A newspaper photograph taken at the time of the arraignment in December 1944 of the alleged members of an illegal abortion ring. Identified are: Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer; Joseph Werner, “hospital” caretaker; Mabel Werner, nurse; Priscilla Washabaugh, cook; and Edna Hood, reputed fiancee of the doctor. From the Philadelphia Inquirer, December 29, 1944.
This post begins with a Philadelphia newspaper article about Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer of Philadelphia, who in 1930 was brought into a blackmail case which went bad for the prosecution and resulted in a rebuke from the judge. Some of the testimony in the 1930 trial is added here in this post. A link is also provided to the 1930 blackmail story and trial.
The same physician re-appeared in court in 1944 when he was arrested in a Vice Squad raid on his abortion “hospital.” This time he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a minimum of six months in the county prison. The news articles noted that he he had been arrested five times previously, but never convicted.
The 1930 case was covered more extensively in the Lykens Valley area than the 1944-1945 case. Dr. Faltermayer was widely known for his “illegal operations.” Many women seeking abortions went to Philadelphia because there were more medical options there than in the farming areas of Central Pennsylvania. No doubt some of these women obtained abortions from Dr. Faltermayer himself. Travel to Philadelphia was easy because of frequent trains of the Pennsylvania Railroad and of the Reading Railroad. Some of the articles describing the 1944 raid noted the frequency of autos parked in front of Dr. Faltermayer’s “hospital” and that the license plate numbers were recorded by the Vice Squad officers – sometimes as many as 75 per week. None of the women who drove to see Dr. Faltermayer were ever publicly identified, but the three women who were caught in “recovery” at the hospital were identified by name and marital status.
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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 17, 1930:
2 WOMEN TESTIFY AGAINST PHYSICIAN IN BLACKMAIL TRIAL
Dr. Faltermayer Denies Accusations; Admits Making Payments
Met Extortion Demands by Alleged “Ring” to Protect Reputation, He Says
Two women testified yesterday that Dr. Frederick William Faltermayer, Broad Street near Allegheny Avenue [Philadelphia], had performed illegal operations upon them.
The testimony was given in Quarter Sessions Court before Judge Edwin O. Lewis at the trial of seven men charged with having extorted money from the physician under threats of ruining him.
A third woman who admitted to having undergone an unprofessional operation swore that Dr. Faltermayer was in the room when the operation was performed by a woman.
The physician indignantly denied the charges of malpractice although admitting he had paid extortion money at various times. He allowed himself to be victimized, he explained “to uphold my dignity and protect my reputation.”
Although called only as a witness in the trial, Dr. Faltermayer was ordered by Judge Lewis to remain in court after he had given his testimony. It is expected he may be recalled to the stand when the trial is resumed today.
Throngs filled the corridor seeking to gain entrance to the courtroom when the trial started. So great was the disorder police reserves had to be summoned. Director of Public Safety Schofield taking personal command of a squadron which cleared the hallway. Every available inch of space in the courtroom was taken a preponderance of spectators being women.
Milton Kahn, constable for Magistrate Evan T. Pennock was named by Dr. Faltermayer as having extorted from him $5000 which he paid to avoid prosecution on a charge of conducting an illegal operation. Kahn and five of the defendants pleaded not guilty at the outset. Lester Hines, an alleged “fixer,” is said to have made a full confession and will testify for the Commonwealth.
The other prisoners are Samuel J. Kauffman, Herman P. Abramson and Louis F. Cooper, attorneys; Cyrus H. Raul, a naturopath, who has served time for practicing medicine without a license, and Philip Nicholson, also said to the a “fixer.”
The trials of Louis J. Bernstein, a fourth attorney, and Neil Harkins, a Tenth War Committeeman, who also were indicted on similar charges, were continued until a later date.
Eleven attorneys represented the defendants, who are appearing before an all male jury, women having been excluded by agreement.
Dr. Faltermayer was subjected to a severe cross-examination by John H. K. Scott, of defense counsel, who asked him flatly and bluntly is he was not in the business of performing unprofessional operations.
“I certainly am not,” the physician countered angrily.
Judge Lewis interrupted.
“Do you mean you mean to say you paid $5000 blackmail in this case without having done any wrong?” he asked.
“Yes, I did, but it was a false accusation. Such a charge might mean a great deal to a physicians reputation.”
“Of course you realize you are in court” asked the jurist. The witness replied, “Yes, I do.”
Mrs. Celia Brooks, Arizona Street near 24th Street, was the first witness testifying that on last October 25, Dr. Faltermayer performed an illegal operation upon her, charging $75 for his services. When her husband Relvin Brooks, who is nearly seven feet tall, learned about it he caused a warrant to be issued for the physician, she said.
Magistrate Pennock was then called and told of issuing the warrant. He… issued [it] for the physician, she said.
