The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1878-05-21
From the Nc,p YOrlc Herald. I


ATLANTA, Ga, May IL, 1873
Some months ago tho Xcral0 con.
! tanned remarkable story of the
conviction Of two men for murder
upon cirrumstanti,l evidence and
The subsequent discovery Of new
evidence which stayed tho execution
OF the first conviction. An imports
ant discovery just made rcvivcs this
story md shows how unrcIi4b]e tho
strongest of circ,lmstantial evidence
may be.
About one year ago Mr.. Rozier, q
wcli>to-do merchant of Sparta, Ga.,
was murdered while walking from
his store to his house. His body
WAS discovered by the town marshal,
Grigrg, and two mon named Lovett
and Barnes, who reported it to thc
family of tho ilcccased. The mur-
dcrcd man had been struck with
somc heavy, blunt instrument that
forced his skull in without breaking
it. Suspicion fell upon the marshal
and his colleagues, and u detective
was sent for to work the case up.
STRONG ARRAY OF PROOF.
Tho circumStantial evidence
against them was very strong.
Their stories did not fit each other,
and were proved by tho facts to
have been false in some particulars.
For instance, they claimed that
they were in q saloon when the
door was pushed open and Mr.
Rozier, bleeding and staggering,
showed himself and said that ho had
been murdered; that he then stag.
gcrcd back to the place where he
WAS first attacked and thcre died.
The detective then showed that
it would have been impossible for
the wounded man to have walked
this distance without staining 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 detcc~
tive proved that they were left by
a negro boy who had cut his foot
with Il piece of glass. In recount
ing tho articles found in Mr..
Rozier's pockets his son was inter
ruptcd by Griggs, who said, "He
also had some tobacco there" The
boy denied that his father carried
tobacco. Griggs, who had not
seen the pockets empticd, incau,
tioUsiy insisted that he did have
| tobEcco. Upon investigation it was
found that, contrary TO his usual Gus
tom, 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 q
hundred such slight links rs this
was tho chain of circumstantial evi-
d@nce forged, md the unfortunate
men were convicted and condemned.
A witness was also introduced who
sworc that he was sleeping in tho
house opposite which Rozior was
murdered; that ho heard the
ecufll;ns, the heavy blows and the
fall Of the body. Ho then heard a
sound rs of dragging it away,
accompanied by groans, and was
about to get up and go out, whom
no plainly recognized Griggs voice,
and knowing that ho was the
marshal supposed he was simply
dragging some drunken fellow to
the lookup, and ho went back to
bed. He was subsequently awaken
ed by the return Of the scufllers,
the repetition Of groans and curses
aid tho general alarm. He was an
Intelligent witness and was certain
that he had recognized Griggs'
voice. The case was very skilfully
worked up by Mr.. Monaghan
(detective) and it seemed that there
was possible 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 develop
ments were made. Detective Muir
ply received letter from the wife
Of Griggs, the condemned man, who
,,rrf auto5 IN fha ,noot ,,itioh1a farnoa