{"id":674,"date":"2014-05-12T01:39:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-12T01:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=674"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:05:43","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:05:43","slug":"double-murder-in-the-east-end","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/12\/double-murder-in-the-east-end\/","title":{"rendered":"Double murder in the East End (warning: graphic images)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Detectives <\/a>
Detectives brush the death car for fingerprints while Garrow lies jammed awkwardly in the back floorboard. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Scene <\/a>
Scene where the bodies were found. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Detectives <\/a>
Detectives examine the body of Evans. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The unfortunate Garrow (left) and Evans. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Map <\/a>
Map showing where the bodies were found. (Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

May 17, 1946:<\/strong> Fred Garrow was a Uniontown coal miner and boxer until he joined the vaudeville circuit as a baritone with a barbershop quartet known as The Dixie Four. Once the singing gigs dried up he operated pool halls and eventually moved to Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n

And he continued singing. In East Liberty nightclubs, he\u2019d croon a few tunes and get paid in coffee and cakes \u2014 Garrow didn\u2019t drink. He gained a reputation as a happy-go-lucky chap who loved to chew tobacco, even when eating a sandwich.<\/p>\n

Still, he was a tough guy. Tough enough to act as an unofficial bouncer at a Penn Avenue joint called Allen\u2019s Restaurant.<\/p>\n

It was there on a Thursday night in May 1946 that Garrow met with a man named Frank Evans. This bothered restaurant manager Red Drosnes, one of Garrow\u2019s buddies. Drosnes knew about this Evans guy. He was bad news.<\/p>\n

Drosnes watched as the two chatted quietly. When Evans and Garrow prepared to leave. Drosnes pulled Garrow aside and gave him a warning. \u201cDon\u2019t leave with him,\u201d Drosnes said, \u201cor you may never come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garrow brushed off the advice.<\/p>\n

Early the next morning, two East End men driving to work noticed blood on a black Pontiac parked on a short stretch of road near Washington Avenue. They checked out the vehicle and saw Evans sitting upright in the back seat. He\u2019d been shot 14 times. Eight bullets had torn apart his face.<\/p>\n

Garrow\u2019s body was jammed face down in the back floorboard. He\u2019d been shot eight times. A bizarre photograph published in The Pittsburgh Press shows his foot sticking awkwardly from the rear of the back of the vehicle while detectives dust the steering wheel for fingerprints.<\/p>\n

Police figured the killings were part of a war in the city\u2019s lucrative numbers racket. They searched Evans\u2019 clothing and found an adding machine slip indicating he\u2019d collected $6,000 in numbers plays the previous week. Evans\u2019 take was $600.<\/p>\n

The numbers racket was big business. Authorities said the East Liberty numbers syndicate took in $20,000 each day. And it had just embarked on a business expansion plan, pushing into Homewood-Brushton.<\/p>\n

Evans was tied up with the Homewood gang, which is probably what got him killed. He had an extensive police record and had, in fact, recently received a \u201cquickie\u201d parole from a judge moved to leniency by the \u201cEaster spirit.\u201d If not for the celebration of a resurrection, Evans may have stayed in jail and lived to be murdered another day.<\/p>\n

And Garrow? Police had picked him up a few times on gambling raids, but Garrow had never been held for court. He was, police said, a small-time player with the misfortune to have as his companion a doomed man.<\/p>\n

Read part two: Dapper suspect in the killings takes a \u201cfall\u201d in his jail cell<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The retelling of a 1946 murder in two parts.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesDouble murder in the East End (warning: graphic images)<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[947],"tags":[960,973,1048],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_n5bdnhqqk31rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1171%2C864&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":667,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/14\/mob-murder-suspect-takes-a-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":0},"title":"Mob murder suspect takes a fall","date":"May 14, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"That\u2019s Frank Valenti, the detective said to himself.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_n5dqlb5qZ51rr5swxo5_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C608&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6566,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/02\/24\/tim-stevens-singing-activist\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":1},"title":"Tim Stevens, Pittsburgh’s singing activist","date":"February 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Tim Stevens' career as a musician lasted as long if not longer than his role as a civil rights activist, community advocate and volunteer.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/img023.jpg?fit=1200%2C797&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1213,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/11\/15\/the-downtown-kaufmanns\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":2},"title":"The Downtown Kaufmann\u2019s","date":"November 15, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"It may be called Macy\u2019s now. And even Macy\u2019s is quite an old chain.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tumblr_mwa23tdazp1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C713&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8088,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/07\/27\/pittsburgh-forgotten-union-beer-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":3},"title":"Pittsburgh’s Forgotten Beer War","date":"July 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As families slept in apartments lining the 1900 block of Forbes Avenue, a car quietly rolled past. It was the early hours of Nov. 17, 1946, and the city of Pittsburgh hadn\u2019t gotten around to installing streetlights here. The car stopped in front of beer distributor Ben Golomb\u2019s store, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Beer010-e1501094506649.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5218,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/04\/15\/east-liberty-pittsburgh-pothole\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":4},"title":"The pothole that swallowed Christine Contillo","date":"April 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In March 1943, a woman stepped in a pothole, broke her ankle and eventually won a nice pile of cash from the City of Pittsburgh.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/penn_frankstown1.jpg?fit=1200%2C994&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":945,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/02\/17\/the-complex-and-tough-dante-tex-gill\/","url_meta":{"origin":674,"position":5},"title":"The complex and tough\u00a0Dante \u201cTex\u201d Gill","date":"February 17, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"George Lee had just dined at his favorite Italian restaurant when he was shot to death in a Downtown parking lot.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/tumblr_n0u8o8TqFk1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1017%2C1008&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=674"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3979,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/674\/revisions\/3979"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}