HOYT L. GATES May 21, 1902 - February 11, 1941 The manager of the Safeway Store, 301 24th Street, was talking to his wife on the telephone when a man entered the store and announced a holdup. The manager told his wife to call the police and was forced to drop the phone. A call was received at the police station to send an officer and Detective Gates went to the business, unaware of the situation inside. He found the front door locked and started banging on the door. A clerk opened the door and tried to warn Gates to pull his gun but the robber immediately began firing. Gates swung to one side to make certain all the clerks were out of the line of fire and the robber shot him four times. Gates returned fire but the shots went wild. Gates staggered out the front door in a final attempt to reach the rear door where the robber had fled. Gates died five minutes later of internal bleeding. At the time of his death, 38-year-old Detective Gates had been a police officer for five years, and was the father of one son and one daughter.

Hoyt L. Gates
February 11, 1941

Wednesday, February 12, 1941
Ogden Standard-Examiner

BANDIT SLAYS OGDEN OFFICER IN HOLDUP
Here Are Characters in Ogden Holdup, Slaying

IN MURDER CASE
Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates, lower left, was killed almost instantly by an armed bandit Tuesday evening while attempting to interrupt a grocery store robbery. At top, R. K. Yeates, manager of the store, points to a smashed window where police threw a tear gas bomb when the bandit sought cover after firing four bullets into the officer. Center, right, with wrists shackled, Wallace A. Avery, 32, of San Francisco, admitted slayer of the officer, is being hustled into a solitary confinement cell, followed by Police Detective Lee W. Pack. Avery will face first degree murder charges.

GUNMAN'S MATE
Mrs. Roverda Avery, 32, admitted wife of the slayer of Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates, is being held in city jail on an open charge. She was seated in an auto near the store when the shooting occurred then Adrove around town. She was arrested about three hours after the murder.

SENT CALL
Police got first word of the attempted holdup inside the Safeway store from Mrs. R. K. Yeates, of 966 Rushton. She was talking to her husband, R. K. Yeates, manager of the store, while the bandit was making ready to rob the cash till. Mr. Yeates told his wife to call police, then hung up.

Detective Gates Dies in Attempt to Halt Robbery
STORE MANAGER GIVES ACCOUNT OF GUN AFFRAY
Praises Bravery of Dead Officer in Attempt to Halt Robbery
by Dorothy Porter, Standard-Examiner Staff

R. K. Yeates, manager of Safeway store, who resides at 966 Rushton, today gave the following account of the attempted robbery and slaying of Police Detective H. L. Gates, who answered the alarm:
I was talking with my wife on the telephone when the bandit entered the store. I had no idea we were in for a holdup until one of our clerks who had noticed the fellow had a gun pressed against a checker's back whispered to me to tell Mrs. Yeates to call the police. I had just had time to say Call the police--I didn't have time to tell her why--when I was forced to drop the phone.
Avery warned us all to act natural and told me to hand over the cash.
In the meantime, my wife had called the police station and told them to send an officer over to the store. She then called back to check. She thought perhaps we had been joking. One of the clerks answered the phone. He couldn't say much. All he had time to say was for her to do whatever I had told her. Then he also was forced to put down the phone.
The next thing I knew one of the boys had let Officer Gates in the front door. I heard the officer ask, What's up, then the thug started shooting. I think he struck the officer with his first bullet. He fired two or three times, then ran to the back of the store and hid in a back room. Gates answered the fire, but his mortal wound affected his aim.
Officer Fires Shot
Avery attempted to force me to scoop up the money and go back and act as a shelter while he got out a rear door. I told him I felt much safer up front, but flung the money toward him, thinking maybe he would take it and get out. He started up an aisle toward me. But by that time more officers had reached the scene. One of them fired at him through the front door and he dashed back to hiding. The place was surrounded.
Police broke a rear window in the room in which he had holed up and tossed in a tear bomb, forcing Avery out of the store. The robber was almost out of ammunition. He was captured without any further trouble.
"Mean Hombre"
In my opinion, he must have been hopped up in some way, because he went all to pieces. Believe me, he was really a mean hombre.
No one could have done any more than Officer Gates. He was extremely brave in carrying out his duty. I'm terribly sorry the affair resulted in his death.

Speedy Prosecution Seen As Assailant Held On Murder Charge
WIFE ALSO NABBED
Gunman Driven From Store Hideout By Tear Gas Bombs
by Lou Gladwell, Standard-Examiner Staff

