Prison term ends in death
by JAMES GILL - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Eugene Tanniehill and John Populis had each done 47 years in prison when they got out last week.

Populis was almost certainly telling the truth in declaring himself innocent of the rape in Kenner to which his trial attorney pleaded him guilty when he was 20. The Pardon Board wouldn't lift a finger in his case.

Julian Murray, the attorney representing Populis at the time of his death, has no doubt that he was railroaded on orders from the mob, which pretty much ran Jefferson Parish in those days.

Pardon boards under four previous governors have recommended a commutation for Populis, but it never came through. When he reapplied to Gov. Kathleen Blanco's board in 2005, he could not get so much as a hearing because of the "serious nature of offense."

Populis' big mistake seems to have been the theft of some illegal slot machines from a service station belonging to Roy Becnel, who worked for Zip Chimento, chief investigator for then-DA Frank Langridge and one of mob boss Carlos Marcello's enforcers.

Populis' father turned him into the cops for the burglary, which he admitted, and he spent a few weeks in jail before being charged with three rapes, in which the perpetrator had been described as a "huge negro." Although he was indicted in one of the rapes, he should not have had much trouble beating the rap, since he is white, 5'10" and weighed 147 lbs at the time. He also had three witnesses to put him miles away on the night of the attack.

But his attorney, having told the witnesses they would not be needed, pleaded Populis guilty.

Populis, simple soul, had been sentenced to life before he knew what was going on. His attorney sure knew what was going on, though. This was G. Wray Gill, a hot shot whose most celebrated client was Marcello. How Gill came to take the case -- the Populis family sure couldn't afford to hire him -- can only be guessed at.