In April of 1965, the Ringling Bros. And Barnum and Bailey were to play two shows every day at Madison Square Garden in New York, through May 9th. In ads, you can see a clown’s face, whose likeness was Paul Jung’s, one of the major clowns that worked for circus, and had done so many years.
Paul Jung had worked with the circus for a long time, joining the Ringling Bros in 1917 at the age of 16, as an acrobat. According to his 1918 draft card, he listed his occupation as “Clown” for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. He left in 1924 to work in vaudeville, then returned to the circus in 1934. Paul was 5’8” and 140 pounds, and some sources described him as a bit frail, after having an accident as an acrobat.
While working in the circus, he met his wife, Elsie.
Paul was described as a “star producing clown”, which meant that he both devised and performed tricks for the circus. He was also known as the “Boss of Clown Alley”. Paul was one of the circus’ highest paid performers, and had a “Fun Factory” that he ran with his wife in Florida. Paul was “one of the best known clowns in the business”.
During the month that circus was to play at Madison Square Garden, Paul was staying at the Forrest Hotel, which was nearby, about a block away. He registered with the hotel on March 30th of that year, and the staff never had any problems with him. They found him to be quiet, polite, and kept to himself, never even going to the hotel bar. Occasionally, he would go see a movie in Times Square.
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Paul was last seen on April 20th, 7:30 pm, going into the hotel, following the second show of the day. He didn’t want to go to dinner with the fellow performers, as he was expecting a long distance call. One source says that Paul was also thinking of flying home to Tampa, Florida.
On April 21st, when he didn’t show up for the 10:30 AM show, the assistant circus manager, Dean McMurray, went to the hotel. McMurray went with bell captain, Archie Thompson, with a passkey, as the room was initially locked. Once there, they found Paul’s body.
Paul’s head was crushed in by a blunt instrument, and his hands were tied behind his back. His body was found just inside the foyer between a bed and the wall, which were both blood soaked. One source states that Paul was found lying on his back near the door. He was dressed in a white undershirt and brown striped pajama bottoms. His body was face up, arms behind the back, beneath the body.
The bed had been turned at a 30 degree angle from the twin bed next to it, and the sheet was partly pulled down. Initially, detectives had dismissed robbery as the probable motive, and there weren’t any indications that the room had been ransacked. There weren’t any signs of a struggle either. The murder weapon wasn’t in the room, and all that the detectives found was a six pack of beer and two more cans, all filled. All of Paul’s personal effects remained. Police went to the local stores to see who bought the beer, but that didn’t seem to go very far.
People that knew Paul didn’t understand why he would have been a target. One circus executive was quoted:
“I never knew Paul to have an enemy in the circus, and he has been with us ever since I can remember! He was the guy everybody liked.”.
Paul’s wife said that she couldn’t imagine why anyone would have attacked him, as he wasn’t a violent man. She was also quoted: “It’s that terrible New York City! It’s like a jungle. There have been so many atrocities there in the past few years.”.
One of the other performers, Prince Paul, a good friend, stated: “He had no enemies. It must have been a junkie or an insane person who did this.”.
After the rest of the performers learned of Paul’s death, they were of course heartbroke. They continued the circus shows as planned, but as one said, they were “only going through the motions”. One, Bobby Kay, said: “When I heard the police report that it was foul play, I couldn’t believe it. Natural causes we learn to accept, but foul play, we never accept.”.
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Articles believed that Paul had potentially been beaten with a large flashlight. Police theorized that Paul was killed by someone he knew, that he let into his room. They thought that the killer likely concealed the weapon in his clothing, and it had to have been something not normally found in the hotel, and not connected to the circus. Police believe that Paul was hit in the head, stunning him, and fell, where his hands were quickly tied behind his back. It was believed that as Paul regained consciousness and thrashed on the floor between the bed and the wall, the killer smashed Paul’s head again, which caused several skull fractures, extensive brain damage, and multiple scalp wounds.
The killer didn’t go to the front desk to inquire for Paul, which indicated to detectives that they had already made an appointment to see him in his room. It was noted that Paul couldn’t have accidentally left his weighted door open, as there was no indication that force had been used on the double locks.
The exact time frame from when the killer may have entered, and when Paul was killed was unknown, but the autopsy done estimated Paul’s time of death between 11:30 pm Tuesday, April 20th, and 1 am Wednesday, April 21st.
Surprisingly, none of the other hotel guests heard any commotion or signs of struggle.
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Police didn’t really believe that robbery was the motive, because certain things weren’t taken. One article stated that if robbery was the motive, “the killer was remarkably jittery”. Paul’s wristwatch and ring weren’t taken, and $222 in cash ($2354 in 2026) was found in the pockets of his pants that were hanging the closet of his room.
Interestingly, the police discounted sex as a probable motive, as Paul had been happily married. They didn’t believe that the killer was “some new, casual acquaintance”, and they didn’t believe that drinking was a factor either.
All 169 performers for the circus show were questioned, then another 100 attaches were questioned.
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On April 24th, 1965, Paul’s body was flown to Tampa, Florida. Funeral services were held at Wilson Sammon Funeral Parlor. His body was cremated. Paul’s widow, Elsie, asked that no flowers to be sent. She was quoted:
“Paul never liked to be fussed over. This was his request. He always said he didn’t want people sending flowers.”.
