The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1888-04-12
The Stain-Cromwell Case.

The Stain Cromwell Case.
The points on which the petition for a new
trial in the Stain Cromwell case are based ar,
in brief as follows:
1. AT the trial great stress was laid by th'
government upon the fact that the presence o
the screwdri,er in the bank vault had not beel
satisfactorily accounted for, and that withou
it, it was a physical impossibility for MIR. Bar
ron to lock himself into the safe in the manner
in which he was found. Since the trial Millar,
f. Mudgctt of Bangor has. with no other in
strument than silver 10-ceEt piece, in the
presence of several gentlemen, placed himself
in the position in which Mr.. Barron is showr
to have been found by the evidence, bound ant
gagged i'll the same manner, with bis hand,
handcutled behind his back and both doors OF
the safe locked behind him, and that be did this
in about four minutes. and will so testify.
,. AT the trial Charles +. Stain testified that
he lived during the entire year of 1877, and un.
til January, 1878, at his fathers in Medield
Mass. and heard these respondents plan the
robbery of the Dexter Savings Bank. The re-
spondents aver that they are now able to trace
Charles f. Stain through said year of 1877, and
to prove conclusively that he was in Maine and
not in Massachusetts.
). Charles f. Stain also testified that he and re.
SPonuchts, toSctheI Win 'bily scOtJ,. came
to Maine in July, 1877, to examine the Dexter
bank. and that on their return they stopped al
the Farmers Hotel in Augusta. And, in con-
nectlon with this testimony, another important
witness for the government was introduced in
the person of Francis NJ. Bowman. who testiti-
ed that he was the proprietor of the Farmers
Hotel in Augusta in 1877, and that on July y
of that year. three men with a two-seated
wagon stopped at his house to dinner; that he
asked them to register. and they declined, and
that he registered them as three strangers.
Since the trial an investigation has been made
which shows that said
BOWMAN WAS NOT PROPRIETOR
of that hotel in July, 1877, but that it was then
run by George ii. Robinson. who will testify
TO that fact.
4. Charles f. Stain further testified that he
and respondents came again to examine the
bank in November. 1877. with team. on the
steamer star of the East, landing at Gardiner
and driving to Dexter. He stated that the horse
with which they came in July was called Flora,
and that the one they came with in November
was called Star. and that both of said horses
belonged to Il Mr.. Wheeler of Medticld, Mass,
who kept a stable there, and of whom he hired
them, and that Mr. Wheeler was dead. The
respondents aver that l.. W. Wheeler of Saxon
vie Mass, will testify that he is the son of
the man who kept the livery stable in Me,i!iei,t
and who is referred to in the testimony of
Dodge and stain: that he was employed about
the stable at that time: that he aud his brother
settled up his fathers business after his death
i'll March. 1s,S, and that he has his fathers
books in his possession. and that his father did
not own any mare Flora or horse Star during
tue year 1874 Further he will state that 10
team was let TO either of the Stains. alleged
hy the government ami testified to by Charles
+. Stain.
D. The government attempted to show that
Impressions We're taken of the lock on the DtX-
ter bank door, ana access gained by means of
false KEYS made theretrom. phil0 \. Feltcr of
New York. an inventor of locks and the manu-
acturer of this particular lock. will testify that
no impression can possibly he taken in any wax
or other substance from which key can be
made that will unlock this door.
q. During the trial the respondents intro
duced all receipts of freight shipped on the
Star of the East in Jolly, August and November,
lS,1. to show that no such teams a Charles +.
Stain testified to We're shipped from Boston.
Among these receipts was one of Nov 20, lSi !,
purportng to be that of b. G. Sanborn shipping
horse and two seated wagon from Boston to
Gardiner. This was the only team CORES pond
ing in any way to the team described 10y Charles
+. stain. The encouragement introduced GER
tain letters written by David l.. Stain, and
claimed that the b. G.. Sanborn receipt was in
tie same handwritny-ahd that it was really
.he receipt of u. l.. Stain under an assumed
name. Is. {. Sanborn Il credible citizen of
Lowell. Mass. will testify that Nov. 20, 1877,
he shipped Il horse and two->eated wagon from
Boston to Gardiner over the steamer Star of
the East and that the receipt of Nov. 20, sign
ed b. {. SanborD. is an
HONEST AND ORIGINAL. RECEIPT
in his handwriting and signed by him.
