The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-12-27
THE MOODY MURDER.
Progress of the Trial of the JOnes-Tol
liver Gang at Bloomington.
The Principal Criminal. Bent Jones, Il
Placed Upon the stand and
Gives His Version of HIS
Proceedings ON the
Fatal Night

BLOOMINGTON. Ind, Dec. ~. lSs6.-A mass
of impeaching and rebutting evidence has
been introduced in this Jones-Tolliver in
vestigation. which would be uninteresting
sto the general reader. and will not be re-
ported The statements of three of the de-
PENDANTS, Tom Tolliver, Parks Tolliver and
Lee Jones, are also uninteresting. rs details
as TO how man did not commit a murder
always are. They put in a general denial.
As Bent Jones is the supposed leader of,
and, according to LOwery. made the plans
Dfor, the conSpirators. his testimony will be
sufficient.
THE PRINCIPAL CRIMINAL.
Bent Jones being put upon the stand, said
in substance: Eli Lowery has worked for
me off abd on for four years. l never had
any conversation with MIN concerning the
death of Tom Moody; never talked to him
about killing him Moody; my mill was
burned in March last; don't think Lowery
worked for me after that; can't say whether
he was working for me at the time Moody
was killed or not. ] remember OF
after the election two years ago;
saw 20 shot gun in that party
that night; didn't talk to Lowery about kill
ing Moody that night; never saw Lowery
after the southern train came in about
O'Clock that evening. l never had CONVEX
satiOn with him sitting in the sash house
.doOr about killing Moody, and never used
the language testified to by Lowery; never
bad but one conversation with him about
Moody in my life that recollect OF. ] cid
not have any conversation with LOwery the
day Moody was killed, nor don't remember
of seeing him that day. / never offered him
any money at any time to kill him.
u THE NIGHT OF THE MURDER
was at my office in Mitchell most OF the
day preceding the night on which Moody
was shot. | was down town in the morning
about o'clock; was at the express office
and about town probably for an hour, then
went back 10 my Office and remained until
o'clock; went TO supper and returned 20
my office again about o'clock | went
back to my Office by myself. Moses Moore
came in shortly after | got there. and in a
few minutes Lee Jones and Tom Tolliver
came. We all left in few minutes. and
went down town together j went 10 AL
vie Moore's store. but don't remember
where the others went. i don't remember
who was in Alyie MOOres store; am pretty
certain Lee Jones went in with me. / went
in to get five dollar bill changed; asked
Moore to change IL, but he said he could
not do it. l then went TO Abe Jones's
saloon to get it changed; whoever was be-
hind the bar could not change it, but gave
me 3. / wanted - to pay ALIVE Moore.
then got the bill changed and went back to
the saloon to replace the 81. After ! came
out of the saloon | was backwards and for
wards and dom remember who saw except
Mr. Gilbert; ! saw him when ] went TO
replace the money; l was there only
few minutes, and then went to Bill Boil
lens's saloon. | then went TO David Lees
house TO pay him some money; staid there
until about 3 O'Clock; went back to Abe
Joness saloon, talked and played the fiddle
for about half an hour, and then went home
/ was not nearer Orleans that night than the
railroad crossing at Mitchell. | had no ar
rangement with any person to kill Tom
Moody. ] heard Moody was shot the next
morning after it was done, but don't know
who told me.
THE DAY FOLLOWING.
went to Orleans that next day: think
went on the passenger train; had been in
Bedford; was not at Orleans before went TO
Bedford. | heard Moody was dead at Bed
ford; that was the first heard of his death /:
came, then got in the train
Z and went back to Mitchell Went /
was shot and expected 10 die. ] staid at
Bedford until the southern bound train
stepped off the train there l heard that
hand-car with lot of bows
good deal of excitement there, and / got
back on the train and went on down there
met several Mitchell boys there. l went to
Spicely's store the first thing after getting
there, and was in no other house while
there. except the old hotel building at the
4 n
car, with a number of persons got
there about dark. am not
much acquainted with Captain Ward
The first time | met him to speak to him was
at Mitchell. He came up to me, and said he
! supposed my name vas Jones. / said 1 sup
posed so. too. He said he would like to have
private conversation with me, and then
kind of stepped back and said: But JEFF
Huffstetter, the id s-n of bib" was
there and he couldn't talk. l told him
was going away and couldn't talk either; he
then asked me where he could have a pri-
waite conversation. | told him to meet me
at barn on the Orleans road
was TO meet some parties there to
make some estimates about building
new barn-but he never met
me there. / suspected his business the first
time met him. and the next time | met
him he said he wanted to convict jeff Huff
stetter of killing Moody, and wanted TO talk
to me about it. / told him / didn't have
time. He insisted and / told him had
rather be excused. | never spoke to him
afterwards but once. He said he believed
he could convict Jeff Huffstetter; said some
thing about JEFF notifying him to leave
Orlesns or something of that sort: that is
all the conversations | ever had with him.
cRoss-Ex ANIMATION.
Cross-ezamined.-The witness was first
handed paper and asked whether he wrote
it. After carefully reading it he said he did
that be didn't know how long since; il was
his handwrite; that lac believed he wrote il
in Bloomington since he has been in Jail
The paper proved to be memorandum OF
sonse witnesses testimony. and the prisoner
stated he had made such a memoir
andun of the testimony IF every witness
and gave them TO his wife. The
counsel for the state said a witness was
caught memorzing the one produced.
Here the case closed and Judge Pearson
after reviewing the testimony. decided &C
admit Tom ToIliver, the youngest prisoner,