The  Kokomo  Tribune
 May 27, 1931
Page 8
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BLACKMAILERS PLEADS GUILTY; TWO OTHERS
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Shelbyville, Ind., May 26
          Jasper Harker, 18, pleaded guilty to a charge of blackmail in Shelby circuit court today but  Elmer Bassett,  special judge, deferred pronouncing sentence until two other persons charged in the same case are tried.  Harker's wife,  Mabel Allison Harker, 19, and her brother,  Marshall Allison, 14, are charged with  Harker in an attempt to extort $5,000 from Roy McDaniel, Waldron lumber dealer.  The three young persons were arrested after they failed to get a decoy that had been placed for them.
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Ibid.
May 6, 1931
Page 1
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CHARGED  TRIED
EXTORT  $5,000  AT  SHELBYVILLE
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BRIDE'S  BROTHER  ALSO  ALLEGED
TO  HAVE  ENTERED  IN  PLOTTING
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TWO  FREE  UNDER  BONDS
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TRIO  ALLEGED  FIRED  UPON
WHEN  ATTEMPT  WAS  MADE
TO  GET  PACKAGE
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Shelbyville, Ind., May 5
          Charged with having attempted to extort $5,000 from a wealthy landowner and lumber dealer,  Jasper Harker,  18, farmer near Hope, Bartholomew county, was held in jail tonight while his bride of a month,  Mrs. Mabel Harker,  18 and her 14-year-old brother,  Marshall Allison, were free under bonds of $10,000 each posted by their father,  Ernest Allison, of Waldron.  Charges of blackmailing were filed against the three today after police said they obtained signed confessions from  Mr. and Mrs. Harker.  At the request of the elder Allison, his son was not questioned.  Allison made no attempt to gain freedom for his son-in-law.  Trial of the trio was set for May 27.  It was revealed Harker had been shot eight times in the face, chest and arms by officers who attempted to capture the alleged blackmailers a week ago.  Roy McDaniel reported to officers' he had received a letter demanding that he leave $5,000 on a fence post near the Shelby-Decatur county line.  A decoy package was placed at the designated spot and posses patrolled nearby roads in the belief the blackmailers would arrive in an automobile and only a few men kept watch about the fence post.  Two men walked across a field toward the post.  A relative of McDaniel fearing the extortionists might escape, fired upon them.  They darted into a thicket and disappeared.  In the alleged statement to officers, Mr. and Mrs. Harker were quoted as saying young Allison wrote the letter after hearing a group of men in Waldron discussing such a scheme.  The statement, officer said, related that Harker corrected the letter and his wife copied and mailed it.  Mrs. Harker, who announced her marriage after graduating from Waldron high school last week, said she drove her husband to a spot near the place where the money was to be left and that he was joined there by young Allison.  The two proceeded to the place where the shooting occurred.  Young Allison was a member of the eighth grade graduating class at Waldron last week.
Contributed by Janet McColley Franklin

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