Denies Accusations
Dr. Faltermayer denied the woman’s testimony, saying that the woman asked him to perform the operation and that he refused. Four days later Kahn called at his office, he said, presenting a warrant and telling him that the charge was a serious one. He quoted Kahn as saying. “You are a pretty decent fellow and I would not like to see you mugged for the rogues gallery and fingerprinted. You’d better try to get this case fixed up.”
He then took me to the office of Brooks’ attorney, Mr. Kauffman, at Fifteenth and Race Streets,” said Dr. Faltermayer, “and in the back room there was a whispered conversation. Nicholson and Hines were in the office at the time.
“The attorney then told me his client wanted me prosecuted. Finally, Kahn asked me how much I would pay to settle the case. He suggested $10,000. I told him I had been caught in the stock market and he then suggested $5000. We went to my home where I got $5000 out of the safe. We drove back to Fifteenth and race and sitting in the back of the car in the presence of the chauffer, I counted five packs of $1000 each.
“Kahn put the money in his pocket and told me to go home and not to worry as he would bring me a release from Brooks that night, which he did. He also showed me a warrant marked ‘charges withdrawn.'”
Asked $50 Fee
Mrs. Helen Hall, Chestnut Street, Darby, said Dr. Faltermayer had operated on her last November, charging seventy-five dollars. Her husband Harry Hall, had engaged Kauffman as an attorney for a damage suit, she said. She added that after Magistrate DeNero had issued a warrant, Kauffman called at her home and placed $500 on her bed, stating he had received the money from the physician for the damage sustained.
Her husband then testified Kauffman had asked fifty dollars for a fee, contending he had received nothing for his services. The Commonwealth charges the attorney received $5000 from Dr. Faltermayer.
Mrs. Genevieve Steinmetz, Girard Avenue near Sixty-First Street, said the physician arranged an operation which was performed upon her last month by a woman on Westmoreland Street near Broad to whom Mrs. Steinmetz said she paid $135. She said Dr. Faltermayer was in the operating room at the time and four other women patients also were there.
Her husband, Alfred Steinmetz, testified he sought to file suit through Kauffman, who, in turn directed him to Abramson. A warrant was issued by Magistrate Oswald. In this case, the Commonwealth charges Hines acted as go-between, extorting $1500 in cash from the physician.
Assistant District Attorney Franklin E. Barr, who is prosecuting the case, contended the Commonwealth has evidence of a blackmail syndicate organized to prey upon physicians. He would show in the case of Mrs. Brooks, he said, that the woman and her husband received only $700 and that the remainder of $5000 was split between Kahn and Kauffman.
A more in-depth story of the 1930 blackmail case, including its outcome, was previously presented on this blog:
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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, December 29, 1944:
“ILLEGAL OPERATION MILL” DESCRIBED AS 5 ARE HELD
Some of the details of what Vice Squad detectives called an “illegal operation mill,” were described at a hearing in Central Police Court last night following a raid earlier in the day on a “private hospital” at Carlisle Street and Allegheny Avenue.
And after the raiders, under Captain Craig Ellis, related how they found three young women, two of them unmarried, recovering from the effects of allegedly illegal operations, Magistrate Edward Henry held a 63-year-old physician and four other persons, three of them women, in heavy bail.
HELD IN $50,000 BAIL
The accused physician, Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, waived a hearing and was held in $50,000 bail for the Grand Jury. Two other employees of the “hospital.” Joseph Werner, 50, the caretaker, and his wife, Mrs. Mabel Werner, described as a nurse, were held in $25,000 bail each for the Grand Jury, charged with assisting at illegal operations.
Two other persons, Miss Priscilla Washabaugh, 57, and Miss Edna Hood, 22, were held in $5000 and $2500 bail respectively for further hearings on January 4 [1945].
Dr. Faltermayer and the four others were released at 12:30 o’clock this morning after Hugh J. Murtaugh, described by police as a relative by marriage of the physician, had arranged to provide bail for all of them. The formality of signing copies of the charge against the two men and three women was carried out by Magistrate Benjamin W. Schwartz, after he had accepted the bail pieces.
Miss Washabaugh, described as a sister of Mrs. Werner, was said by the raiders to have been cook in the “hospital.”
Miss Hood, who gave an address in Logan Street near Stenton Avenue, according to testimony, was found in a house in Walnut Lane near Greene Street, Germantown, with Dr. Faltermayer when the latter was served with a warrant a short time after the raid on the “hospital.”
DOCTOR ‘CLEARS’ GIRL
During the course of last night’s hearing, Dr. Faltermayer spoke a single sentence:
“Miss Hood knows nothing about this.”
Other defendants offered no testimony, but detectives said they had obtained statements from the three patients found in the “hospital” admitting that they had been operated on in a basement room yesterday morning and that they had paid Dr. Faltermayer $200 each.