A drug addict, ex-convict and professional gambler who late Tuesday shot and killed Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates, 38, during a holdup in the Safeway store, 301 Twenty-fourth street, will face first degree murder charges as quickly as authorities complete investigation, it was announced today by Glenn W. Adams, Weber county attorney.
The bandit, who blazed three shots into Detective Gates lower right side before the officer could get his own gun into play, gave police his name as Walter A. Avery, 32, of San Francisco.
He was being held in solitary confinement after giving police a full confession of the killing. His wife and alleged accomplice, Mrs. Roverda Avery, 32, was being held on an open charge.
Wife is Arrested
Mrs. Avery was arrested several hours after the murder in a new 1941 sedan she and her husband had used in getting from Salt Lake City to Ogden Tuesday afternoon.
Detective Gates, reeled by the charge of lead in his side, emptied his pistol in the direction of the gunman who was standing near a cash register holding clerks at bay. The six shots went wild.
Dropping to his knees, Detective Gates reloaded his gun and left the store after firing two more shots through the front door.
The bandit ran to cover in a rear compartment of the store.
Staggering, Detective Gates dragged himself along the west side of the store, apparently trying to catch the bandit at the rear of the building.
Dies in Hospital
The officer collapsed before many steps. He died about five minutes later in the Dee hospital from loss of blood.
These were highlights of the tragedy as related today by Chief C.H. Taylor and Captain Dewey F. Hawkins.
Circumstances of the killing, as pieced together by Captain Hawkins, follows:
Detective Gates entered the store alone after receiving word a robbery was in progress at the Safeway store. The front door had just been locked and clerks were preparing to close the days business.
Detective Gates knocked at the door, and Richard Hardy, a clerk, turned to Avery who was attempting to obtain money from a cash register and said:
Fires Three Shots
"It's just a customer. I'll let him in."
Opening the door, Hardy warned Gates to pull his gun. Hardy jumped behind some boxes of apples.
On the alert, Avery shot Gates three times before the officer could get his bearings.
Avery, who before the officer arrived had ordered all clerks of the store to stand together and not move, fired a fourth shot that caught the officer in the arm.
Then he ran to cover in a rear compartment of the store.
Meanwhile, a strong cordon of police and sheriff's officers--and later special police from the Ogden arsenal and railroad--surrounded the store. They went to work as soon as Gates was rushed to the hospital.
Use Tear Gas Bombs
Captain Hawkins and Lieut. C. K. Keeter went to the rear of the store and after tearing away some screen over a window threw a tear gas bomb inside.
Captain Hawkins warned Avery: Come on out or we'll come in and get you."
Avery answered, "No, if I come out you'll kill me."
Seconds later he walked out of the room, his hands in the air, holding his .32 calibre pistol with one thumb.
Police warned him to drop the gun. Whimpering , he did, and submitted to arrest without further resistance.
Avery's first story to police was that he had two male accomplices who skipped out on him. Then, police said, he changed his story, saying he and his wife drove here from Salt Lake City.
"But my wife," the gunman said, "isn't implicated. She thought I went into the store to buy bread and cheese."
Faces Serious Charge
Mrs. Avery was arrested by Lieut. D.B. Ballantyne about nine-thirty p.m. while she was walking the street. Police said that as an accomplice and a principal in the crime she would face serious charges.
Avery used an automatic shell in his .32 calibre revolver, which fit slightly loose in the chamber. Discharged, the pellets "splatter"causing more damage than the customary charge, police said.
Gates suffered immediate internal bleeding, which hospital physicians were unable to check.
Coming out of the store, Gates met John Marsh and said: "I've been shot, call the station."
Marsh ran across the street to the Woodman of the World lodge building, got a rifle, and returning found Gates slumped against the west wall of the store.
Mrs. Yeates Calls Police
First call to police was sent by Mrs. R.K. Yeates from her home, 966 Rushton. She was talking by telephone from her home with her husband, manager of the store, when the incident occurred, and Mr. Yeates told her to phone police, and hung up.
The call at the station was answered by Detective George C. Theobald, who for several weeks has been working with Detective Gates.
Just as Theobald received the call, Gates walked into the station. No other officers were around.
Gates said, "I'll be there in a minute," left the station and jumped into a prowl car.
Gates was unaware of the situation inside the store. He walked up to the front door, found it was locked, then started pounding.
He had gotten about two steps inside the door when Avery's gun blazed.
Richard Hardy, the clerk who let the officer inside, said there were two customers in the store. Avery stalled for time, he said, pretending to make a final selection of a grocery item before leaving.
Avery had shown the clerks he was armed, Hardy said.
He walked into the store just as we were getting ready to lock up for the day, and brandished the pistol from underneath his coat. Then he ordered all the clerks into the narrow aisles around the cash register.
Became Suspicious
"He was just getting ready to order one of us to give him the money in the cash register when Gates banged at the door."
The clerk indicated Avery became suspicious and readied himself for any trouble.
Avery had his gun ready when Gates entered. As soon as Clerk Hardy ducked out of the way, Avery fired. The officer, bewildered, snatched his gun from a holster. Gates was dressed in plain clothes.
Captain Hawkins said Avery was a heavy user of dope, was implicated in a Reno narcotics ring in 1937, and was known among police as a professional gambler. The pistol used to kill the officer was stolen in a recent San Francisco burglary, where Avery had been living for several years.
Taylor Pays Tribute
Police Chief Taylor, expressing deep sympathy in behalf of the department over the tragedy, declared: "Detective Gates never knew what fear was. He would have fought the bandit to the last ditch if given half a chance. The department feels his loss keenly. But such dangers lurk everywhere in the duties of a policeman, and the officers go about their work knowing these things might happen."
Gates started work with the Ogden police department Nov. 22, 1935, and in December of 1940 was assigned to the detective bureau. He was employed by the Weber Central Dairy association before joining the force.
Born in Iowa
Hoyt LeRoy Gates, 38, was born in Fort Madison, Iowa, May 21, 1902, a son of L.S. and Fannie Kimball Gates. He married Irene Fowler in Tooele March 17, 1935.
Mr. Gates had been a sergeant in the Utah national guard, battery B, 222nd field artillery, under Captain Wayne Gudmundson, for many years.
Surviving are his widow, his parents, a daughter, Betty Lou, and a son, Darrell, all of Ogden, and one sister, Mrs. Wade Richardson of Alameda, California.
Funeral arrangements will be announced tomorrow by Lindquist & Sons mortuary.

AVERY ADMITS SALT LAKE JOB
SALT LAKE CITY. Feb. 12 (AP) Police Chief Reed E. Vetterli said today that Ogden officers had obtained from Walter Avery, arrested at Ogden in the killing of a policeman during an attempted holdup, a confession that he robbed a Safeway store here last Jan. 27.
Vetterli said Ogden officers quoted Avery as saying he Apulled the Salt Lake job single-handed.
Avery and his wife had been living at the Ambassador hotel here.
He also was questioned concerning a holdup there, Vetterli said, but denied participation in it.

AVERY ADMITS COAST THEFTS
Police Lieutenant C.K. Keeter said that Walter A. Avery, confessed slayer of Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates in the Safeway robbery here, today admitted several recent burglaries and holdups in California, Nevada and Utah.
In November, 1940, he forced the manager of a chain store at Berkeley, California, to open a safe and took $700, Keeter said. In the same month, he held up and robbed a dairy route collector of between $400 and $600 and shortly afterward he stole $40 from a hat store in San Francisco.
Arriving in Utah, he robbed a Safeway store in Salt Lake City of $108 about three weeks ago.
In 1932, he served time in a Nevada prison for holding up a road house near Fallon and about one year ago he was released from Leavenworth penitentiary for a narcotics violation--his second jail term for such a conviction, according to Keeter.
Avery is a former U.S. marine.