:. The government claimed to show by c.
+. stain that his father confessed to him that
lie was guilty Of the Barron murder, and that
Young Stain testified that this confession was
at his FAT hnr'S hoiiSp Na,ltpll Shnrfiy
after his release from the Maine state prison,
in February, 1881. This was the only evidence
which directly connected Stain with this muir
der. Since the trial persons who before were
unwilling to be witnesses have volunteered i'll
formation showing young STAINS whereabouts
in the spring OF lSSl and di>proving his teSti-
mony.
s. The government attempted to show the
existence OF certain secret places in the house
formerly occupied by David J.. Stain of Med
field, in which the burglar tools alleged to have
been taken to Dexter for the purpose of rob-
bins the Dexter Bank We're kept. W. II. Bull
lard, Mediield carpenter, will testify that he
is familiar with the called secret closet next
the chimney: that it has a door opening into
one of the sleeping rooms. that it was left
rough when the rest of the house was plaster
ed, and il hole cut through the top and through
the attic floor, by which. with IA ladder, access
was had to the attic; that when the attic stairs
were put in leading from the upper front hall
this closet was sheathed up with matched
boards to make a clothes closet; that he
did the work himself, and knows that there
was no secret about this closet.
.. The government tried to show that one
Of these respondents bought crackers in DeN-
ter. and to connect that event with a minute
quantity of cracker crumbs found on the Settee
i'll Masonic Hall, over the bank the morning
after the Barron tragedy. Charles l.. Winslow
of Dexter who was a witness for the govern.
,,..nt fh. al hat h., i,
Masonic Hall day or two after the Barron
tragedy, and moved the cushion upon the set
tee where these crumbs We're found, and that
behind the cushion he found the whole length
Of the seat a quantity of similar crumbs mixed
in with dust. looking as though they had been
accumulatin@ there for Il long time. MIR. Wins.
low will also testify that since the trial he has
become satisfied that the stranger whom he
testified about as coming out of the bank at D.
50 Feb. -, 1873, was not a stranger, but that
it was Mr.. Curtis, cashier of the national bank
10. Since the trial certain parties are more
willing to state facts within their knowledge
and that upon the point in issue As to Crom
wells sickness from >unstroke during the fa
and winter of 1878 important testimony has
been discovered.
II. Many witnesses were produced by the
government to prove that the respondent,
We're in Dexter Feb. -, 1873, but the respond
ents claimed that they were in Medeld, and
NOW HAVE STRONG EVIDENCE
in connection with il horse theft in Mcdteld OF
the night of Feb. u. 1873, to establish The
truth of their claim. John T. Bulard, cred
ibe citizen of Mediield. will testify that he was
in Stains shoe shop OH the morning of Feb
~, and that Stain talked over the matter of the
robbery; that he saw Stain nearly every day Al
about this time. and that he knows that he wa,
not away from home in February, 1878. Also
that Jeremiah johnson of Medfed will testf,
that he remembers when the Hamant hors.
was stolen. and that the morning after the rob
berry Che 22,U he was in the shoe shop of ID
l.. Siam in Medteld, and that Stain told him o
the robbery, that this was the first time he ha,
heard OF il.
The respondents aver that all of the evidence
set forth in this motion has been dscovere,
since the trial. and that the bulk of it is iron
witnesses who say that believing that the re
spondents would be acquitted. they refused
prior to the trial, to talk with anybody abou
this case, for the reason that the new Wspaper
at that time We're full of sensational stories
sometimes representing, but more often mis-
representing statements made i'll favor of thes.
respondents, and generally throwing discredi
upon any person who made Il statement favor
able TO the defence, bat who. since the trial
have consented to make known the facts with
in their knowledge.
The respondents declare their belief tha
| could they have had the benefit of this newl,
discovered evidence at the trial. the verdict O
the jury must have been different; that it wa
no fault of theirs that they did not produce il
at the trial. and therefore they request a new
hearing. They further represent that they ari