The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-03-06
The Pardon Case.

who had been confined In the penitentiary |
for one year and FIVE months, and the Gov
srnor, upon an examination of their case,
promptly issued the pardon to them on !
Friday, and they were discharged the fol- |
lowing day, thus releasing them from a
year and one month of additional iinprison- |
ment under their sentence. As the pardon !
was granted upon the ground of their
probable innocence, the pardon is not a
mere act of grace or compassion, buN of
justice, and was a vindication to them
against the charge upon which they were
convicted. They returned home on Mon
day, and many persons who have become
acquainted with the particulars OF their |
case and their friends and families have
cause to be gratfed with the action which |
has been taken by the State authorities
There was laid before the Board Of Par
dons besides all the records in the case
the testimony OF fourteen witnesses who |
have been recently examined, showing |
that the conviction was mistake, and the |
pardon was recommended by most of the
jurymen who tried them, (two having re-
moved from the county and one being |
dead), by the District Attorney who had
indicted them, and by the President Judge |
before whom they were tried and these
recommendations were endorsed by nearly
all the members of the Bar, and by the ed
itors and publishers of newspapers at
Bloomsburg.
1t appears by the new evidence, to be
very doubtful whether the defendants were
at Espy on Thursday the 10th of May, 1888,
the day of the alleged offense of robbing
Levi Michael because it is shown that on
the evening Of that day Terwilliger was at
the house Of John DeLong, over two miles
east Of Lightstreet, and by request wrote
the name of John Belongs daughter, with
the date, in her bible-with which fact
agreed the testimony of the Commonwealth
on the trial, that the defendants were in
| Lightstrect at or after seven o'clock, on the
same day, and could not have been at
| Espy as early as six or between six and
seven, as was claimed by the prosecution.
1t is probable they were at Espy on the Sth
/ or 9th, and not on the 10th, as was taken
| for granted at the trial. The new evidence
also proves that they were seen and spoken
to in Espy after dark on the evening of the
day when they were there, after the houses
were lighted up and the street illuminated
from them, when they were seen CON-
ing from the direction of the lower landing,
to which point they have always claimed
they dropped down with their boat after
obtaining it. This testimony is consistent
with that given on the trial by three of tho
Commonwealth witnesses, that before
they obtained the key of the boat Mr.. Nc
Kamey's store was already lighted up for
the evening, that persons face could not
be distinguished across Main street, and
that when they loosed the boat at the up
per landing, a witness who saw them could
not distinguish their faces at distance OF
rs to 100 feet But the clear and uncon-
tradicted testimony for the Commonwealth
was that Michael crossed the river before
dark, he himself swearing that it was about
sundown or little before, and that it was
growing dusk after he had crossed the
, river and was going up the hill through
the woods. 1t follows from all this that
even if they were in Espy on the 10th of
May they could not have crossed the river
before Michael and been encountered by
him just beyond the railroad tresting, as
claimed by the prosecution. Still more de.
cisive is the new testimony as to what oc.
Cured south of the river on the evening OF
May the 10th. Unfortunately Michael
was intoxicated on that day. and was still
in a "boozy" condition when he crossed
the river and afterwards, so that his testi
inony is not very reliable. His story on
the trial was, that he encountered two
men beyond the river who walked with
him up the hill for half mile or more, be
hind his wagon, then got on the wagor
with him, and after riding a short distance
, and to within 100 or $50 yards of DAME
Federolfs house, assaulted and robbed
: him, and that he was knocked insensibl,
, by one of them and lay unconscious upor
, the top of his lumber until he got on toI
| of the next hill beyond where he sat fo
two hours or more in fence corner ant
then went on to Mainvlle, arriving ther,
an hour or two after midnight. But it il
now certain that this story, in all its mail
particulars, is entirely wrong, and that th
strong probability is that he was not rob
bed at ALL but fell off his wagon and los
or dropped his money. In addition to sew
, eral circumstances of great improbabilit,
in his story, it is now proved by Miss Fed
, erolf that he was not lying insensible OF
his wagon when he passed their house as
t cending the hill, but that, short distanc
, beyond, he called to his horse and ystoppe,
it to rest in the road. In the next plac
Mr.. George Breish, about nine o'clock tn
next morning, found some of Michael
, money scattered on the roadside at the tol
of the hill beyond Federolf's, consisting o
a one dollar piece of silver, five cen
, piece and two pennies AT that point it i
) quite possible that Michael fell of Of hi
wagon, being in boozy condition, an,
dropped his bag of money, scattering som
of it upon the ground. The ferryrdan VIII
, took him across the river swore on tn
trial that he had his little bag OF money i
{ his vest pocket, and that he returned it t
his vest pocket after paying him his fel
, riage; fact which not only contradict
, his story that he was robbed from his LEI
, pants pocket, but renders it probable this
/ he dropped it when sprawling on the hill
{ But the fact now proved that the fral
= ments of a check which he had, upon tn
t First National Bank of Mahanoy City, wit
g endorsements upon it, were found by II
roadside near Martin Kostenbauder's, o
r the second day after Michael had passed
: concludes all controversy as to the guilt (
4 the defendants. Michael testifes that h
$ paper money and his check were rolled u
c together and tied with string, so tn,
9 when the fragments of the check wei