News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1891-02-26

elsrlt- v-ovo forthcoming. gave out
the information that | saw him in the
alley at about 0 o'clock of the night of
the crime The village blacksmith then
came forward and said he saw him on
the street half an hour later and that
Stowe lodged past him and did not re-
turn his salutation The hired girl at
Stoves house declared that he went
out just before 8 o'clock and did not
return until 10. 1t was SO unusual for
him to go out of an evening alone that
she particularly noticed his going.
Three or four of US boys told how
Bob had been beaten and misused, and
so it came about that while the deserter
was not released, Stowe was arrested.
His story was that he had caught Bob
pilfering from the money drawer on
several occasions, and that on the day
of the murder and robbery he had laid
trap for him and caught him taking
S. He said he had feeling when he
got home that he had neglected to
close the safe door, and that he had
returned to make certain on this point.
After finding that everything was all
right he had stopped to put up some
goods left on the counter, and had
then returned home He denied being
in the alley at the time | thought / saw
him, or of meeting the blacksmith.
A new and more vigorous search was
made for the body, but no trace of it
could be found. During this time a
citizen picked up q ten dollar bill in the
rear of the store, and everybody at
once declared that the deserter must
have told the truth. When the man
who robbed the safe went out by the
back door he must have lost his grip
on the money, and the wind had scat
tered some of it. The case against
Davis was dropped when called before
the higher court, and Stowe was put
on trial for robbery. Everybody now
believed him guilty of the murder of
the boy, but as the body could not be
found this charge was not included.
Search was made high and low for the
money. but it could not be found The
general idea was that he buried the
body somewhere in the village and
concealed all traces.
Just previous to the trial Mrs. Stowe
admitted that when her husband came
home his coat was covered with dust,
he was pale and nervous, one of his
fingers was bleeding from q cut, and
that he sat up for an hour after she
had retired. 1t was further discovered
that his business affairs had gone
wrong, and that two creditors were
pressing him for payment of debts.
All in all q pretty good case was made
out against him, but he had surprise
in store for the public. When called
upon to plead he answered Not
guilty" to the charge of robbery, but
desired to plead guilty to the accusa-
ton of having murdered the boy. This
took everybody aback, of course, and
as they had no more proofs in the one
case than in the other, the charge of
robbery was dropped and he was ar
raigned on the other. On the stand
he told the story as follows:
81 had discovered that Bob was a
thief, and had punished him several
times for stealing had punished him
on this day. When returned to the
store in the evening L went up to his
room to have talk with him. He was
impudent, and l struck him q blow and
broke his neck. 1 then carried the body
to the river and flung it in, and the
reason you didn't find it was because
it floated away with the current. L am
very sorry. had no malice and no
thought of hurting him. struck the
blow on the impulse of the moment"
When he came to trial plea of mot
guilty. was of course entered, but his
lawyer made little or no effort and he
was pronounced guilty and got SEN
tence of fifteen years. After it was
over, public opinion whipped about, as
it generally does. and every person felt
sorry for the man. Hewcnt to prison,
saying that it was just punishment,
and it was a year and a half before the
real climax came. One morning Bob
Iisle walked into town as cool as you
please, and when he had satisfied us
that he was no ghost he told his story
as follows:
On the night of the murder he had
hardly got to bed when he had nose
bleed. He was down stairs to look for
water when his uncle came in and
opened the safe and removed the money.
He did not see Bob at all, but after
hanging around for a spell left by the
back door, falling out of it as he went.
! In this way he got the dust on his coat
and at the same time let go of some of
the money. Bob realized that it was a
robbery, and suspecting that it was a
put up job to get him sent to prison he
determined to run away. He took two
or three dollars left in the money
drawer, bundled up something to eat
and when morning came was miles
away. For upward of a year he had
been running on a steamboat. One
day he had heard two passengers talk
ing of the case, and when he discovered
that he was supposed to have been
murdered he at once started Tor home
TO clear his uncle. Stowe was in state
prison, as you know. When told that
the boy had returned alive and well he
was all broken up. When Bob was
taken to the prison his uncle had moth
ing to say.
Well, as a matter of course, steps
were taken to secure Stoves pardon,
and it was soon granted. Then came
the question of trying him for the rob
berry; but various delays occurred, and
his LAWYERS advanced various technical
objections and the case finally petered
out He disappeared, going to Aus
tralia. and it was two or three years
later when the final particulars came
to light. He had been boarding his
cash for three or four years, calculat-
ing to skip out. He had robbed the
safe and buried the money in his cellar,
and he fully intended to accuse Bob of
the crime, He suspected that Bob had