New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1878-06-05
A STRANGE CASE.

A STRANGE CASE.
Atlanta Ga. (May ~, Cor. N. Y. Herald
Some months ago the Herald contained
remarkable story of the conviction of two
men for murder upon circumstantial evi-
dence and the subsequent discovery of new
evidence that stayed the execution of the
first conviction. An important discovery
just made revives this story and shows how
unreliable the strongest of circumstantial
evidence may be-.
About one year age Mr.. Rozier, a well-to-
do merchant of Sparta, Ga, was murdered
while walking from his store to his house.
His body was discovered by the town mar
shall, Griggs, and two men named Lovett
and Barnes, who reported it to the family Of
the deceased. The murdered man had been
struck with some heavy blunt instrument
that forced his skull in without breaking it.
Suspicion fell upon the marshal and his col
leagues, and detective was sent for to work
the case up.
A STRONG ARRAY OF PROOF.
The circumstancial evidence against them
was very strong. Their stories did not fit
OdSA OVAi0A, sAAASA WOA0 EI1OfO>A ny AoCt6 W
have been false in some particulars. For
instance, they claimed that they were in a
saloon when the door was pushed open and
Mr.. Rozier, bleeding and staggering, showed
himself and said that he had been murdered;
that he then staggered back to the place
where he was first attacked and there died.
The detective then showed that it would
have been impossible for the wounded man
to have walked this distance without stain
ing the ground and the door with the blood
which was then pouring from him. The
friends of the accused then showed two
spots of blood on the edge of the saloon, but
the detective proved that they we're left by
negro boy who had cut his foot with piece
of glass; In recounting the articles found in
Mr.. Rozier's pockets his son was interrupt
ed by Griggs, who said, s'He also had some
tobacco there The boy denied that his
father carried tobacco. Griggs, who had
not seen the pockets emptied, incautiously
insisted that he did have tobacco. Upon
investigation it was found that, con-
trary to usual custom, the deceased had
started home with a piece of tobacco in his
pocket. The question then arose as to how
Griggs knew that Rozier had tobacco in his
pocket. With hundred such slight links
as this was the chain of circumstantial evil
dence forged, and the unfortunate men were
convicted and condemned. A witness was
also introduced who swore that he was
sleeping in the house opposite which Rozier
was murdered; that he heard the scuffiing
the heavy blows and the fall of the body.
He then heard sound as if dragging it
away, accompanied by groans, and was about
to get up and go out, when he plainly heard
Griggs' voice, and knowing that he was the
~ 41oo4
ging some drunken fellow to the lookup,
quently awakened by the return of the scuf-
fers, the repetition Of groans and curses and
the general alarm. He was an intelligent
witness and was certain that he had recog-
nized Griggs' voice. The case was very
skilfully worked up by Mr.. Monaghan (de-
tective) and it seemed that there was no pos
sible escape for the doomed men. The case
was carried to the supreme court and the
judgment of the court below was affirmed.
ANOTHER THEORY OF THE CASE.
just here some startling developments
were made. Detective Murphy received a
etter from the wife of Grjggs, the con-
demned man, who protested in the most
pitiable terms against the conviction of her
husband, declaring that she knew him to be
ply determined to look into the case, and
went down to Sparta for that purpose. He
was speedily satisfied that a good case had
not heen made out against Griggs and his
fellows, and he went to work on another
tack. He discovered that on the day of the
murder number of roughs, then belonging
to Howe's London circus, which was summer
ing at Augusta, Ca, had been in Sparta and
had disappeared during the night. He be-
came satisfied from several small circum-
stances that these men were connectedin
some way with Rozier's murder. This sup
position explained what had hitherto been
inexplicable-v the nature of the
wound by which Rozier's head had
been crushed in without the
skin being broken. sandbag used
about circus tent was the only weapon that
would do such work as this, and this ugly
weapon is frequently used by circfs fakirs,
whose object is usually to simply stun a
man, that they may rob him and get away.
A blow delivered too heavily would crush
the skull in. Murphy at once went to work
on the circus, which was then travelling
through Canada. He soon made out q case
against two employees of the circus, through
the story of a tent pitcher named Enright.
This man said that his two pals had gone
up the road on the day of the murder and
had returned the next day loaded down with
swag. They brought pistol and watch,
said Enright, which he. described SO that
they tailed exactly with the articles taken
from Rozier's body when he was killed. At
Cleveland, Ohio, Murphy arrested Enright,
and took him back to Georgia, where he made
his statement in clear and convincing man
ner. His evidence was not sufficient, how
ever, to clear the condemned men, although
it effected a stay in the proceedings.
Through the publication of Enwright's con-