CLERKS PRAISE DEAD OFFICER
Tom Clayton, 828 Twenty-sixth, clerk in Safeway store, in which Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates was slain and the confessed killer, Walter Avery, was captured, today said: Another clerk, Darrell Brown, 2545 Iowa, and I were standing near the door when Avery came in and held us up at the point of a gun. Dick Hardy, another clerk, saw what he was doing and whispered to the manager, Mr. Yeates, who was talking to his wife on the phone, to tell her to call the police.
Didn't Recognize Officer
The fellow got us over in the check stand and was forcing the manager to scoop up some money for him from the till. I then noticed Dick Hardy was letting someone in the front door. At first I thought it was an accomplice. Officer Gates was in plain clothes and I didn't recognize him. Then I heard Hardy warn him that it was a holdup and for him to draw his gun.
The officer didn't have a chance. There were five clerks in the store and two customers. He would have had to pick the bandit out of all those people.
As soon as Avery heard the warning and saw the officer reach for his gun, he started firing. Gates jumped farther into the store to get the clerks out of the line of fire, but he couldn't do much. The fellow got him with his first bullet, I think, although he fired several.
Hid in Storeroom
The policeman maneuvered his way out the door in an attempt to reach the back entrance of the store. He instructed us to call more officers.
By this time Avery had dashed to the back of the store and hid in a storeroom. He kept shouting for R.K. Yeates, manager, to scoop up some money and take it to the rear of the store. He apparently wanted him as a shelter. Yeates refused and we clerks all dropped behind various displays for safety.
Police surrounded the building and by putting a tear gas bomb through a back window forced the bandit out of hiding. The fellow had lost all of his nerve.
I heard Avery shout, 'If I come out with my hands up you''ll shoot me just like you shot my pardner.' I don't know what he meant. Maybe one of his friends had been killed by an officer some time before. He finally called, 'I'll put up my hands if you promise not to shoot.' He came out the door and was easily captured.

By WILLIAM DEHEER, Clerk in Safeway Store, who resides at 2947 Jefferson
I was at the counter writing checks and didn't know a thing was amiss until one of the other clerks called me over to him. I then noticed the fellow he was talking with was holding a gun in his back.
Officer Gates performed his duty in a manner which is a compliment to the whole police force. He just didn't have a chance. There were so many people in the store that he didn't have time to distinguish who the culprit was until it was too late.
Protects Clerks
I think the thug heard Mr. Hardy warn the officer about the holdup, because he whirled and immediately began firing. Officer Gates swung to one side to make certain all the clerks were out of the line of fire, but before he could accomplish anything he was struck by a bullet. Then more bullets. He did everything he possibly could. He returned the fire but his aim was off because of his wounds.
His actions were such that every officer on the force should be proud to have been associated with him.

By RICHARD HARDY, Clerk in Safeway Store, who resides at 536 Twenty-fourth
I noticed the bandit when he came in the door and saw him pull a gun on two other clerks. Our manager, R.K. Yeates, was talking with his wife on the telephone, so I whispered for him to warn her to call the police. He did this, but before he could tell her what it was all about, he was forced to hang up the receiver.
The thug warned us all to act natural and told Mr. Yeates to give him the money from the cash register. He was holding us all near the checking stands. In about five minutes Officer Gates was at the door. Avery demanded to know who it was. I told him it was a customer and went to unlock the door to let him in.
I knew that if the officer got too far inside before he knew what was going on he would be killed. I tried to prevent this by warning him as he came in the door that it was a holdup and for him to draw his gun. I think he was taken so by surprise that he was a little late getting at his weapon.
The bandit turned and started shooting before Officer Gates could aim. His first shot got the policeman, I think. Gates had stepped farther inside to assure the clerks who were standing nearby safety from stray bullets.
He warned us to call more officers and staggered out the front in a last effort to reach the rear door, where the burglar had fled, and make his arrest.
In the meantime, aid had arrived. Police had no trouble at all after they threw a tear gas bomb into his hiding place and forced Avery into the open.
I have never seen an officer any more courageous than the officer who was killed here last night. I don't know how anyone could possibly have done any better in line of duty. Each officer on the Ogden city force should feel honored to have been his friend and fellow worker.

His Bullets Smash Orange Crates, Kill Detective
ALLEGED SLAYER . . . Walter A. Avery, (at side) of San Francisco, who is being held for the murder of Detective Hoyt L. Gates, is an ex-convict, professional gambler and dope addict, police said. He used white powder on sides of his head to make his hair appear gray. He is shown here after police obtained a full confession of the crime. Two of the gunman's bullets smashed into a crate of oranges, as shown in the above photo, but four of them hit the officer.

Here's Auto in Which Ogden Slayer Planned to Flee
BANDIT'S CAR . . . Bearing California license plates, this is the 1941 sedan used by Walter A. Avery and his wife in traveling from Salt Lake City to Ogden in which they planned to flee after the grocery store holdup here. Police said for awhile the car was poised outside the grocery store, ready for a quick get-away. Salt Lake Police gave Ogden officers descriptions of the machine.

WEBER OFFICERS JOIN IN MANHUNT
Sheriff John R. Watson said he called out his entire force to assist in the search for the two supposed accomplices of Walter Avery, 32, confessed killer of Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates, in the Safeway store holdup. The sheriff's officers used four automobiles. State highway patrolmen also assisted in the search. It was after nine o'clock when the search for the supposed accomplices was halted.
Sheriff Watson said two deputies were in his office, which is just across the hall from the police station, and would have assisted the police in the first call had they been asked. Deputies James A. Larson and George Weatherstone assisted in the capture of Avery.
The sheriff said he has not yet installed radios in sheriff's cars. Plans as to the type of installation are incomplete at present, he said.
Federal communications commission examinations for radio operators are to be held in Salt Lake City in March, and we are waiting to see if our men qualify as operators before installing the equipment, the sheriff said.
Installation of radios in sheriff's autos would enable the deputies to keep informed as to all movements of the city police.

