State v. Mathis

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Weintraub, C. J.

Defendant was convicted of murder in the first degree, and the jury not having recommended life imprisonment, he was sentenced to die. He appeals directly to this Court. R. R. 1:2 — 1(c).

The deceased, Stanley Caswell, had an insurance debit route which took him to North Ninth Street in Kenilworth. The residents there knew him as “the insurance man.”

There are two houses at 218-220 North Ninth Street, one behind the other. Defendant’s father occupied an apartment in the rear house. On February 12, 1965 Mr. Caswell was at the premises.…