morning session as Mr. Kos- it was Sams who had stage- If the defendant felt any am- 1toff argued strenuously on be- t. managed the torture and ex- bivalence about the party in half of a motion to suppress ecution of the 25-year-old Salt Lake City, he appears to Mr. Twede's testimony. Rackley after denouncing him have reaffirmed his allegiance i In the course of questioning' as an informer. since then. As he left the court- the F.B.I. ' man at this stage, On the night of the murder room this attention*. *her defense counsel asked whether Sams turned the victim loose , !2etLettotteems4- etmemate any lawyer had been appointed in woods near Middlefield, for Mr. McLucas in Salt Lake Conn., with instructions "to be hearing his alleged admission City when he was arraigned be- careful" because of "Minute- read into the record, he gave fore a United States Commis- men in the area," according to the putts clenched fist salute stoner. The agent replied that the F.B.I. man's notes on the to sympathizers in the gallery ne lawyer had been named. interview with Mr. McLucas. who replied, "Right On!" MORE Mr. Koskoff then produced Order from Higher Up documents proving that Mr. Referring regularly to notes ivrede was wrong. Subsequent As Rackley staggered into that he took during the interro- e the woods, the defendant's nar- t questions demonstrated that gation, Mr. Twede said Mr. Mc- tha agent had made no effort ration reportedly continued. Lucas told of having asked to contact this lawyer in the Sams handed his pistol to Kim- "why?" when Sams gave the b bro and said, "Ice him—it's two times he went to the jail order for Rackley to be tied up ti to question Mr. McLucas. an order from national head- in the basement of Panther quarters." a In both instances, the de- headquarters here two days be- fendant signed waivers saying Mr. McLiicas was-said tolteve fore the murder. The notes did 0 explained to his interrogators— h he knew his rights and did not not show that Sams had of- need his lawyer. But Mr. Kos- two New Haven detectives and fered any,answer, only that the 0 two F.B.I. agents—that Sams koff argued that these were defendant had bowed to the insufficient to make his State- told local Black Panthers that order. ar he head been sent here by na- Meets admissible as evidence, Torture Is Described C because the agent had no right tional headquarters and that he of "had more authority than any- It was Sams also, Mr. Mc- to initiate such conversations ft at that stage. one elite on the East Coast" Lucas was reported to have tr in the party. said, who ordered that water be F The Interrogation of Mt. Mc boiled and scalded the victim a, Lucas took place on June 8, with it when Rackley denied at 1969.. -18 days after the Rack- ever having informed on the IE ley murder and two months be- Panther 21 in New York, who a fore the arrest of Sams, who had been arrested the previous quickly supplied the police with month on charges that they a statement saying that Bobby had plotted bombings. a: G. Seale, the national chair- ri Rackley, who was gagged d man of the Black Panthers, had with a towel at the time, man- ordered the execution. Mr. Seale aged somehow to signal a kind is now among those awaiting a of confession after the fourth n trial. pot of boiling water had been Nothing Mr, McLucas was re- emptied on him, according to ported to hava said in the inter- t the Information cOntained in e rogation implicated Mr. Seale. the agent's notes. But neither did he appear to a have expressed any doubts about Sams credentials as an agent of the party's national headquarters. .
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