Wilkes-Barre Record headline March 27, 1931
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Was an innocent man convicted of killing his wife after a Luzerne County jury trial in March 1931?
Pringle Police Chief Elmer J. Banta, 34, walked into his home at 2 Cooper St., entered his bedroom and removed his revolver from its holster on Dec. 25, 1930. Banta tossed the revolver onto a dresser causing it discharge, striking his wife Valaria, who was called Alice, 27, in the abdomen.
Before Valaria Banta died at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 27, 1930, she claimed the shooting was an accident.
Despite two county detectives and a roomful of family hearing her statement, Chief Banta was arrested on a murder charge and taken before Luzerne County Judge John S. Fine, who released him on $5,000 bail.
Detectives gave the opinion the revolver was “cheap foreign make” as the hammer was damaged when it landed against a dresser leg, according to a story in the Wilkes-Barre Record on Dec. 29, 1930.
Detectives continued their investigation learning Valaria Banta was upset that her police chief husband did not arrive home on time to take her to midnight Christmas mass. When Elmer Banta walked into his residence, Valaria Banta unbraided him for being late.
The argument about missing midnight mass was a motive that resulted in Elmer Banta being charged with murder and his case being brought before a Luzerne County grand jury on March 5, 1931.
The grand jury favored the murder charge to remain against Elmer Banta.
Elmer Banta’s trial began March 23, 1931, at the courthouse before Judge W. Alfred Valentine.
Assistant District Attorney Roscoe B. Smith argued the shooting was intentional as it happened during a quarrel about missing midnight Christmas mass and sought a first-degree murder conviction. Elmer Banta’s attorneys, Lewis R. Crisman and James McQuade, told the jury the shooting was an accident and at worst, Valaria Banta’s death was the result of recklessly handling a revolver.
Valaria Banta’s sister, Helen Sangalo, who lived in the other half of the double block house, testified they planned to attend midnight mass together as a family but Elmer Banta had not arrived home on time, reported the Wilkes-Barre Record on March 24, 1931.
Sangalo said when Elmer Banta did arrive home, she heard “angry loud words followed by a shot,” the Record reported.
Sangalo ran next door and observed Elmer Banta standing in his police uniform and Valaria Banta lying on the floor.
Elmer Banta testified in his own defense. He told the jury once he realized his wife had been shot, he obtained a telephone book and called a doctor.
The jury was given the case at 5:30 p.m. on March 25, 1931. Before they began deliberating due to the hour, they were escorted by deputy sheriffs to a hotel for dinner. After supper, the jury was taken to the courthouse sub-basement to deliberate until 1:30 a.m. on March 26, 1931.
At 2:45 p.m. on March 26, 1931, the jury foreman read the verdict: Guilty of voluntary manslaughter.
“The verdict surprised the defendant, who had expected an acquittal on his claim the shooting was accidental,” the Record reported March 27, 1931.
Even before the verdict was announced, Elmer Banta’s co-defense attorney, McQuade, served notice of an appeal.
“Yes, it is too bad for an innocent man to be sent to jail and I am an innocent man,” Elmer Banta told reporters as he was taken from the courthouse to the county jail.
Judge Valentine sentenced Elmer Banta on March 30 1931, to five to 12 years imprisonment at the Eastern Penitentiary in Philadelphia, and recommended he be held in solitary confinement due to his prior career as a policeman.