Hearing Set For Admitted Police Killer
Preliminary Scheduled for Friday by City Magistrate
By Louis A. Gladwell
Standard-Examiner Staff

Appearing composed, Walter Robert Avery, 32, of San Francisco, heard a complaint read in city court today charging him with first degree murder in the fatal shooting late Tuesday of Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates.
The slim, dark-complexioned prisoner asked for a preliminary hearing, which was granted by Magistrate Charles G. Cowley and set for Friday about ten a.m.
Police said they hold a full confession from Avery, in which he admits that he shot and killed Detective Gates about six-thirty p.m. Tuesday when the officer walked into the Safeway store, 301 Twenty-fourth, in an attempt to investigate a robbery.
"Would Clear Wife"
Avery said he wanted the preliminary hearing to enable him to clear his wife of any part in the crime." My wife had no idea what I was doing," he told Judge Cowley. I want to be sure she isn't mixed up in this."
The judge interrupted Avery by saying Mrs. Avery, who is being held in jail for investigation, has nothing to do with this complaint." Mrs. Roverda Avery, 32, the wife, was arrested about three hours after the killing. She was in an automobile police said was parked near the store, with Mrs. Avery at the wheel, when the shooting occurred.
Meanwhile, police announced the arrest of William Chapman, 40, of Salt Lake City, as a suspect. They said Chapman came to Ogden with Avery and his wife. Chapman is being held in city jail on an open charge.
Gives Self Up
Chapman, police said, walked into Salt Lake police station Wednesday night and told officers I heard you'd been looking for me," after a detail of Ogden and Salt Lake police had spent nearly the entire day Asmoking him out."
Officers checked every known hang-out of Chapman's and I guess the town got so hot he thought it would be best to give himself up," said Captain Dewey F. Hawkins. Assigned from the Ogden police department were Lieutenant W.K. Milligan, Detective George C. Theobald and Officer Fred D. Thompson.
Chapman, however, denied any participation in the Ogden robbery or shooting, but admitted riding from Salt Lake to Ogden Tuesday afternoon with the Averys, Lieutenant Milligan said. He has a long criminal record, police said.
Claimed Dope Addict
Shortly after Avery was frightened from his hideout in a rear portion of the Safeway store, he told police he had two male partners who skipped out on me."
His only concern in court today seemed to be to see that Mrs. Avery, who is a native of Utah, does not become implicated in the case. His story has been that she waited for him in the car while he bought some cheese and bread."
Avery presented a pathetic figure as he stood before Judge Cowley. His hands were shackled and his hair disheveled. His right eye and part of his face were discolored and swollen. Police said his nerves were shot" with the craving for drugs--any kind of drugs--and that he apparently had been banging his head against the heavy grillwork of his solitary cell on the tenth floor of the city and county building.
Police said Avery told them he has been addicted to the drug habit since 1932, when he became implicated in a Nevada narcotics ring. This craving, police suggested, may have motivated the long list of robberies to which he has confessed in a written statement.
Saying he wanted the case Awound up" as hurriedly as possible, Weber County Attorney Glenn W. Adams surprised court observers today when he summoned the prisoner to arraignment.
Mr. Adams resisted any attempt to delay the preliminary hearing. Up to late today Avery had not obtained services of an attorney. So far as his wife is concerned, Avery said, AI don't want any Utah attorney appointed for her." He indicated his wishes were to have a California attorney handle her case.
Police and state authorities were uncertain today what kind of a charge would be placed against Mrs. Avery. Questioning of Mr. and Mrs. Avery and Chapman was to be continued late today.
Detective Gates was shot three times by Avery before the officer had taken more than three or four steps inside the doorway of the grocery store. A fourth shot struck the officer in the arm. He reloaded his gun, walked outside with the apparent intention of meeting Avery at the rear of the store, but collapsed after several steps.
The city commission this morning passed two resolutions, one of condolence to Mrs. Gates and the other complimenting city, county and state peace officers for coordinating their efforts so effectively in culminating the case.
Police Chief C.H. Taylor today extended the appreciation of his department to members of the Utah state highway patrol and of the Weber county sheriff's office.
Their assistance was greatly appreciated in surrounding the store and throwing a cordon over all highways in northern Utah," the chief said. Every available officer in both departments dropped what they were doing and worked hand in hand with us."
The state highway patrol spotted 15 officers on highways leading from Weber county, and worked several hours checking every motor vehicle nearing them, the chief said. Later, assistance also came from guards at the Ogden arsenal and railroad depot.
Detective Gates' widow will receive $1,000 from the Ogden Police Benefit association, Chief Taylor said. We are able to give the widows of each officer $1,000 through the splendid public support of policemen's dances and other functions," the chief said.
A trout dinner for policemen, scheduled for tonight, has been canceled. Funeral services for Detective Gates will be held Saturday at one p.m. in the L.D.S. Fourth ward chapel.

HOYT L. GATES
Funeral services for Detective Hoyt L. Gates, who was killed during a gun battle Tuesday about seven p.m. at the Safeway store, Twenty-fourth and Kiesel, while attempting to capture a bandit will be conducted Saturday at one p.m. in the L.D.S. Fourth ward chapel by Bishop F.L. Allen of the Eighth ward. E.T. Saunders, bishop of the Fourth ward and member of the Ogden city commission, will assist.
Burial in Ogden city cemetery will be directed by Lindquist & Sons' mortuary. Friends may call at the Gates home, 584 Chester, Friday afternoon and evening and Saturday until time of services.
Members of the auxiliary to Ogden Police Benefit association will be in charge of flowers, past matrons of Queen Esther chapter Order of Eastern Star, will assist. Officers of Ogden police department will serve as active and honorary pallbearers.

