December 5, 1973

Bklyn Dist Atty E Gold on Dec 4 announces indictment of 10 NYS tax examiners for accepting bribes from businessmen in exchange for underestimating their annual sales taxes; accused are M M Kogan, asst dist tax supervisor who serves as deputy chief of Bklyn office, 8 sr tax examiners and 1 examiner; NYS Taxation and Finance Comr M A Procaccino repts he is suspending all 10 defendants without pay; also notes he is suspending P Deutsch, head of Bklyn tax office, without further explanation; indicted besides Kogan are S Valenti, M Shustack, L Sperling, G Weisberg, H Ginsberg, A Mandell, J H Koenig, M Zeiler, H L Levitan and M Galdo

McMahon, Mickey: NYC Civil Ct Judge-elect N M Poyer is indicted on Dec 4 on charges of conspiring to fix murder case while he was law sec to NYS Sup Ct Justice I Warner; Poyer is 3d judicial officer in NYC to be indicted through work of special prosecutor M H Nadjari; is charged with allegedly planning meetings in Aug, Sept and Oct to fix case of S Stanzione, who was arrested on Dec 8, '72 for murder of major narcotics dealer M McMahon; Poyer and Stanzione developed plan whereby accused murderer would hire lawyer who could illegally influence outcome of case by offering money to 1 or more public officials; special deputy atty gen J A Phillips says investigation was terminated by indictment before any payoffs were made to prevent Poyer from becoming judge; says it would be unfair and unwarranted to assume that Justice Warner had anything to do with case; ct admr G Stern says Poyer has been suspended from position as law sec; says Appellate Div has no auth to prevent Poyer from being sworn in as Civil Ct judge on Jan 1; at that time Poyer will be relieved of his assignment pending hearing by judicial relations com; Poyer illus

Alfred C. Fuller, founder and retired chairman of the Fuller Brush Company, died yesterday in Hartford Hospital at the age of 88. Page 50.

L M Higby, former aide to H R Haldeman, testifies on Dec 4 in Fed Dist Ct that Haldeman retained so much authority at White House following his departure from Nixon Adm that he was able, 6 1/2 mos after his resignation as chief of staff, to supervise inspection by present White House aides of files he had left behind; says Haldeman did not even disclose until about 2 wks ago combination to lock that was keeping files secure; says he was instructed by Haldeman last Nov 15 to find certain document in Haldeman files; says document or copy was then to be turned over to White House officials; says document turned out to be Haldeman's handwritten 2-page record of his meeting with Pres Nixon on June 20 '72--meeting that was recorded on tape that now has 18-min buzzing sound that obliterates only segment of conversation relating to Watergate; White House says it was only 1 day earlier--on Nov 14--that gap was 1st discovered; Higby says he got 'clear impression' from his phone call with Haldeman that somebody at White House, presumably A M Haig Jr, had requested document from Haldeman; says Haldeman knew by then of existence of gap; testifies that Haldeman, even while agreeing to turn paper over, still exercised control over manner in which this was to be done; disscusses Haldeman's instructions; says J F Buzhardt Jr demanded original notes, not copy, and Haldeman acquiesced, but only after specifying that copy was to be made and inserted in file; says he gave notes either to Buzhardt or Secret Service; says Haldeman told Higby to give safe combination to Haig on Nov 16; says he went twice more to files to look up other items requested by White House

R A Morse, US Atty for Eastern Dist of NY, plunges to his death from his 5th-floor apartment on Dec 4, hrs after he told Chief Judge J Mishler that he intended to resign; police call his death 'apparent suicide'; Mishler and other Eastern Dist judges meet on Dec 4 to name acting US Atty for dist; Morse's former law partner, N Turk, is reptd to have told Bklyn pol leaders on Dec 4 that Morse was 'extremely distraught' and had told him he was going to resign; Acting Atty Gen R H Bork issues statement extending condolences; biog; illus