The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1876-07-20

Il st.sS !. :. : + = = Z 8 -ctte =
4 shake, and he did all he could to suppose
evidence, some MSH hbA absurd and
ridiculous I afterMard learned that
Mbuitoa Warren engaged tic lawyer fer
tic, youthful prisoner The Government
atorrney. made his liiSs Plea. It. was plain,
straight forward and conclusive. !. = -.
The Judge finally gave, his charge: He
was fair and candid. He reviewed the
evidence carefully, and pointed out such
as bore heavily upon the case. He, told
us if there was a lingering doubt in our
minds we must give the prisoner the bene-,
fit of it.. But I could plainly see that
there was no doubt in his mind.
| We-the jury-were conducted to our
room bN iaN officer, End there Kicked hp!
A silence Of some minutes ensued. Moul-
tom W arren was the first to speak. -.
"We1l,'' he said,H II s'pose there's no
need Of our bein' here a great while. Of
course we all know that the prisoner must
! have set fire to the house, 80
There was something in the manner. of
that man; as he said this, which excited
my curiosity-I won't say twas suspi-
Icioni theli--only curiosity. He spoke with
forged effort. at scalmuess which ! at
| once Perceived: The more l looked at
him the more became strongly nervous
and uneasy andw9ndered why he should
| lie 50 anxious to get rid of, the case, and
| frequented that evil house, and that he
had done much toward tempting Charley
| to dissipation. knew that he was in that
house on the night On Which the prisoner
was robbed-for Charley had told me so
when. visited him in the cell. had
then asked the unfortunate youth if he was
sure Warren was his friend. O, he was
sure of it. He should have hunted him UP
on the night of the robbery, only they told
him Warren had gone.
By and by, the foreman proposed that
we should each take up piece of paper
and write down our opinion, and then
compare notes. went to my hat, which
| had placed upon table with number
| of others, and took out a sheet of paper. /
had got half way back to the table when
found had made a mistake: l had got
part of letter from another mans hat.
[ was about to turn back when the name
of the writer of the letter arrested my at
tention. l looked more closely and read:
"Stcphen Grant
| Next I caught this sentence:
'And now dear Charles, if not for your
own, yet for your mothers sake, let me
hope you will do better" = :.ry
started as though shot had struck
me. | held in my hand the other half Of
the sheet which had been used to fire the
burned house! I went to the table and
found that l had taken it from Warren's
1 hat! /, looked to see if had been OBJ
'served-and had not. put the paper
back, and then took a piece from my own
| hat, which was of the same pattern as of
Ethe other, and by its side
\ l returned to the table and sat down.
i Warren was by my side. He had written
his opinion, and took knife from his
| pocket to cut it from the large sheet.
J "Let me take your knife a moment, if
you please,' said to him. ~
/ 1t acas Charley 4mJolds knte-tAe large
Iblade cos gone. With all the powers
possessed 1 restrained my deep emotion,
and having cut my papers L handed back
the knife. u.
| Why should he have that knife so boldly
Eabout him. | afterward learned. He
had not worn those pantaloons before
since the night of the fire. and now he
used the knife, probably without the least
remembrance Of the loss it had sustained
during the very peculiar piece of work, to
the execution Of which it was made SUBJ
tseryient. IL ~ ~ rs g f. ~
| We talked for some ten minutes and
found that eleven of the jury were bent on
rendering a verdict of guilty; though most
of them were in favor of recommending
the prisoner to mercy. Moulton Warren
was decided. He had no mercy at all.
Presently started up, and pretending
to be faint, said must 90 out for few
moments. kicked at the door and the
deputy sheriff came. He heard my plea
and let me out. AS soon as we had gained
a safe distance, l told him all. He was
sstonished and went away when he came
back he brought the district attorney, and
the district judge and the sheriff. told
him again what I mad seen-I assured
them that / knew that it was no mere sus-
picion. And explained, too, Warren's
manner in the jury room, and his former
connection with the prisoner, and his
known character. sD
The officers west away, and at the end
of ten minutes they returned, a constable
added to their number, and this constable
had freshly written instrument in his
hand. The sheriff babe me to point out
the hat to them as soon as we entered the
room.
The door of the room opened, and 1
pointed them to the hat. The sheriff took
it, and asked whose it was. Warren
leaped to his feet and seized it, but was
held back -
Word was instantly sent to the Judge
| %1,of i,,rxy cn,1lI Thnvy
discharged, and then Moulton Warren was
searched. The knife found upon him,
and his behavior at once exposed his guilt.
| The presence of that letter was accounted
| for by him in dozen different ways with
in an hour.
A new jury was empanneled, and
Charles Ambold was acquitted. Shortly
afterward Warren was tried. 1t was plain
! ~ proved that the woman who kept the
house was to have been burned up in it, as
he contrived to lock her into her room
shortly after setting the fire. She had in
CURED his displcasure in various ways,
and this was his revenge. Not only she,
but two other inmates Of the house had
suspected him from the first, but they
dare not complain for fear he would not
be convicted, and would be sure to murder
item. * AZ - S#@SS 49, &c.
The hardened william confessed his guilt
after he had been condemned, and then it
was that he told how he happened to be so
careless in regard to paperFa1ld knife, It
was he Who had robbed Ambold, and
when he took the old letter from his hat to-
use it for torch in setting the fire, he did
not notice what it was, and even when
that partly burned half had been exhibit
ed in court he had entirely forgotten that
he had torn off the other half and put it
back in his hat, as he must have done
The letter had been found in Ambold's
pocketbook, and he had kept it, because
in it the youth was warned against his in
| huence.
He confessed that he had slight idea
of calling the writer to an account when