The patients were described as an unmarried girl 19 years old, an unmarried woman 27 years old and a married woman 25 years old. All were taken to the Philadelphia General Hospital for observation by order of Dr. Severio Brunetti, police surgeon.
One detective testified that while he watched the Allegheny Avenue establishment during the last week he had seen 75 women enter it.
The hearing was attended by Director of Public Safety James H. Malone, who ordered the place investigated after he had received an anonymous letter of complaint three weeks ago.
The high wall was fixed at the request of Assistant District Attorney Americe V. Cortese, who asserted that the doctor had “reduced a noble calling to the level of the gutter.”
According to police records, Dr. Faltermayer has been arrested on similar charges five previous times since 1930. On three occasions he was discharged by magistrates. Once a Grand Jury refused to indict him. Once he stood trial in Quarter Sessions Court and was acquitted.
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From the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, December 30, 1944:
PHYSICIAN ARRESTED
Philadelphia — (AP) — Arrested on charges of performing illegal operations, Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, 63, was released in $50,000 bail pending grand jury action.
Four other persons, taken into custody with Dr. Faltermayer, and charged with assisting at the “illegal hospital” police said the doctor used, were also freed on bail.
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From the Hazleton Standard-Speaker, December 30, 1944:
ILLEGAL SURGERY COST PHYSICIAN HEAVY BAIL
PHILADELPHIA, December 29 [1944] (AP) — Arrested on charges of performing illegal operations, Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, 63, was released last night in $50,000 bail pending grand jury action.
District Attorney Americe V. Cortese said the physician “reduced a noble calling to the level of the gutter.”
Four other persons, taken into custody with Dr. Faltermayer, and charged with assisting at the “illegal hospital” police said the doctor used, were also freed on bail.
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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, December 30, 1944:
DOCTOR, TWO AIDES FACE EARLY TRIAL IN RAID
In a speed-up of the machinery of justice, the December Grand Jury yesterday indicted 63-year-old Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer and two other persons on charges of conspiring to set up an “illegal operation mill” hardly 24 hours after they were arrested.
The Grand Jury’s action came in its closing session, as an aftermath of a Vice Squad raid Thursday on a “hospital” at Allegheny Avenue and Carlisle Streets, where the raiders found three young women patients, two of them unmarried, convalescing from allegedly illegal operations performed on them earlier in the day.
EARLY TRIAL INDICATED
The rapid indictments presaged an early trial, possibly next month, and precipitated a search by attaches of the District Attorney’s Office for factual evidence of some $107,500 in bail on which the three persons indicted and two others, were set free at about midnight, Thursday.
A spokesman for the District Attorney said that although the bail was presumably accepted by Magistrate Benjamin W. Schwartz approximately three hours after it was set at a hearing before Magistrate Edward W. Henry, it was not formally turned over to the City Controller yesterday.
48-HOUR WAITING PERIOD
More than that, the District Attorney’s spokesman said, Magistrate Schwartz could not be located by county detectives who wished to know who was the bail bondsman. However, under the law, the magistrate and the bondsman have a 48-hour period in which to present the bail to the Controller.
In addition to Dr. Faltermayer, those indicted yesterday were Joseph Werner, 59, caretaker of the Allegheny Avenue “hospital,” and the latter’s wife, Mabel Werner, 63, described by detectives as a nurse.
DEFENDANTS AT LIBERTY
While the District Attorney’s Office sought to probe the details of how their bail was accepted, all three were at liberty — Dr. Faltermayer under $50,000 bail, and his two employees under $25,000 each, although District Attorney’s attaches complained that they had not been able to discover so much as the name of the bondsman.
2 HELD FOR HEARING
The total of $107,500 bail was posted for the three indicted and two others arrested following the raid on the “hospital.” The other two were held for further hearing. They are Mrs. Priscilla Washabaugh, 57, said to be a cook at the “hospital,” and Miss Edna Hood, 22, of Logan Street near Chew Avenue, who at the hearing said she intended to marry Dr. Faltermayer soon.
As county and city detectives delved more deeply into the activities of Dr. Faltermayer yesterday, they discovered from records found in the “hospital” that many of his patients came from out-of-town. In one week of surveillance of the Allegheny Avenue place, detectives said more than 50 women were seen entering the place.
AUTO LICENSES NOTED
License numbers of automobiles parked in front of the “hospital” by women, they said, were noted and were being investigated.
While these inquiries were under way, Vice Squad detectives under Captain Craig Ellis investigated another house said to have been operated by the doctor in Kensington, but reported that had uncovered no evidence it had been used for illegal operations.
‘FARM’ TO BE PROBED
Montgomery County authorities were asked to investigate a “farm” said to have been used by the doctor near Norristown.
Dr. Faltermayer had been arrested five times previously on similar charges since 1930. Three times he was discharged at magistrate’s hearings. One he went to trial and was acquitted. On one occasion a Grand Jury refused to indict him.
