The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-09-28
THE CHAMBERS TRIAL.
The Defense Makes Another Effort to Estab-
lish an Alibi-New Theory of the Robbery.
pecial to the indianapolis Journal.
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cpeciaI 10 the AnulanapoIls Journal
BLooMINGToN, Ind. Sept. 26.-- day the
main defense of Chesley Chambers against the
charge of assaultng two men with intent to
kill, and robbing the American Express Com
pany of more than 81, 600, was made before the
jury in the presence of the largest audience that
has ever assembled in the Monroe county court
house.
T. f. Moore was placed on the stand this
morning, and his story was as follows: II have
lived in Paris H., since May last; before that
time lived near Chesley Chambers, whom
know personally. On the night Of tho robbery
/ came up on the train At Mitchell two strange
men boarded the train. They occupied seats
back of me in the smoker until near Harrods
burg, when one of them came forward and sat
beside me- He was rather tall, and of light COM
plexion; he wore light clothes and souch hat;
he had light-colored mustache and side whiskers.
When L got off at Harrodsburg to 60 home, l
left him in the car"
This is all that there was of the story, and as
soon Mr.. Moore got off the stand the State
gave notice that witnesses would be introduced
to impeach the witness and show that he had
stated, after the arrest Of Chambers, that it
could not be Chesley Chambers who committed
the deed, as ''he was in town with him that
night"
Milton Moore was introduced to show that
Chambers had had check cashed at the
Mitchell Bank last December After stating
that Chambers received the money, Moore was
asked if he knew Chambers and he replied: II
never met him but the one time, but knew him
as soon as l saw him to day; l would know him
anywhere"
The effort to prove an albi commenced with
Edward Turner, who detailed how he had been
with the defendant working on Wednesday, the
day before the crime, and gave all the par
ticulars; but the father of Turner followed and
spoiled the whole story by swearing that his son
did the work on Friday, not Wednesday.
Chambers mother was the next witness called
in furtherance of the effort to establish an alibi
Her story follows "Chesley Chambers,
my son, was at home on Tuesday. also on
Wednesday. On Wednesday he worked in
lumber in field adjoining Turner's farm, and
by o'clock came in for supper, remaining until
8 o'clock, when he retired, leaving his shoes
down stairs and going to bed in room imme-
diateiy over mine / do not think he could have
got out without me knowing it, though there
was hallway which did not pass through my
room. In the morning at o'clock
he came down stairs and made the
FIRE; afterwards he went to the barn to feed, and
returning from breakfast, worked in the field
with father until noon, then going to Mays to
plant corn. He had no scratches or bruises on
his hands or face"
Mrs S. G. Duncan in her testimony intro
duced something entirely new in the case and
being in every respect reliable witness it has
caused much speculation on all sides. The
statement was: AS the train stopped after the
robbery, near large rock or embankment, she
noticed three men raise up and stoop down as if
looking for something, but thought nothing of
it until she found they did not get on the train.
The theory is that more than one man was con-
nected with the crime, and this is the first evi-
dence of the kind yet developed.
Three other members of the family will testify
on Monday, when the defense will rest their
case. The jury will not get the case before
Wednesday evening