HOYT L. GATES
Funeral services for Detective Hoyt L. Gates, who was killed during a gun battle with a bandit Tuesday evening in a food store, will be conducted Saturday at one p.m. in the L.D.S. Fourth ward chapel by Bishop F.L. Allen of the L.D.S. Eighth ward. E.T. Saunders, bishop of the Fourth ward, will assist.
The Salt Lake City police glee club, composed of 16 members under direction of J. Spencer Cornwall, will offer two numbers. Speakers will be the Rev. George H. Argyle, pastor of the Episcopal church; C.H. Taylor, police chief; Wayne Gudmundson, captain in the Utah national guard, and Bishop Allen. Mayor Fred M. Abbott will offer the invocation and the grave will be dedicated by Bishop Saunders.
Pallbearers will be the following police officers: W.K. Milligan, Ralph Morley, J.H. Whetton, Fred M. Gill, C.S. Beckett and F.D. Thompson. All other members of the department will act as honorary pallbearers and will be seated on the stand. Traffic Lieut. Darrell E. Shaw will be in charge of the escorts and automobiles.
Friends may call at the Gates home, 538 Chester, this evening and Saturday until time of services. Interment will be in Ogden city cemetery, under direction of Lindquist & Sons mortuary.
Members of the auxiliary to the Ogden Police Benefit association will be in charge of flowers, and past matrons of Queen Esther chapter, Order of Eastern Star, will assist.

Crowd Jams Courtroom And Hallways As Avery Murder Hearing Dated
Preliminary To Be Held Monday; Defendant Asks Counsel
STATE IS CAUTIOUS
Prosecutor Insists All Rights of Prisoner Must Be Respected

Preliminary hearing for Walter Robert Avery, 32, charged with the murder of City Detective Hoyt L. Gates, was continued today by Magistrate Charles G. Cowley until Monday at ten a.m. after Avery had demanded services of an attorney.
Long before Avery was taken into the courtroom a large crowd of spectators filled the room and congested hallways outside. They were obliged to wait nearly an hour after regular police court session adjourned until Avery's case was taken up.
Cautious Procedure
The state proceeded cautiously in an apparent attempt to avoid any slip-ups that could influence future handling of the case.
Glenn W. Adams, Weber county attorney, gave the state's position as being willing to permit Avery to obtain counsel if such were his wishes.
If I interpret Avery's views correctly, he thinks he has been denied counsel and believes he should have further time to make arrangements for one," Mr. Adams said. The attorney recalled that the prisoner had been advised as to his rights at arraignment Thursday, and said:
He has the right to obtain counsel, and I shall ask the court to determine the time for obtaining one. I don't want this case to be referred back to this court."
Avery's first remarks were that he would not waive his right to secure the services of a lawyer, and declared:
If I could use a telephone, or if the court would suggest an attorney, it would be all right with me to go ahead with the case. If I could talk with my wife we might arrange to obtain money to pay services of an attorney.
That's all I have to say. I don't care to proceed with my wife locked up in jail--if she were on the streets where she belongs as an innocent woman--I wouldn't care."
Mrs. Avery is being held in jail on an open charge. Police said Mrs. Avery and William Chapman, 40, who gave his address as Salt Lake City, accompanied Avery from Salt Lake City to Ogden Tuesday afternoon. Chapman is also being held in jail here for questioning.
Avery reiterated his opposition to having a Utah attorney appointed for his wife, and indicated he would like his own attorney to come from California.
Prisoner Questioned
Following the hearing a reporter asked Avery his correct address, and was told:
For the past 11 years I have been living in San Francisco. I was born at Western Grove, Ark., but had not been there for many years until recently, when I visited my mother."
He said he had served a four-year hitch"in the U.S. Marine Corps lacking three months." Asked if his wife is a native of Utah, he declined to reply.
"I"m not saying anything about her out of court," he snapped.
Avery is charged with first degree murder in the Tuesday evening killing of Detective Gates, who died of loss of blood about 10 minutes after the shooting. Gates was the first full-time employee of the Ogden police department to meet his death in line of duty since May 9, 1921, when Charles Manzel was shot to death during a clothing store burglary.
Encounters Gunfire
Detective Gates, entering the Safeway grocery store, 301 Twenty-fourth, alone, encountered a blast of gunfire from Avery's pistol before the officer was able to bring his own gun into play, according to witnesses. The officer fired back six times without hitting the bandit, reloaded his pistol while hiding behind crates of apples, and arose to take another shot at Avery, who had meanwhile sought cover in a rear portion of the building.
Bleeding badly from three pellets in his right side, the detective went outside, trying to get to the rear of the store for another try at the bandit, but sank to the sidewalk from exhaustion. He died about five minutes later in Dee hospital.
Attempts to Explain
Following today's hearing, Police Chief C.H. Taylor said he attempted to interrupt the hearing to explain that: "We have given Avery every chance to use a phone or otherwise arrange for counsel." Court Bailiff P.J. Naylin said he also had attempted to make this explanation.
Magistrate Cowley, however, declined to acknowledge attempts of the two officers to speak in court.
Police said there were no new developments in the case today. Mrs. Avery, 32, and Chapman were to be questioned further, they said, but indicated no charges were being considered at this time.
Chief Taylor said he would resist any attempt to permit Mr. and Mrs. Avery to talk together." I don't want them to fix up any alibis," the chief said.

Ogden Police Declare Mrs. Avery Innocent of Any Part In Slaying
Wife of Prisoner In Murder Case Awaits Release

CLEARED . . . Police declared today they were convinced Mrs. Roverda Avery (above) was free of implication in the death of Police Detective Hoyt L. Gates. Mrs. Avery's husband is facing a charge of first degree murder.

Police said today they were convinced to our satisfaction that Mrs. Roverda Avery, 32, was not implicated in any phase of the killing of City Detective Hoyt L. Gates, in which her husband, Walter R. Avery, 32, is facing first degree murder charges.
The woman, who, Lieut. W.K. Milligan said, is a native of Price, Utah, was to be released from city jail late this afternoon.
Mrs. Avery has been held for questioning as a possible accomplice of Avery since Tuesday evening.
Our questioning of Mrs. Avery convinced us she had no knowledge of Avery's intentions when he drove from Salt Lake to Ogden, and later entered the Safeway food store, 301 Twenty-fourth, to rob the cash register, Captain Dewey F. Hawkins said.
Faces Court Monday
Avery, reported suffering from lack of narcotics, will be brought before Magistrate Charles G. Cowley Monday at ten a.m. for a continuation of his preliminary hearing. Police said he made a phone call Friday--supposedly to obtain services of an attorney--but whether he made such an arrangement and with whom was not known to police.
The hearing was continued Friday after Avery insisted upon the services of an attorney.
Funeral services for Detective Gates were being held this afternoon in the L.D.S. Fourth ward chapel.