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On May 7th, 1965, articles were posted stating that police had questioned over 1500 people about the case, and had 3 leads. By this time, police stated that the murder weapon was a blunt instrument “described as hotel property and something usually found in hotel rooms”, but was not further identified. They didn’t tell the press much about the suspects, but they stated that one was on the run, and the other was believed to still be in the city.
In June, articles posted that a stolen typewriter was a clue in the case, which eventually lead to the suspects being revealed. One article stated that Paul would constantly correspond by mail to the many people he met over the years, writing on a typewriter. After his death, it was found that his typewriter was missing.
The typewriter wound up in a “hock shop”, or pawn shop, in upper Manhattan, and it was established that it had belonged to Paul. The name and address of the pawner were fake, but the operator of the shop was able to describe the man who sold it. Pawn shop owners elsewhere remembered also pawning items from the same name. In every instance except one, the man gave a phony name. The one time he didn’t, he gave his real name and address, which is what made it possible for detectives to catch him.
Here, it was revealed the the suspects were Allen Jones, 24, and Marian De Berry, 21. Allen was described as a jobless laborer, and Marian was a convicted prostitute. The two were both heroin addicts with a $40 ($424 in 2026) a day habit, desperate for money.
One article stated that Paul had gave them an opportunity. De Berry had been invited into Paul’s room for a can of beer. She left the hotel room door unlocked, and Allen Jones followed in, beating Paul with a firehose nozzle. They then robbed Paul, and fled the hotel.
The same month, the two stated that their “constitutional rights were violated after their arrest”. They tried to claim that the statements they made to police were obtained under duress. Their lawyers tried to claim that “the defendants were illegally detained and their constitutional rights violated.”, and their statements were signed “under threat of fear and force”. On the other hand, the judge stated that their rights “have been, and will be protected”.
Strangely, despite robbery not initially being thought the motive, it was revealed that Paul was robbed of $40 along with the typewriter. So the earlier idea that the robbers were jittery, seemed to have been true.
At this point, official reticence in giving details on the crime was due to a court ruling that the defendants had their rights violated due to pre trial publicity.
Jones and De Berry were held without bail, and a hearing was scheduled for June 15th, 1965, but I couldn’t find any articles on it. On July 1st, it was reported that the two plead innocent.
From there, things slowed, and I couldn’t find any new articles until April of 1966. On April 7th of that year, it was reported that Allen Jones asked to have his case transferred to federal court under the civil rights act. His attorney argued that his constitutional rights had been violated by the refusal of the Manhattan district attorney’s office to reveal information concerning the murder. They claimed that this was due to Allen Jones’ race. Interestingly, this motion was made a month before he was due to go on trial, in May of 1966.
One article quoted Jones and his lawyer’s statement as: “The tactics of the District Attorney is intended to deprive me of my rights in contravention of the constitution of the United State based on my race and heritage. The District Attorney is attempting to discriminate against me by providing even less information for my defense counsel than might be provided to other persons of different race than myself.”.
This must have worked in some way, as the trial in May never happened, and was postponed, but ultimately, his trial was still held in New York state supreme court.
Marian De Berry appeared in articles later that year, in August, where it was reported that she plead guilty to simple assault. The district attorney stated, “we feel that she’s not the killer and not responsible for the death.”. She was released on $1000 bail for sentencing that was to happen on October 5th, 1966. By this point, no trial date was set for Allen Jones. The October date didn’t seem to happen either.
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Nothing happened until September of 1967, when Allen Jones’ trial finally began. By this time, Marian De Berry had pleaded guilty to third degree assault. When she went on the stand, she stated that Allen had demanded money from Paul, who refused to give him any. She was quoted saying, “Allen hit him on the head five or six times with the nozzle.”.
Jones then wiped two foot long, 7-8 pound nozzle with a hotel towel, gagged Paul, and tied his hands behind his back using one of Marian’s stockings. The couple then left the hotel.
During the trial, it was revealed that Marian had knocked on Paul’s door a week before his death, in search of business. He invited her in, paid her $20 ($212 in 2026) and gave her two circus tickets. After this encounter, Allen Jones had stated that he was going to rob Paul Jung.
From the way articles read, it seems that Marian came to Paul’s room the night he was murdered, and they had “the relationship again”, after which, Allen Jones came into the room with the fire nozzle in his hand. This was when Allen Jones demanded money and the beating followed.
Jones told De Berry, “Look in his pockets”, where it seemed like she only searched Paul’s person, and not anything else. She stated that Paul was still breathing when they left.
There wasn’t much reported about the defense’s plan, only one sentence in passing, stating that they tried to pin the murder on Marian, and that Allen Jones was innocent.
On October 18th, 1967, Allen Jones was found guilty for Paul Jung’s death. The all male jury in the state supreme court deliberated for 4.5 hours, before reading the verdict. District Attorney William Loguen told the jury: “All the evidence proves that Jones committed the brutal and unnecessary murder of this defenseless man.”. When the guilty verdict was read, Allen Jones reportedly showed no emotion.
Allen Jones was sentenced to Life in Prison in November, 1967. He also showed no emotion when this was read. He was to be sent to Sing Sing Prison. Articles reported that Jones was to spend at at least 26 years an 8 months behind bars before he could seek parole.
Even though articles stated that Marian was still awaiting sentencing for her participation in the crime, I couldn’t find any articles about what she eventually received.
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I could not find any more information on what potentially happened to Allen Jones after being sentenced. I’m unsure when he or Marian potentially passed away.
There is a find a grave page for Paul Jung. As stated before, he was cremated. He was 65 years old.
