Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1884-03-20

murder in the afternoon: dressed himself
: up to go; Jud and Holeomb both had
pistols; they were very much alike, but
| one had white and the other a brown
handle; saw Jud and Foy cleaning
them the Sunday before the murder;
| they fired them at a mark after they
cleaned them to sec whether they were
all right; don't know of their getting
any cartridges just before the murder;
don't know what Jud brought home
with him the night before the murder;
Holeomb made me present of rifle
since the murder; it was an old
rifle which had been in the
house some time; this was OH the same
day they were arrested; he said nothing
when he gave it to me except that he
would make me present of it; Mr..
Holcomb was at home all the day be-
fore the murder. Witness then detailed
how they spent the night the murder
was committed, and said that about
breakfast time Jim Foy came in and
said the folks down at Crouch's were
all murdered. Foy had lost his hat in
the barn and he went into the house
after another one. Foy did not get his
cap until he came back from Crouch's
the next day. He changed his shirt,
taking of colored shirt and putting
on another colorod shirt. He left the
shirt he took off neart the cupboard door
upstairs.
Cross-examined Think Jud wore
his light suit the day before and put on
his Brown suit the following morning.
Knew of Mr.. Holcomb's getting pair
OF rubber boots the morning before the
murder; doa't know of Jud's having
any rubber boots. The statements
drawn up by me were true; have heard
lots of people say that l would be in
danger if did not change my testimony
from these statements.
Charles Andrews was called and his
testimony corroborated that of Fred
Lonsbery's as to the events occurring
on the night of the murder. Continu-
ing, he said: When the news came of
the murder, neither Jud Crouch nor Mr..
Holcomb said anything; Holcomb got
| ready and went TO town; returned about
noon; changed his coat and vest, but
don't know of his shaving himself.
After the murder Jud Crou CHI STAYED at
the old Crouch homestead. Foy and
Jud practiced at q mark three weeks
before the murder; they had cleaned
their revolvers before firing at the mark
they each shot two or three times; they
shot at piece of paper on the head of
barrel; think the pistols were about
the same size. A pistol was shown him
by Detective Harris and witness thought
they were smaller than that l left Mr.
Holcomb's after Mrs. Holcomb.
died and returned afterwards and
am still staying there. Have
never heard either Mr., Holcomb or Jud
Crouch say who committed the murder
or for what purpose, neither have |
heard it discussed between Mr.. and Mrs.
Holcomb. Heard Mr.. Holcomb ask
where Polly was when the colored man
brought the news of the murder; the
colored boy said he was KILLED, too. Am
positive that they only butchered once
before the murder while | was there.
Charles VanGiesor, sworn: Had q
talk with Mr.. Holcomb one day last
February in jackson, and he asked if
said that McIntire said that Holcoinb
said that Eunice's child would never
see the light of day? 1 told him l never
said any such thing. He said also that
he understood had said he received q
large amount for taking care of Jud.
but had said he never re ceived one Cd
, d-n' cent; said all the detective work
had been paid by him; he had paid out
about SO, 900 already said he wanted ne
to understand that Jud Crouch was 40
id fool.
A SENSATION
was created when Detective John c.
Harris of Pinkerton' force was sworn.
His testimony was substantially as fol-
lows: Was sent hero Jan. / by Mr..
Pinkerton 10 investigate the murders.
First consulted Sheriff Winney Jan. Z.
Went to the Crouch place to examine
it. Found Jud Crouch and James Foy
there. Jud showed witness the rooms
in which the people were killed. Jud
said he couldn't tell who committed the
crime: also said he found three shells
on the floor in the parlor, his attention
having been called to them by Foy.
The latter SAID Elmer Hatch called his
attention to them, Foy said he put
washtub over the tracks west of the
house. Witness was assisted in the in
vestigation by John c. Frazer, known
here as j. G Murray, and Geo. Hay.
Went to West Branch, Ogemaw county,
TO see VIM. Holcomb. Before going saw
Dan in the Hibbard house. Questioned
him about the tragedy. Dan said he was
at home the night of the tragedy and
was awakened some time after ~ by
the barn door. Dan told witness
that he was up north once, and then
admitted he was up there twice, three
again in October and remained week.
Witness asked him if he had pistol at
that time. Admitted that he had u
pistol up there. Dan choked up,
called for glass of water, and then
said it was Smith & Wesson 50 caliber,
bought ut Lansing for his brother.
Asked HIM at what store he bought it,
but he couldn't tell and couldn't dos
cribe the store. Dan said he lost the
pistol out of his pocket, but couldn't tell
when. Witness first learned of the
pistol in talks with Dan, whose state
mett was made in the presence of
Sheriff Winney. Witness and Winney
went to Lansing and visited fourstores.
There were no other places where pis-
tolls were sold in Lansing. Dams visit
was between the LIST and the 10th of
October Witness gave the names of
the different makes of eight pistols sold
in this city, The rifling in the Smith
& Wesson is finer than in the Others
and makes a different mark on the
bullet. Witness has had no information
or assistance from Dan or Jud.. They
never came near unless witness
approached them. Witness saw Foy