Ex-mayor acquitted, two men convicted in 1969 killing

YORK, Pa. -- The former mayor was acquitted and two other men were convicted Saturday in the shotgun slaying of a young black woman during race riots that tore apart York in 1969, the verdicts all but closing the books on a crime that has haunted the city for more than three decades.

Charlie Robertson, 68, cried after the all-white jury's verdict was read, saying later the tears were "from prayers."

The former mayor and two other men were tried in the death of Lillie Belle Allen, a preacher's daughter from Aiken, S.C., who was gunned down by a white mob on July 21, 1969. Robert Messersmith and Greg Neff were convicted of second-degree murder and face sentences of 10 to 20 years in prison; jurors had the option of convicting them of manslaugter.

The long-unsolved case is nearly finished: Of the 10 white men charged in Allen's slaying, six pleaded guilty earlier and await sentencing. The final suspect faces trial later.

The case was dormant for years before prosecutors, saying they had new information, opened it again in 1999. Many in this faded manufacturing city of 40,000 worried openly that the investigation and trial would reopen old wounds.

The riots, touched off by simmering violence between white and black youths, left Allen dead, white patrolman Henry Schaad mortally wounded, more than 60 people injured and whole blocks burned. It took 400 National Guardsmen and state police troopers to quell the violence.

Robertson, a police officer during the riots, went on to become a popular two-term mayor. Prosecutors said Messersmith and Neff were members of the white gangs that ambushed the car carrying Allen, 27, and four relatives.

Prosecutors said Robertson handed out ammunition to at least one of the gunmen in an effort to even the score for the shooting of the patrolman three days before Allen was slain.

One of the men who pleaded guilty, Rick Knouse, testified that Robertson gave him 30.06 rifle ammunition and told him to "kill as many" blacks as he could.

Robertson admitted shouting "white power!" at a gang rally the day before Allen's killing, but denied the other accusations. He has apologized for his views back then, saying the mugging of his father by three black men when he was a youth affected him deeply.

Messersmith, 53, was accused of firing the shot that killed Allen, while Neff, 54, was accused of shooting at the white Cadillac carrying Allen, her sister, brother-in-law and parents.

The family was on its way to the grocery store when the car turned into a predominantly white neighborhood where armed youths had girded for war with blacks. The car stalled, and Allen was shot when she climbed out to take the wheel from a relative.

According to witnesses, Messersmith later bragged about the slaying, saying "I blew the nigger in half."

Robertson was the first officer to arrive at the murder scene. While he credited himself with saving the lives of Allen's relatives, he and three other officers did not disarm gang members, take witness statements or file a report.

"Everyone knew who was involved," Robertson told Time magazine last year. "But everyone just thought it was even. One black had been killed and one white -- even."

None of the three defendants testified at trial.

The jury had deliberated for about 10 hours over three days before reaching the verdict, appearing at times to struggle to come to a conclusion. At one point Saturday, they asked the judge if it was too early to declare a hung jury; the judge said yes and sent them back to deliberate.

"It's been two years," Robertson said after the verdict. "I'm a little tired and I'm going home."

Defense attorneys said there was no definitive proof that any of the three killed Allen. And they ridiculed prosecution witnesses, saying those who pleaded guilty in the case were testifying in hopes of winning leniency at sentencing and others had poor memories.

The defense also suggested it was too dark the night of the slaying to conclusively identify anyone; former officer James Vangreen testified that the armed gang members looked like "silhouettes."

A state police investigation and a federal civil rights probe both ended without charges in the case decades ago.

But three years ago, after the city's two daily newspapers had extensive coverage of the 30th anniversary of the riots, prosecutors reopened the investigation.

One man called who prosecutors to tell what he knew took his life the next day. Donald Altland admitted he was present the night Allen was killed, and that he was one of those who shot at the Cadillac. "He just said he felt sorry," his widow, Cindy Altland, said.

Three other gang members also killed themselves after the riots.

Authorities also recently reopened the case of the white patrolman's shooting. Two black men were arrested last year and charged with murder in the slaying of Schaad, who was 22. They could be tried early next year.