Eight hours earlier, the S.S. Washington had arrived at her berth in New York Harbor, and after completing her duties, Mrs. Julia Wiedeman was walking down Eleventh Avenue and Twenty-Second Street when suddenly a man leapt out from an alley. Wiedeman froze in her tracks at the sight of the man whom she had not seen in several years. “This is my time,” the man coldly stated. Then he pulled out a revolver and quickly pulled the trigger four times. All four rounds struck her in the head, and her lifeless, bloodied body slumped to the street. As blood pooled onto the cold cement, the man coldly smirked and slid the revolver back into the inside pocket of his jacket. He slowly walked away as witnesses raced to the victim’s side. Shortly after, the man walked up to New York Police Department Patrolman John Mitchell and indicated that he had shot a woman in the head. Patrolman Mitchell grabbed the man by the scruff of his neck and took him to the station house for questioning.
The man, ultimately identified as Lorenzo Celline, admitted to the heinous and horrific murder after several hours of questioning by the patrolman and detectives. On the same day as the murder, February 8, 1940, Celline was booked on homicide charges for the murder of thirty-eight year old Weideman. Celline had explained to the police officers and detectives that his motive for the cold-blooded murder was revenge. Two years earlier, Celline explained, he had been employed as a porter aboard the S.S. Washington. The S.S. Washington, launched on August 20, 1932, was, at the time of her entry into active service for the United States Lines, the largest liner in the fleet, matched only in length by her twin sister, the S.S. Manhattan. The S.S. Washington was seven hundred and five feet, three inches in length and had an eighty-six foot beam. She was powered by B&W boilers and thirty-thousand horsepower steam turbines that provided the ship with a top speed of twenty and a half knots. She was able to accommodate eleven hundred and thirty passengers and had an officer and crew complement of five hundred and sixty-five. In 1938, Lorenzo Celline was one of the S.S. Washington’s crew until something went amiss. Fired from his employment with the prestigious shipping line, Celline vowed revenge on those two whom he felt had been responsible for him losing his job.
Ten months after the horrific ambush and murder, on November 1, 1940, Lorenzo Celline rose out of his chair and slammed his fists on the table. “I’ve been framed,” he exclaimed, “I want to tell my story.” Celline’s defense attorneys pulled at him to sit back down, but it was to no avail.
“Order!” Judge John A. Mullen resoundingly retorted as he slammed down his gavel several times. “Order will be maintained in my courtroom. Mr. Celline, you are to sit down, now!” The bailiffs slowly moved toward the table to ensure compliance. The defendant, coaxed by his counselors, finally sat back down. Judge Mullen contemplated the situation. It had been an interesting trial thus far in general sessions. Earlier in the trial, Celline’s sister had testified that her brother had been eccentric since suffering a fall during his childhood. Dr. Menas S. Gregory and his colleague Dr. William V.O. Garretson, both psychiatrists testifying on behalf of the State of New York, were convinced that the defendant was mentally deficient and “did not know the quality of his act.” District Attorney Staff psychiatrist Dr. Perry M. Lichtenstein countered the doctors’ assessment and testified that in his medical opinion, while he agreed to the defendant’s level of mental dullness, he was fully aware of the “nature of his acts.”
While the jurors murmured at the outburst, Judge Mullen motioned for Celline’s defense attorneys – Frank R. Gargano, Bernard Reiss, and C.L. Crowley – as well as District Attorney Alexander Herman, to approach the bench for a conference. During the conference, the defense attorneys begrudgingly agreed to allow their client the opportunity to testify on his own behalf. The judge agreed and Celline was called to testify.
Celline, upon finalizing up his swearing in, immediately confessed to the premediated murder of Julia Weidman. Celline explained that the murder was based on his ardent belief that Weideman and Assistant Chief Steward Herman Muller of the S.S. Washington had conspired against him two years prior to get him fired from his position as a porter aboard the liner. As the defense attorneys held their heads in their hands at their client’s self-incrimination, Celline continued to make matters worse when he indicated to the jurors and the courtroom that he had lain in wait for several nights in sistership of S.S> Wahsington.the same spot for a chance to murder both Weideman and Muller. When he saw Weideman by herself, he decided that one was better than none to exact his deadly vengeance. The testimony from the murderer left the courtroom in silence.
With his admission of guilt, and based on the premeditated aspect of the cold bloodied murder, it was no surprise when the jurors took only twenty-five minutes to render its guilty verdict for the charge of 1st degree murder. On November 5, 1940, Judge Mullen sent Celline back to the Tombs to await sentencing for the senseless crime. Thirteen days later, Celline was ordered to stand at the defendant’s table by Judge Mullen. In short order, the sentence was passed – death by electric chair. Celline was taken back away from the courtroom and transferred to Sing Sing to await his date with death.
On the eve of his execution, Celline received word that his death sentence was commuted to life in prison. The commutation of his sentencing was largely based on the fact that Celline had not received any visits from any friends or relatives during his time at Sing Sing and based on the fact that in the Governor’s opinion, “there is serious doubt as to this man’s mental state. The District Attorney and the trail judge have both recommended his sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.” When Celline was informed of Governor Lehman’s decision, he replied coldly, “I want to die. If you turn me loose, I will kill more men.” Despite the Governor’s leniency, Celline’s death wish would eventually come true. Eventually transferred to Dannemora Hospital for the Criminal Insane, Celline successfully fashioned his bedsheets into a noose and hung himself on July 21, 1941. The murder of Julia Weideman had finally been avenged, this time with the rightful party at the end of the proverbial noose.
The S.S. Washington continued on her voyages across the Atlantic Ocean as the U-Boat menace of the Kriegsmarine continued in earnest. The S.S. Washington and her sister ship, the S.S. Manhattan shifted to a New York to Naples run until June of 1940, a few months after the horrific murder ashore. On June 11th, the S.S. Washington encountered a U-Boat off of Portugal on her way to Galway, Ireland. Thanks the quick thinking of Captain Harry Manning, utilizing blinker correspondence, a crisis was avoided with the German hunter. Unscathed, the S.S. Washington arrived in New York City on June 21, 1940. It would be her last transatlantic voyage as the S.S. Washington and S.S. Manhattan were then shifted to a New York to San Francisco route via the Panama Canal to avoid any potential encounters with the U-boat wolf-packs. A year later, in June of 1941, the S.S. Washington was transferred from the United States Lines to the U.S. Navy. She was quickly retrofitted to serve as a troop ship and was renamed the U.S.S. Mount Vernon. Decommissioned in 1946, she returned to service under the U.S. Maritime Corporation and returned to commercial service in February of 1947 where she served until 1951 when she was briefly returned to U.S. Government service.
While the career of the S.S. Washington was relatively quiet and peaceful, the murder of one of her stewardesses at the hands of a deranged and vengeful shipmate who could not handle the end of his employment, was a brief but deadly aspect of her storied career as a liner of the United States Lines in our waters.
About the Author – Adam M. Grohman is the researcher and author of over thirty-six books which capture the rich history of our maritime environs and United States Coast Guard History. For more information about scheduling a lecture or to purchase any of his available titles, please visit www.lulu.com/spotlight/adamgrohman or email grohmandive@hotmail.com.