Final Honors Paid At Rites for Slain Officer
Many Friends Join In Tributes to Hoyt L. Gates
BY LOUIS A. GLADWELL
Standard-Examiner Staff

Several hundred of the citizens whom City Detective Hoyt L. Gates helped to protect in life honored him in death Saturday afternoon at impressive services conducted in the L.D.S. Fourth ward chapel.
Over a flower-flanked rostrum, speakers paid tribute to the man who gave his life in an attempt to capture an ex-convict molesting customers and clerks in a downtown grocery store Tuesday evening.
The 38-year-old officer was still trying to reach the bandit, Walter R. Avery, when he crumbled to the sidewalk from loss of blood. Three bullets, fired by the bandit before the officer could ready himself for an attack, were lodged in his abdomen.
Dr. Carver Speaks
"We often forget in the security of our lives there are the men in uniform--a common sight to us all--who will give their all, if need be, when duty calls," said the Rev. John Edward Carver of the First Presbyterian church.
"When that call does come they are loyal to their duty. He has given his life for the peace and safety of the community."
Other speakers were Wayne A. Gudmundson, captain of Battery B. 222nd F.A., Utah national guard, in whose regiment Mr. Gates served as a sergeant; Charles H. Taylor, city police chief, and F.L. Allen, bishop of the L.D.S. Eighth ward.
Despite a heavy rainstorm the chapel auditorium was filled. Peace officers from points through northern Utah were present. Musical selections included numbers by the Salt Lake police officers' glee club.
"Without Fear"
Saying he was paying his respects to one we call comrade," Captain Gudmundson spoke of Sergeant Gates' record with the national guard, and observed:
"'He lived and died without knowing fear . . . and now he has answered the bugle call of taps. Morning always follows night, and we shall see him again when he answers the call of reveille."
Chief Taylor thanked individuals and organizations of the city who had offered assistance to police and to the Gates family. "Not a thing was left undone that could have been done," he said.
Tells of Friendship
Bishop Allen recalled the officer's ability to get along with other persons. When he walked home at night he was trailed by groups of boys who discussed with him the things boys like to talk about," the bishop declared.
Invocation was offered by Mayor Fred M. Abbott. Benediction was by Counselor Elton Wardle. Musical selections were offered by the Salt Lake City policemen's glee club, under direction of J.S. Cornwell, and by Virgie Swensen and Gladys Hendersen, accompanied by Nada Swensen. Ada Watkins played the prelude and postlude.
Interment was in Ogden city cemetery. Bishop E.T. Saunders dedicated the grave. Salt Lake City police officers, state police officers, members of the sheriff's department and members of the fire department were in attendance. Ogden officers, other than those who were active pallbearers, acted as honorary pallbearers.
Further Court Action
William Chapman, 40, of Salt Lake City, who admittedly rode with Mr. and Mrs. Walter R. Avery from Salt Lake City to Ogden Tuesday afternoon prior to the fatal shooting of City Detective Hoyt L. Gates, will be brought into city court Monday to answer a charge of vagrancy, said Police Captain Dewey F. Hawkins.
Avery, charged with first degree murder in connection with the case, told police neither his wife nor Chapman had any knowledge of his intention to rob the Safeway grocery store, 301 Twenty-fourth, where Gates was shot to death.
Mrs. Avery was released from jail late Saturday.
"Chapman and Avery had been associated together for several weeks in Salt Lake City, but never worked together on any crime that we know of," the captain said.
Avery, the officer said, had operated as a "lone wolf' in each of the several burglaries and robberies described in written confessions, police said.
Avery is to appear before Magistrate Charles G. Cowley Monday at ten a.m. for continuation of his preliminary hearing.

Thursday, February 4, 1943
Standard-Examiner

AVERY READY TO BE KILLED FRIDAY DAWN
Ex-Marine Blames Drugs For Fate; Hates To Die

