Ciemiengo turns 17 in prison, 1936

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From New Jersey Mirror 22 Jul 1936

Overgrown Jacob Ciemiengo celebrated his seventeenth birthday in the death house of State Prison, Trenton, on Thursday, happy because his life had been spared by the Court of Pardons. Scheduled to die the week of July 26 for the $4 holdup-murder of Herman Eilers, Florence township farmer, Ciemiengo and his companion, George Hildebrand, 27, had had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment on Tuesday two days before.
The six-foot farmer boys awaited removal to another prison cell after official notice of the court's action was received by Principal Keeper Lagay. One of his attorneys, Stanley K. Heilbron, quoted the youth as saying, "I will show them I can make good." He reiterated this promise to his parish priest, Rev. M. A. Konopka of All Saints' Church, Burlington. He told the priest he intends to learn a trade in the prison shops and prepare himself for a useful life. Father Konopka, a prime mover in the drive to obtain a commuted sentence for the youth, said "Jackie is a fine kid, a good boy. I have every confidence he will make a good citizen. I still believe Jackie was innocent. He was never in any mischief before this occurred." Ciemiengo was "overjoyed," Father Konopka said, by his greatest "birthday present"--life itself.
Low mentality, in addition to their youth, has been cited as a factor that inspired commutation of the death sentences of murderers Ciemiengo and Hildebrand, sentenced to the chair in this county for the premeditated killing of farmer Eilers. Low mentality, in the lay view, fails to warrant a favored class in punishment for murder. Otherwise, the day might come when a high school diploma or a college degree is required for eligibility to the electric chair.
Location: Bustleton Road, Burlington, NJ 08016, USA

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