The Portland daily press., 1888-02-25
BARRoN's MYSTERIOUS DEATH.
STAINS Counsel Attempt to Establish
the Suicide Theory.
The Dead Cashiers Peculiar System
of Keeping the Books.
Mrs. cIeaves, Who Recalls Stain
Does Not Recognize a Friend.

| conversation much of the time. The de
fense proceeded to demonstrate the suicide
theory Of the death of Mr.. Barron.
CHARLES w. CURTIS,
cashier of the National Bank at Dexter il
February, 1878, was first called. 81 was il
the bank" said he, "about o'clock on th,
afternoon of the Barron tragedy, remaining
| 10 minutes. / saw no strangers there
! Again entered the bank between and
| o'clock in the evening. tried the saving
bank door at o'clock and found it Locked
| and locked the outside door when wen
out. 1t was locked as left it on my return
in the evening. / tried to pass through tn,
vault between the safes and pushed agains
the savings bank door which was swunI
back, laying out about half my strength
The door struck against something and
gave up the effort to get through. We thel
entered the savings baLk by breaking th'
| glass out of the front door and found the out
side door of the vault locked. The combina
ton operated and the door was opened
| The inside door, which works with a key
was also closed. Mr.. Crowell. crawling oyel
the safe, took Barron out. There was M
blood on him, his hand were behind him ant
a gag had been removed from his mouth.
saw coal hod tipped over in the coal room
and teeth and pen were there. There was
but one single track across the room in the
coal dust, and no marks were to be seer
where heavy body had fallen outside. The
vault door could be locked from the inside.
1t was usual for the outside door of the bank
building to remain unlocked and people fire.
quently stand there"
Cross examination Il found the outside
door of the bank open on going to the bank
at 5 O'Clock. Mr.. Brigham was the only
man besides myself and Barren who had any
legitimate key to the door, The door was
locked when i returned to the bank between
and s. Did not notice that evening that
the door of the Masonic Hall was unlocked
or opened. | heard the sound of heavy
breathing from the vault on entering the Ma
tional bank When pushed the safe door !
did not think it struck Barron's head. Saw
dent in the centre of Barron's forehead a
little above the nose and bruises about the
the temples, one of which puffed out. Could
see how the fianges on the safe door might
make dent on the forehead. did not sus-
pect at first but what Barron was murdered,
and l adoped the suicide theory year later.
Three physicians examined Mr.. Barron be-
fore he died. l don't think there was any
dust on Mr. Barrons clothes. | saw in the
dust of the coal room footsteps between the
open rear window and the coal hod. also in
one corner of the room. A man might
have gone to the window and returned
DIR. A. ABBOTT
of Dexter, being called, said: 81 went into
the Dexter Savings bank the morning after
the tragedy and particularly noticed the
floor of the coal room, which was quite dusty.
Tracks went into the coal closet and there
were no large places where the dust had been
wiped off. don't think there were any foot
steps around the edges of the room. Found
bunch of bank keys in a box of waste pap
er in the left hand corner of the coal room
and the key to the handouts was behind a
box of coal ashes to the right and back"
Cross examination-"l ties titled before the
auditors at Dexter that thought the key
that would unlock the inside savings bank
vault was on the bunch that found in the
coal room. The matter was fresher in my
mind then. did not try the key in the
door. Should say there was no coal over a
foot from the hod, which had apparently
been tipped over very carefully. was on
the coroner's jury and verdict of murder
circumstances connected with the tragedy
and when they were fresh in my mind. /
did not entertain a thought but what Bar
ron was murdered then and the theory eff
suicide was adopted more than year after
wards.
ALBERT F. BRADBURY,
president of the Dexter Savings Bank in
February, 1878 was then called. He said:
81 was in the bank on the 10Th, Goth and
2lst, oftener than usual, for we had been
losing deposits to an unusual amount since
the first of January. Barron did not appear
agitated, but his expressions were what
drew my attention Mr.. Barron said he was
so nervous about the condition of the bank
that he could not sleep nights. There were
three full examinations of the bank and one
partial during the year 1877. On the eve
ming of the tragedy / went to the outside
door of the bank few minutes past
O'Clock and found it locked. Cashier Curtis,
Mr.. Barron and myself went into the build
ing 10 minutes later, the former unlocking
the door" Witness here narrated his visit
to the national bank room. Mr. CurtiS's un-
successful attempt to enter the savings bank
through the vault and the breaking in of the
savings bank outer door. | saw coal hod,
pen and teeth in the coal room that night
and the next morning foot marks leading to
the closet. walked to the back window
that night which was open eight inches or a
foot. Mr.. Barron was a druggist previous
to entering the bank"
Cross examination: 81 think the Newport
Savings bank closed about three days before
Barron's death and there had been some ex-
about banks. There was a steel
chest inside the safe door which was fastened
by time lock. There was bond-l cannot
tell how large-and money in the tray under
the counter on the 20th Of February. That
was the last time l saw the bond. Next
after the time had arrived for OPEN
ing the time lock, examined the contents of
the steel chest and found, as l supposed, all
the securities of the bank. did not find the
bond, which | saw on the Goth, after the ira
gedy. Am not certain about who had custody
of the bank immedi ately after the death of
Mr.. Barron. / found 60 cents in coppers and
a check for 81 sos in the money drawers of
the counter. Have not taken an active part
in the demonstration of the suicide theory.
To open the wicket door in the savings bank
from the outside it was necessary to have a
key to this door, the inside vault door, the
Masonic hall and the outside bank building
doors, all of which were in Mr.. Barron's
bunch of keys discovered in the coal rOom
1t was customary to place the counter trays
in the safe at the close of business"
GEORGE HAMILTON,
of Dexter, was called He said: 81 am per-
sonally acquainted with Mrs. Cleeves, who
testified here. and knew her February o.
lS7S Have lived within ten rods of her
house. Heard her swear positively that she
could identify the prisoners. She met me
here Yesterday, and / offered to shake hands
with her. She said she didn't know me; af-
terwards she recognized me, and wished to
know if it was possible that this was George
Hamilton. | asked her If she was losing her
power of Identification. / was in the Dexter
Savings Bank the forenoon of the tragedy,
and three persons were in there on business.
entered the bank with Messrs Curtis ana
Bradbury when Barron was found. Wit
ness corroborated the other witnesses ABOUT
the appearance of Barron when found. he
said he had seen Mr.. Cr0well place hlmself
with his head on the trunk the same as ne
found Barron. The door of the safe, when
pushed, threw Lis head against the wall OF
the vault, and the flanges of the safe struck
his forehead and cheek, the places where tne
wounds were on Barron. After Barron was
taken out he found screw driver ana lamp
on the safe in the vault Witness saw artl-
ces in the coal room, also footprints, chleny
leading to the coal closet. he produced the
handouts and the pail-handle used as gag,
which were on Barron, also the twlne 1ound
around his neck and q similar piece OF twlne
discovered in the coal room, one end OF
" hch was freshly cut.
The screw driver found on the safe was
shown to the jury The Bank books kept by
Mr.. Barron at the time of his death were eX-
jbted and the account of depositor, 1. x.
1onard reviewed showing where, on April
:, 277 and July 1st and 9TH the cashier made
LaiS h entries on the ledger and general cash
I99kt D99k ktcrediting him at one time with $652,