The Indiana State sentinel., 1879-02-05

with hatchet in his hand, who struck at
her. She lodged, and the blow missed her,
striking the babe and killing il. She sue
ceeded in wrestling the hatchet from the
man, but he regained it and struck her blow
after blow, until she became unconscious.
Sac came TO her senses again and heard
voices In the dining room, one of which she
recognized as Alice's. She was unable to
hear what the man said, but heard Alice
exclaim, You won't kill me now | have
given you the money! Then she sgain be-
came insensible. When again conscious she
heard some one walking around es if in their
stocking feet. The footsteps seemed to ap-
proach the doorway and stop at the thresh-
old, but she dared not move, but lay as one
dead. She heard the footsteps then go in
The direction of the room where Alice and
Nettie slept. Again her senses left her, and
she knew nothing more until Nettie came TO
her with lamp and tried to bandage her
head. Her description of the murderer tai
lied exactly with that of Nettie's.
Frances mind became quite lucid, and
her narrative coincided exactly with that of
her mother She fingered for several days.
but finally died, the fourth victim of the
massacre.
FURTHER DEVELOPMENTS.
Several persons in the neighborhood were
arrested on suspicion, but there being no
evidence against them they were speedily
released. The Ratchet with which the trage-
dy was committed, was found where Nettie
said the murderer had left it. 1t was one
which belonged to the family, and the old
man, Jessie Cousins, had used it the evening
prior to the murder, for splitting kindliDg.
Wood, and had left it just inside the wood
| house door, some six feet from the porch
over which the murderer issupposed to have
entered tie house.
! To further corroborate Nettie's story. the
window where she said the man had passed
| out was found raised, and the bloody inn
! press of three fingers was on the window
| sill On the porch over which the window
! opened, were tracks of blood, indicating
which way the man had fed. \ coiored
silk handkerchief was found on the garden
walk. Owing to the fact that Mr.. Roosa was
though. to have been the perpetrator of the
| murder, the authorities did not at the time
/ make as thorough and systematic search as
would otherwise have been made; conse
| quently the few developments given above
we're the result of only partial inve5tiga
ton. A large reward was offered by the
commissioners of the county, and this was
| greatly augmented by much larger one
offered by James Roosa, brother of the in
| sane man.
The remainder of my story will have to
deal with one of the straDgest cases ii has
ever been my lot to chronicle. Itshows how
| a weak and supplemented. though design
ing, man, to make himself for time the
hero Of the community, and to gain gold,
| Haman-like, tried to bring another TO the
: SdilO nc Jul EOI lis wv II ntCh lutc tut DOUSS.
4 STRANGE INCIDENT.
Samuel Maud Coovert had formerly lived
! In South Lebanon, near the Roosa place, but
had separated from his wife and family, and
gone to live with his sister and brother.in
law. one McNeal. in Middletown, O., some
fifteen miles distant from the Roosa place.
1t appears that Coovert wss one OF the first
1t Middletown to hear OF the murder and
the large rewards offered. He i'm
mediately told it to different parties
This must have been on the Thursday aftel
the act He was so silly as to think he would
only have to name the miscreant and gel
the reward. After visiting the scene OF the
tragedy and becoming thoroughly acqusint
ed with the circumstances he went TO al
officer and told him that he knew the orc
that committed the act; that q man, DaviC
Hicks, who formerly lived in tie neighbor
hood, but now kept saloon in Cincinnati
had, while under the influence OF liquor
confessed to having committed the deed
Coovert said Hicks was the guilty man, anG
then asked for the reward. He described
very miDutely the manner in which the al
legged murderer said he did the butchering
To these statements Coovert made affidavit
and Hicks was soon found, arrested, anl
brought to Lebanon. the county seat, fo
trial 1t was with difficulty that the excited
populace were restrained from lyncblng him
He proved an alibi beyond the shadow of
donbt, aud was OF course set at liberty.
The grand jury then indicted Coovert TO
perjury. He entered plea of insanity bu
was convicted and sent to the State prison
for period OF five years.
COVERT IN THE TOLLS.
No definite clue had yet been obtained
respecting the identity of the gnilty party ,sn'
the large rewards were vet unclaimed. A
this juncture q detective, man utterly de
void of principle or honor came upon tn
scene. He soon learned OF the reading o
John Roosa's letter at the village store, ant
that McNeal, the 5rosher-in-laV of Coovert
was present at the time. From this OF
link he forged chain of clrcunssantial evl
dence which doomed Sam Coovert, an lima
cent man, TO diean ignomlnIous death. Coo
vert's attempt to falsely implicate the Gin
cinnati man worked hard against HIM, an,
contributed to bear him swiftly on to his un
deserved fate. Under a special law passe,
by the Legislature, allowing convicts to b
taken out of the penitentiary and tried fo
higher crimes than the one for which the,
were confined, Coovert was brought from
, Columbus to Lebanon, indicted by the gran,
jury, and placed on trial for the murder O
the Roosa family. The evidenc
, against him was purely circumstanhal
. 1t was not proven that he came to or nea
the scene OF the tragedy on that fatal night
but it came out that he was not seen at hom
after o'clock on that evening. A man wa
seen on the road from Middietown to Sout
4 Lebanon that night, riding in hurrie
manner on horse back in the direction of tn
3 latter place, and some one passed throug
: the toll gate halfway between the two place
, the next morning at o'clock, going in th
| direction OF Middletown. These person
: were supposed to have been the same, bu
neither was identified as Sam Coovert. Mr.!
Roosa testified that the man who attacke
her used the hatchet in his left hand. Sar
: Cooyert was left-handed. There was eyi
dence that Coovert had formerly used hand
|. kerSniefs similar to the one found on th
walk in the Roosa garden, but the handkel
! chief was not identified as being his. 1t
,, now believed that this evidence was false
and was worked up by the detective in b.
!. efforts to secure the large rewards. But til
Z evidence which did most to convict Coovei
/, /. was yet to come.
' THE STRANGE PLOT THIcKENs.
r Mary Shaffer, young woman of very be
oh =ded