The Portland daily press., 1888-02-21
THE BARRON CASE.
Opening Scenes of the Trial Of stain
and Cromwell.

and Cromwell.
The Attorneys Spend Much of the
Day In Challenging Jurors,
gut Leave Time for the County At
torney to Open the Case.
BANGOR, Feb. 20.--The trial of David l..
Stain and Oliver Cromwell for the murder Of
John W. Barron, cashier of the Dexter Saw
ings Bank, on the 22d day of February, 1878,
opened at 10 o'clock this morning in the Su-
preme Judicial Court, Chief Justice John A.
Peters presiding.
The history of the case and the mystery In
which it is shrouded are still fresh in the
minds of the people, and the arrest Of the two
prisoners four months ago, after ten years OF
uncertainty and doubt, makes this case one
of absorbing interest, and one of the most
important known to criminal practice in New
Enlangd.
The State is represented by Attorney Gen
eral Oryille d. Baker and Fred H. Appleton,
ESQ.,, the Penobscot county attorney. Stain
will be defended by Lewis A. Barker, Esq,
and Cromwell by p. II. Gillen, Esq The
prisoners are to be tried together, the eyi-
dence for both being in the main the same.
1t is estimated that the trial will require all
of the present week.
I'VE have very pretty case." said Attor-
ney Genaral Baker this morning, and he is
confident Of getting conviction.
The. counsel for the defence, while offering
evidence to prove an alibi. will also intro
duce the suicide theory. Mr.. Barker says he
can place himself in the condition in which
Mr.. Barron was found on the day of the ira
gedy in five minutes. Some 70 witnesses are
to be examined and nearly all are now in
Bangor.
The desire to gain entrance to the court
room was general as early as o'clock this
morning. The main entrance was besieged
by throng of men and boys anxious to gain
admittance, and they remained at their post
the entire forenoon. Comparatively few
spectators were admitted, the many witnesses
and the court officers occupying the larger
seats within the bar.
AT S.45 Mrs. Cromwell entered the court
weeping. The prisoners appeared 20 min
utes later, manacled, and in the custody OF
Deputy Sheriff Barker of Dexter. Cromwell
was attired in a neat gray suit. and his hair
was neatly brushed. He was greatly af-
fected and few moments after entering wept
for brief period. But Stain was immova-
ble He wore dark suit and closely watch
ed the proceedings. BE was thinner In flesh
than when at Dexter and his moustache,
which had been dyed black at Dexter, was a
light sandy shade.
At 1890 the empanelling of the jury began.
The prosecution was entitled to five chal-
lenges and the defence to 40. There were 30
men in attendance to draw from, of whom
ten were accepted to sit on the panel. These
are the ten men,
James Bracket, Levant
Daaiel aaDsS 5. H%nIR5regg waIRoh gg,aaIs1 Bradford.
John f. Gray, Dixmont.
Charles A. Seaverance, Orrington.
Siias G. Hatch, Bangor.
Lewis M. Foster, Oldtown.
James T. Wiswell, Orrington.
Oliver Cobb, Patten.
r. M. Given, Orono.
Four men were excused, one of whom, Ja-
cob Puffer, was relative of Mrs. Barron,
and another, Henry L Dole ofiDexter, being
a trustee of the Dexter Savings Bank.
Twelve were challenged by the defence and
four by the prosecution.
At Ii .12 the list was exhausted and the
court ordered the summoning of 20 more men
from Bangor to be In az .ne the
panel. AT 11.25 the court adjourned until
2.30 p. m.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
At2.3Op. M, the filing Of the panel was
resumed, and George A. Davenport and Jo-
seph G. Blake of Bangor, were selected to
complete it. Five were challenged by the
defence and one by the government. Six
were excused on account Of having formed
an opinion, and one for deafness. Mr.. Gil
len. of the defence, exercising the privilege
accorded him by law, peremptorily challeng-
ed Joseph G. Blake, who was the last man
accepted on the panel, and the vacancy was
filed by Christopher c. Toole of Bangor.
Hon. S. C. Hatch of Bangor was chosen as
foreman.
At "A o'clock p m, County Attorney Apple
ton proceeded to open the case for the de-
fence. After noting the enormity of the
crime of murder for which the prisoners
were indicted by the grand jury, Mr. Apple
ton defined the law in such cases at consid-
erable length, showing what constitutes
reasonable doubt, beyond which the gov
ernment must convince the jury. The attor-
ney then entered into the history OF the
tragedy, reviewing the case from the time
when Cashier Barron left his home and wife.
apparently cheerful and in the bloom OF
health, to go to his post of duty at the bank,
how he was found gagged in the vault, ,groan-
ing his life away, and how the affair had
been involved in mystery up to the time OF
the arrest of Stain and Cromwell. The en-
yironments Of the savings bank buildings the
stairway, the rooms of the bank. the vault,
the condition of the apartments after the
tragedy, and the various circumstances con-
nected with the cashiers terrible death, were
all pictured, and numerous points bearing
on the case noted. plan OF the rooms
was presented to the jury. The County At
torney next proceeded to pay his respects to
the Stain gang and their alleged operations
"At the date of the MURDER" he said, "and
for some time previous, in the town of Med
field. Mass, was gang of desperate men as
sociated together for criminal purposes
They were accustomed to meet in house in
that town and plot and plan together. Da-
yid L. Stain was the owner of the house and
built it and equipped it for his nefarious de
signs. In it he plotted the enterprise that
killed Sohn M. Barron. Oliver Cromwell,
Billy Scott and John Harvey were members
of that gang and we shall offer the evidence
of two of its members and show to you by
the testimony of one of them that in 1877
trips were plotted and made to Dexter for
the purpose of making themselves familiar
with the bank and its surroundings. The
matter was well talked over in Stains house
at Medfeld. In their trip which was made
in the latter part of July and in August,
1877 they took with them full kit of the
tools which professional burglars would
need. We shall show you at that time youn g
Stain took the horse "Flora" and David
Stain, Cromwell and two others with him
Thence they went to Gardiner and drove up
the river to Skowhegan, where the gang left
| him and he proceeded to Bingham. In
July or August, 1877, Oliver Cromwell and
| another man, answering to the descrip-
| tion of David Stain, and a third individual,
were seen in the town of Anson. Cromwell
| will be identified by witness who saw him
| at that time. Mr.. Stain Ireturned to Booth
| bay via Gardiner and the steamer "Star Of
| the East" And we shall further show that
| Mr.. Cromwell and two companions visited
| the Farmers Hotel, Augusta during the trip,
| the landlord taStifvinQ that he entertained