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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, December 31, 1944:
PHYSICIAN’S TRIAL SLATED THURSDAY
Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, 63-year-old North Philadelphia physician, and two “associates” will go on trial at 10 A. M. Thursday, before Judge Harry S. McDevitt in Room 292, City Hall, on charges of conspiring to set up an “illegal operation mill.”
This was announced yesterday by First Assistant District Attorney John A. Boyle as police authorities continued to investigate the activities of the accused physician arrested Thursday after the Vice Squad raided his office at Allegheny Avenue and Carlisle Street.
INDICTED BY JURORS
The two to be tried with Dr. Faltermayer are Joseph Werner, 59, caretaker of the physician’s Allegheny Avenue “hospital,” and Werner’s wife, Mabel Werner, 63, said by detectives to be a nurse. All three were indicted by the detectives to be a nurse.
All three were indicted by the December Grand Jury in its last official action Friday, less than 24 hours after their arrest.
Police said that in addition to the Allegheny Avenue “hospital” where three women patients were found during the raid Dr. Faltermayer also maintained a summer home at Beach Haven and another in the Poconos.
A quantity of papers and letters seized by the raiders are also under scrutiny, and at least eight other doctors will be questioned by the District Attorney’s Office.
BAIL IS RECEIVED
Meanwhile, the District Attorney’s Office announced that it had received $107,500 bail posted in the case from Magistrate Benjamin W. Schwartz. A total of $104,800 was in real estate securities and $2700 in cash.
Dr. Faltermayer was released to $50,000 bond, while the Werners were released in $25,000 each. Two other women nabbed in the investigation, Mrs. Priscilla Washabaugh, a cook, was released under $5000 bail for a further hearing, and Miss Edna Hood, 22, of Logan Street near Chew, was at liberty for a further hearing in $2500 bail.
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From the Scranton Times-Tribune, January 5, 1945:
3 GUILTY OF ABORTION
Philadelphia, January 5, 1945 (AP) — Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, and two employees of his private hospital here — Joseph Werner and his wife Mabel Werner — who pleaded guilty yesterday to charges of performing illegal operations, will be sentenced on January 12, 1945.
They were arrested December 28 after a vice raid on the hospital, where detectives said they found three girls who admitted undergoing illegal operations.
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From the Pottsville Republican & Herald, January 5, 1945:
SENTENCE POSTPONED
Philadelphia, January 5 [1945] (UP) — Judge Harry S. McDevitt has postponed until next Friday the sentencing of Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, 63, and two employees of his private “hospital,” who pleaded guilty yesterday to performing illegal operations on three women. The postponement was granted at the request of Defense Attorney Lemuel B. Schofield, who said his clients wished to settle their affairs. Dr. Faltermayer and the employes, Joseph Werner, 59, hospital caretaker, and the latter’s wife, Mabel Werner, 63, a nurse, pleased not guilty to four indictments charging conspiracy.
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From the Philadelphia Inquirer, January 12, 1945:
7 COMMENDED FOR ‘HOSPITAL’ RAID
Six members of the Detective Bureau and a police surgeon were commended yesterday by Director of Public Safety James H. Malone for their investigation resulting in the arrest of a ring that specialized in illegal operations.
Those honored by Director Malone and other police officials were Captain Craig Ellis and five members of the vice squad, and Dr. Saverio Brunetti. Their investigation led to the arrest of Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer and two aides in a house they used as a “hospital” on Allegheny Avenue, near carlisle Street. The three pleaded guilty and will be sentenced today by Judge Harry S. McDevitt.
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From the Scranton Times-Tribune, January 13, 1945:
AGED DOCTOR SENT TO JAIL FOR 3 ILLEGAL OPERATIONS
Philadelphia, January 13 [1945] (UP) — Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, sixty-six, has been sentenced to six months to five years in the county prison and given an extra five years probation to begin at the expiration of his parole period for performance of three unprofessional operations.
The defendant pleaded guilty the the charges last week.
Judge Harry S. McDevitt, who invoked the sentence also stipulated that Dr. Faltermayer’s certificate to practice medicine be revoked.
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From the Harrisburg Evening News, January 13, 1945:
PHYSICIAN IS JAILED IN ILLEGAL OPERATIONS
International News Service
PHILADELPHIA, January 13 [1945] — Dr. Frederick W. Faltermayer, 66-year-old Philadelphian, today was under prison sentenced of not less than six months or more than five years for the performance of three illegal operations.
The elderly physician pleaded guilty to the charges, after a police raid on his home found three women there upon whom illegal operations had been performed.
Two codefendants, Joseph Werner, caretaker of the home, and his wife, Mabel Werner, described as a nurse, also pleaded guilty and were fined $100 each and placed on probation for five years.
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Articles and photo from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.