Walter Robert Avery, 34, who never felt the bite of a bullet in a series of skirmishes with Nicaraguan revolutionaries as a marine in 1928-29, will be shot to death at sunrise tomorrow in Utah state prison, Salt Lake.
While serving with the marines he won marksman's medals for pistol and rifle. On February 11, 1941, he shot to death Hoyt L. Gates, an Ogden police detective. Gates was shot three times as he entered an Ogden Safeway store in answer to a burglary alarm. Avery, who fired from behind packing cases, was captured by other officers a few minutes later.
Although he has asked his wife, his mother, Mrs. Geneva Avery, and his sister, Mrs. Phyllis Francke, both of Kansas City, Mo., not to make any further effort on his behalf, he still would like to live.
"Life Looks Good"
When a man's facing death like I am,' he said in an interview, life looks good under any circumstances."
A Utah pardon board before which his wife, mother and sister appeared, refused to commute his sentence.
He previously served terms in Leavenworth federal penitentiary on a narcotics conviction, in McNell Island federal prison for counterfeiting and in Nevada state prison for robbery.
Watson in Charge
Tomorrow morning Sheriff John R. Watson of Weber county will bring a squad of five men--volunteers whose names will not be revealed--to the prison. The sheriff will load five rifles, one with a blank cartridge.
Members of the firing squad, who will be paid $25 each, will select their weapons from a rack, none knowing who gets the blank shell.
As Avery leaves the cell block about eight a.m., a hood will be placed over his head at the discretion of the sheriff. He will be led to the bleak east corner of the prison yard, seated in a common oak arm chair and strapped. A target will be placed over his heart by a doctor. The firing squad will take its position 22 feet away.
It will fire at the command of the sheriff.
Blames Narcotics
Showing little signs of strain from his 23 months behind prison bars, Avery blamed a narcotic habit for his life of crime.
"Few people realize what a driving force the desire for drugs is to an addict," he said. I had to have $12 a day for dope. That's why I robbed."
However, Avery said he had had a square deal, had played the game and lost--and wanted to be a good loser.
Deputy at Cell
This morning at eight o'clock, a deputy sheriff of Weber county took his stand at the cell of Walter Robert Avery in the state penitentiary at Salt Lake City, and thus began the death watch that will end for Avery when he is led into the prison yard to be shot at eight a.m. Friday.
Nothing but a last-minute reprieve from Governor Herbert B. Maw can now prevent the carrying out of the death sentence, pronounced upon Avery by Judge Lewis V. Trueman of Second district court upon loss of the condemned man's supreme court appeal from a conviction for slaying Hoyt L. Gates, Ogden police officer.
Sheriff Watson said there was no indication, as the 24-hour death watch began, that the state's chief executive would move to prevent execution of the judgment of the court, which demands that Avery pay with his life for the life he took. Sheriff Watson and Deputies Vern Thompson and Earl Thompson are assigned to the death watch, and will serve in three eight-hour shifts.
Other members of the sheriff's force who will attend the execution Friday in an official capacity are George Weatherston and Ted Parker.
Chief of Police Rial C. Moore said today he is not expecting to attend the execution, and that none of his officers had made definite plans to be present when the state exacts the legal price for the killing of their fellow officer.
With the beginning of the death watch of 24 hours, official custody of the condemned man passed from Warden John E. Harris of the state prison to Sheriff Watson.
Watson's First Case
It is the first execution at which Sheriff Watson has presided, and Avery is the first man to be condemned to death by the state courts from Weber county.
The sheriff has picked a squad of five men, one of whose rifles will carry a blank cartridge, to fire the shots that will take Avery's life as he sits in a chair in the prison yard. The firing squad prepared Wednesday on a rifle range for their task. Their names must remain unknown to the public, according to law.
As the hours melt inexorably away into time, a mother and sister of the condemned man, and his wife, their final efforts to obtain clemency for Avery having come to naught, are waiting in Salt Lake for the hour of execution. They will claim Avery's body.
An eleventh-hour discovery of new evidence was believed by officials in Ogden to be the only circumstance that would prompt the governor to grant a reprieve. Avery was convicted by a district court jury in the killing of Officer Gates during an attempted robbery of an Ogden grocery store on the evening of February 11, 1941. He was originally sentenced to die on April 29, 1941, but the execution was automatically stayed when an appeal was made to the supreme court. Motions for a new trial and appeals to the state pardon board has subsequently been denied.
Writes Autobiography
The condemned man today released a 10-page autobiography which he wrote while awaiting his execution to de-glamorize crime for other youths. In it he said:
Death to me is simply the cashing in of the stack of chips all of us receive at birth and while I have lost heavily in the game of life, I intend to face the cashier as a good loser.
I have played my cards as I found them . . . But when I reached the place where all my marked cards were recognized . . . the game was practically over for me. This time I've been called and I'm going to shove in the rest of my chips with a smile.
"I could brag that I'm not frightened, but that wouldn't be sincere . . . I want to live as anyone else and I've tried everything I know legally to save my life."
Avery's biography placed part of the burden of responsibility for criminals upon societys' unwillingness to give an ex-convict an opportunity to rehabilitate himself after serving a sentence.

Friday, February 5, 1943
Standard-Examiner

Hooded Avery Shot Strapped in Chair Behind Prison Walls
Convicted Killer Meets Death as He Wished, "A Good Loser"
By Spencer Richards, Standard-Examiner Staff

