Litchfield enquirer., 1874-11-26
The Superior Court.

| AssSSS oS @0Vut 4U O CLOCK III Gle evening, an attempt was made to blow up the par sonage fp East Canaan with gunpowder. No great damage was done, but t1e hatch way door was slightly burnt, enough it was claimed to constitute the crime of ar- son. Circumstantaal evidence was relied on to convict Bion of having committed the offence. He had but recently been discharged from our State Prison where he had served 8 three years term for burglary. Mr.--Lyman Dunqing had been the means of convicting Bion of this offence; and he was known to have vowed revenge against him. The parsonage was near MT. Dunning's house and it was at once suspected that it was Bion who had made the attempt and that he had mis- taken the parsonage for MT. Dunning's residence. With characteristic energy MT. Dunning began the investigation of the case, discovered facts strongly crimi- hating Bion, and finally succeeded in ar- resting him in May last.
 The facts proved were chiefly these: Yhe prisoner was shown by several wit nesses to have been at Great Harrington at noon of the day of the explosion and was identified by several persons. A MT. Brewer testifes that he sold him twelve pounds of gunpowder and that it was given him in twenty-five pound bag. l Inc |: ticket for station a short distance be- low; and he was seen to get off at Falls Village with paper bag of the size, and | about half filled as described by Mir. Brewer. From Falls Village he was seen going north and was last seen before the | explosion about two miles from East Ga naan, at about P. M. He turned up the next day in Millerton where he entered false name in the hotel register, and from his wet and muddy appearance seemed to have walked distance in the rain, and probably in the night. He was proved to have threatened Dunning while in Bar rington, and confessed his crime to pris- oner after being committed to jail One of the strongest points of circumstantiaI evidence against him was the finding a bag near the scene of the explosion mark ed ''Abbey & Co.," MT. Brewer, who sold the powder to Bion, thinks he gave it him in that bag- His partner had a short time before got some sugar at Abbey & Co.'S in such bag, and had folded and laid it away. From it's size, differing from those they used, he is confident it was the one he let Bion have.
 The case was ably managed by Messrs. Hardenburg and Huntington for the State; and Johnson andAndrews for the prisoner. MT. Johnson opened his argu- ment with the remark that the crime seemed to have originated with the desire on the part of some one to send minis ter to heaven in a chariot of fire after the manner of Elijah, a form of translation he seemed to consider impracticable rath- CT than undesirable. He also paid his re- spects to late deputy sheriff after fash ion that indicated some arrangement be- tween old friends. The jury convicted the prisoner and the judge sentenced him to ten years Imprisonment, the full extent of the law.
 State vs. Eddy Delay was a prosecution for stealing from the house of Mir. Hotchkiss in Harwinton, early in October The evidence was entirely circumstantial. MT. Hotchkiss and his family had been to church on Sunday, and on their return found the house broken open and abont $3, worth of property missing. Early that afternoon Delay was seen near the place with walking stick. Such stick was found leaning against the house near the window where entrance had been made. The prisoner admitted having had a walking stick somewhat like the one found by the window, but claimed that he brought it back with him from his walk and left it at a MT. Lawrence's. His claim in this respect was supported by MT. l.. who produced the stick in court. The grand feature of the case, however, was the attempt to prove that the track made near the window was that of the prisoner A witness who had taken it's exact measurement was offered by the State. The prisoner took off his shoe (the one he wore on the day the house was broken open), the measure was applied, and proved ttoo inches too short! On a hint from tbe court the States Attorney nolled the case, thereby unluckily stifing maiden speech for the defence, to the great regret of bar and spectators.
 State vs. Dailey was case from New Hartford. charging the prisoner with stealing $2O. from "Ed" Wilcox of Pine Meadow notoriety. Wilcox and a sufi- cient number of his friends swore that as Wilcox was getting change for $50 bill Daley managed to steal it, and pass it over to a man named Critchley. Daley and Critchley testified that the money was won gambling at three card monte, but the jury were not inclined to recog- nize any nice distinction between theft and three card monte, and found the pris- oner guilty. It is a pity the Wilcoxes were not also convicted of gambling so that complete and exact justice might have been administered in this complica- ted case. Lawrence and Huntington for State; Seymour for prisoner.
 The foregoing trial was followed by an other brought against Frank Wilcox, one of the Wilcox set, for liquor selling. Two witnesses swore positively to purchase. Then came up the Wilcoxes and the iden- tical lot of witnesses who couldn't see any gambling in the Daley matter and swore positively that they were also present at