The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-05-09
A REMARKABLE CASE.
Which Goes to Show That it is
Not Always Best to Convict
a Man Purely Upon Cir
cumstantial Evidence.

a Man Purely Upon Cir
cumstantial Evidence.
A rather remarkable criminal case
showing the danger at conviction OF
circumstautial evidence, has recently
developed in Mt. Vernon. Posey coun
ty, Ind. On January %. 1851. tn.
town was very much excited by the
robbery Of DIR. Spencer, a well known
physician, and an attempt to murder
him The particulars of the robbery
which are still fresh in the minds OF
every one in that portion Of the state
are as follows: DR.. Spencer had col
lected $1,000 on that day from one OF
his tenants, and the supposition was
that he had the money on his person.
About 8 o'clock that night, as ne was
going from his office to his home,
which is only a short distance of. he
was followed, and, when within a few
feet of his door, set upon. knocked in
he head and robbed. He had. how.
ever, deposited the money in the bank.
and the robbers obtained only small
sum and case Of instruments. The
town was terrible excited over the
affair, and soon every one was on the
alert to catch the slightest clue as to
who the parties were. Quite a num-
Der Of persons were arrested on sus-
piciOn, and among the number were
three men name1 Francis Moore, Ben
Kemper and John Reed. A nan
named VIM. Morgan, whs had &C.
quired pretty hard character, having
been enc of the famous "cow bows" in
the west, was known to be in town
the night Of the robbery,
but left the next day. Suspicion
rested upon him and he was tracked
out of the city and finally arrested OIL
Devils island" in the Mississippi.
and brought back. He remained in
Mt. Vernon about q week and was
finally put upon the stand to give his
testimony, and to the surprise of all
he gave a clear account of the rob-
berry. Moore was then on trial, and
was convicted on his evidence, coupled
with that of other very responsible
parties. He stated that he was in
town the night the robbery was COM
mitted, and was on his way to church.
He passed the doctors house, and be-
came unwillingly a witness to the
whole affair. He stated that four
men committed the robbery after hav-
ing knocked the doctor i'm the head
with Ratchet. Three of the men he
identified as Moore, Reed and KEN
per, the three men who were arrested
on suspicion ; the other one he could
not identify. The other evidence
against Moore was very strong, but
entirely circumStantial. Reliable per-
SONS testified that he knew the doctor
had collected the money. He was
seen to follow him around all day. and
when he left the Office TO go home
that night a man had seen Moore I
dog his footsteps. with hatchet in
hi hand and both OF them disappear
ed. Upon this combined evidence
Moore was convicted at the Novem-
Der term of court and sentenced To
fourteen years in the penitentiary at !
j Jacksonville. He was sent up q :
short time afterward and is there now.
The two men, Reed and Kemper. |
we're tried separately and on the evil
dence of Morgan, who testified that |
one of the men was Reed. he was on /
last Friday sentenced to eight years
in the penitentiary. The trial of
Kemper, the remaining man. com.
last Saturday, and it was then
that the whole story was found
out to be fallacy. Morgan had
never been subjected to a severe
cross-examination, but on this trial
Mai. Menzies, who assisted for the de-
tense, determined to test his story. He
was takan into a private room and
there cross examined by Maj. Menzies
and Judge Edison until he was tangled
up and forced to make an open con-
fession. He stated that he and a man
named VIM. Phenix had followed the
Doctor from his Office, thinking that he
mad the money on his oerson, knocked
him 10 the head with Ratchet, and
hen robbed him. In the construction
If his testimony against Moore and the
others Morgan had shown remarkable
He was in town about a
week before the trial, and had found
,ut what all the witnesses summoned
knew about the matter and then con-
;tructed his story to correspond with
heirs. For instance, one man heard,
,r thought he heard, signal whistles,
and another heard four men run by
his house. In his testimony, Morgan
described the signal whistles and the
Our men running. thus cuuningly