Walter Robert Avery, convicted murderer of Hoyt L. Gates, Ogden city police detective, died today at eight twenty-five a.m. before a firing squad at Utah state prison, just as he wished, "A good loser."
Four steel-jacketed .30-.30 calibre rifle slugs fired by a Weber county firing squad, directed by Sheriff John R. Watson pierced his heart at eight twenty-three a.m. Dr. Rich Johnson, prison physician, pronounced him dead just two minutes later.
Guns Loaded Secretly
Only four of the five rifles spat death-dealing slugs. One of the weapons loaded secretly by Sheriff Watson contained a blank cartridge, but none of the executioners knew which drew the rifle loaded with a blank.
From a range of 22 feet the firing squad pumped bullets into a heart-shaped target pinned over the heart of the condemned slayer by Father Joseph Moreton, chaplain. The victim was strapped into an old-fashioned oaken office-type chair by J.C. Hutchins, Ogden city police detective. The chair was on a raised wooden platform and had leg and arm straps attached. Behind the chair was a wooden box, placed there to catch any ricocheting bullets. Crudely scrawled on the box with white chalk was the inscription, "Crime does not pay."
Then coming from around the corner, walking with a firm step appeared Avery, escorted by Sheriff Watson and prison officers. His head was already covered with a black sateen sack. He was wearing striped overalls and someone had thrown a khaki coat over his shoulders, which covered a pin-striped shirt.
Avery Stumbles
The only sound from Avery was when he caught his toe on the platform; I believe he cursed. His hands did not tremble as he was strapped in. His shirt was undone, and when everyone was clear, the shots rang out unexpectedly, much to the surprise of spectators who were expecting an "air, fire," procedure.
Avery did not flinch as the slugs entered his body, and only a few low moans were heard by newspapermen and radio correspondents just a few seconds before he was pronounced dead.
All the slugs were closely spaced striking the valentine heart target, just where they were intended.
Warden Harris referred to the doomed man as "Walter" in an affectionate manner, and just before Avery came around the corner the warden brushed a light skiff of snow from the execution chair.
T.R. Johnson, Ogden newspaper man, at Avery's request, stayed with the doomed man in the cell all last night. "Avery talked on the effects of dope, and said he was sorry his mother, Mrs. Geneva Avery, his sister, Mrs. Phyllis Francke, and his wife, Roverta, would have to suffer more and longer than he would. During the night I made numerous cups of coffee for Avery, but he didn't crack-up," Johnson said.
"Avery, however, was filled with morphine by the prison physician during the night and just before the execution," Johnson said. Maybe that accounted for the convicted man's quiet nerves.
Narcotics Blamed
During the past few days Avery attributed his life of crime to the use of narcotics.
Avery shot Detective Gates just before a Safeway store, 301 Twenty-fourth, closed the evening of Feb. 11, 1941, when Gates walked in to investigate a police call that had said only that there was trouble at the store.
Conviction of first degree murder by a jury, without recommendation of leniency, followed on March 12, 1941, and Avery's execution was set by the court for April 29, but an appeal to the state supreme court automatically stayed the action.
The appeals for retrial and rehearing were denied late in 1942, and the board of pardons declined to alter the court's findings.
Avery was the thirty-fifth man to be executed legally in Utah since territorial days. Only five of these chose the gallows, the last in 1912.
In the 10-page Aautobiography" written for a Salt Lake City newspaperman, Avery said, Death to me is simply the cashing in of the stack of chips all of us receive at birth and while I have lost heavily in the game of life, I intend to face the cashier as a good loser."
He did.
When the lethal rifles cracked there was not a sound from the cell blocks, an unusual occurrence, old timers at the prison said. Usually prisoners rattle bars, holler and create a mad house, they declared.
The Last Mile
by Hal Welch, Standard-Examiner Staff
Two captions, written in chalk, stood as mute epitaphs behind the old oaken chair at the state prison today when society exacted the supreme penalty from Walter Robert Avery: The Last Mile," just behind the chair, and at the side left, Crime Never Pays."
Prison guards said that inmates probably inscribed the words on the backstop while it was stored in the prison barn awaiting the execution.
To the man on the street the two phrases appear trite and overworked. To men in the penitentiary they are fraught with meaning.
Avery, convicted forger, dope addict and murderer, died as he had lived. He admitted his defeat in his struggle to outwit society and saw the life's blood ebb away with the slight comfort of the narcotic which he had previously termed the cause of his lawbreaking.
As the fateful hour approached, Dr. Morgan S. Coombs, prison physician, administered small doses of morphine. This doubtless accounted for the evenness of Avery's steps as he was led outside the building of the historic territorial prison and seated against the south wall.
The crowd was not large that saw Avery in death. Nine men of press and radio and an attractive young woman of United Press witnessed the execution. The list of invitations was set by the pardon board at twenty-five and swelled by a few additional officers provided in case an emergency should arise.
The group was directed to the place of execution and awaited the arrival of Avery amid the obvious nervous stamping of feet in the freshly fallen snow. Slightly more than five minutes passed before the prisoner was brought out, the dark hood in place. He saw neither the spectators nor the firing squad concealed behind the canvas in the doorway from which the shots were fired. Only the rifle barrels protruded through five slits in the canvas.
The shots startled the onlookers. No signal was heard, but the five riflemen's actions were practically simultaneous. Two minutes later, Dr. Rich Johnson, Weber county physician, removed the stethoscope from the slight chest of Avery and pronounced him officially dead. The external bleeding was slight with only small patches of claret showing on the woolen prison underwear where the shirt was folded back and the black heart-shaped target pinned on.
There were many impressions this fatal Friday. One stands out: Walter Robert Avery in death brought into focus all of the arguments for or against capital punishment. Unto the end he contended that it was wrong. Right or wrong, he paid the price of a gangster who would defy society.

PAYS PENALTY
Five high-powered rifles barked from a doorway in the Utah state prison yard at daybreak today and Walter Robert Avery (above), paid with his life for the 1941 murder of Hoyt L. Gates, an Ogden detective who surprised the confessed narcotic addict in a grocery store robbery attempt here.

"IT DOESN'T PAY"
Five volunteer riflemen, paid $25 each and one firing a blank shell, shot to death Walter Robert Avery, above, sallow-faced killer of Hoyt L. Gates, Ogden policemen, in the Utah prison yard today, thereby fulfilling his choice. In a 10-page Aautobiography,"death to me is simply the cashing in of the stack of chips all of us receive at birth and while I have lost heavily in the game of life, I intend to face the cashier as a good loser. Crime doesn't pay."

WOMAN SEES AVERY SHOT
He Shunned Black Hood, Was Impatient, She Reports

(Jean Hubber of the Salt Lake staff of United Press today became the first woman press association reporter to witness a firing squad execution in Utah. Her account of the death of Walter Avery follows.)
By Jean Hubber, United Press Staff

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 5 (UP) In the bleak courtyard of the Utah state prison, Walter Robert Avery today died the way he wanted to--as a good sport.
Sitting calm and straight in the battered wooden execution chair as he faced a firing squad for the murder of Hoyt Gates, Ogden policeman, Avery displayed no emotion when a small black target was pinned on his blue shirt over his heart.
He walked to the chair with a steady step, stumbling once or twice only because of the black hood over his head.
He Shunned Hood
The hood was not part of Avery's plan. He had wanted to walk out to the courtyard without it so he could see the chair.
"Father, can't I leave it off? " he asked the Rev. J.R. Moreton, prison chaplain, before leaving his cell.
"No, Walt, you'd better put it on," the chaplain said.
Everything's all right," were Avery's last words, spoken after Weber County Sheriff J.R. Watson, read his death warrant. He did not speak during the time he was led out to the courtyard. When he was strapped in the chair the sheriff asked if he had any last request. There was no answer.
During the night Avery chatted and joked with a few acquaintances. He spent the early part of the evening with his wife and later said they had reminisced about their years together since their marriage in 1936. He slept for only 35 minutes and drank coffee steadily during the time he was awake. This morning, he decided against having breakfast.
Avery Impatient
"about seven a.m., more than an hour before the execution was scheduled he glanced outside and said:
"Hell, it's getting light. What's holding those fellows up?"
"When given a sedative, the admitted former drug addict asked for a light dose. There were no apparent effects because his breathing had been normal before the opiate was administered. During the night he had reiterated his condemnation of the narcotic habit, which he blames for his crime.
'When it hits you, it hits you hard," he said. People should stay away from it. They don't realize what it does to you."
After the five rifles, one loaded with a blank, had exploded as one, Avery's body did not slump. He gasped several times before being pronounced dead by Dr. Rich Johnson.
The sheriff said that a dollar would have covered all four bullet holes. One pierced the center of the target with the other three ringing it.