San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-08-07
A FALSE ALIBl.

mon sense enough IN this one particular l"
presume that a man who is in Boston, for in
stance, when a murder is committed IN On
cinnati could not have fired the shot or struck
the blow Therefore, let one accused OF crime
prove to the jury that he was at some Other
point at a certain critical hour, and he must
be declared innocent This knowledge makes
the alibi a favorite defense. If not clearly
proved it always raises doubts and affords
opportunity for argument. On the other
hand, however, when an abb Is fairly beaten
by the prosecution, then circumstantial evi-
dence becomes the death trap of the accused
and he has no show
One of the best laid alibis ever ran W
against in my career as a detective and one
of the easiest TO work out after | got the END
of the thread in hand, was put forward in
case in Iowa about twenty years ago. The
situation was this In u small village in the
western part of the state lived Miss Clarn
da Moore, spinster about ID years OF age
She was worth $4,000, and she had adopted
"A boy named Byron Fergus. At The date of
which am writing this boy was no longer
boy, but a young man of IS. he was en-
ployed as a clerk in a dry goods house, and
boarded and lodged at home He was adopt
ed at the age of II, and on the day he reached
his majority Miss Moore made will leaving
him everything This fact was known to ali
in the village. Fergus was a model young
man. No one could point out single bad
habit. He was trusted and respected by all,
and had he been accused of the slightest dis,
honesty no one would have believed the
charge
In a smaller village six miles away Fergus
had an aunt who was a widow and lived
alone, with the exception of having the COM
pany Of q servant girl He was in the habit
of going over there about once in two months
and remaining over Sunday. On these trips
he drove a horse ana buggy belonging to the
village cooper. The horse had a peculiar
habit, which will be described later on. One
Saturday evening of a July day Fergus drove
away On one Of these trips. There were two
or three women at the gate in company with
Miss Moore when he drove away. The only
thing out of the usual run was the remark
that Byron looked rather pale and seemed
bit nervous, but probably this would never
have been thought of but for what came &c
pass.
At II O'clock that night there was thun
der storm, and an insurance agent who was
on the road between the two villages, with
and sheltered himself as we'll as possible with
the waterproofS II the midst of the storm
horse and buggy came along The
driver was SO enveloped by waterproofs that
the agent could not tell whether he was old r
young, large or small, white or black. AT
that spot the road had been lately graded up
and was very soft. The stranger was urging
the horse to trot, but the beast found the mud
too deep and could only proceed at walk. As
the strange horse came opposite there was q
long, vivid fash of lightning, and the agent
saw that the animal had his head turned tt
the right and his tongue out. This was the
peculiar habit of the cooper's horse when on
a walk. When trotting he held up his head
and kept this tongue back. The agent identi.
fed the horse to his perfect satisfaction, and
called out TO the driver, asking who he was.
Instead of halting or replying the man struck
the horse sharply with the whip and was Out
of sight in a moment
That's old Shepperd the cooper and
he's afraid | am a highwayman!" laughed
the agent, and, the rain now beginning &c
cease, he made ready to resume his journey
Miss Moore was an early riser and, more
over, never missed church services As the
day was fine and she was not seen at church.
two or three of her friends called at the
house on their way to ascertain her excuse
They found the curtains down and the doors
locked. As they knew of young Fergus 60
ing to his aunt's the evening previous, they
reasoned it out that he must have returned
during the night for Miss Moore, she perhaps
being wanted for an emergency. This theory
satisfied them until about o'clock in the af
ternoon, when one of them returned to gather
bouquet OF flowers. She then noticed
bloody finger marks on the back door, and
trying the door, found it unlocked She
dared not enter tue house, but two or three
C!cn were summoned to make an inveStiga
tI9u. anu IL few minutes it was discovered
that murder had been committed The
dead body of Miss Moore was found in the
sitting room, at the door of her bedroom.
She had been struck three terrible blows with
club or other blunt weapon, each one break
ing the skull.
was listing the sheriff at this time, and
we wcve driving through the village when
the first alarm was sounded | was there
fore, at the house among the first, and being
placed in charge by the sheriff, kept the
people ont until could Make an nvestiga
ton Tie murderer had not obtained forci
be entry to the house Not single article
Of value had been removed, nor had any ran.
>ackiHg been done. The woman had been
struck Gown where TIE body Law. but her
hands were clenched as if she had grasped
the weapon of death and it had been pulled
away from her The palm Of one hand was
torn and bleeding | did not know either the
dead woman or Fergus, but | wanted au,
thorty to ares the latter When this fact
became known l was regarded as an idiot or
lunatic. 4 general cry went up that Fergus