Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-12-25

the question was asked Who did this! anf
there was even disposition to CRITICS,
the officials because they did not succeed
al once in locating the aSsassins.
The Thompsons lived about two mile.
from the Sawyer estate and could easily
have reached it from their farm by bach
way across the fields, which would have
afforded them little chance of detection
Al Sawyer left Monmouth, the Sunday
morning following the murder. Neigh
bors who were present at the Thompson
house that morning noticed that AL was
singularly perturbed. He was pale and
excited. Immediately following his DE-.
patture the tramp theory was advanced
by Edgar Thompson. So far as can be
ascsrtalned this theory originated with
him. He told this story to his neighbors.
TO the reporters, to the detectives, and to
the county attorney with positivcness of
statement and a minuteness of detail
Regarding the gait of the alleged tramps
their height, color of hats, and seeing the
pointed toed shoes worn by one of them,
and the three ibnths growth of beard
that adorned tEr5ace of the other; and
fixed the time ofAeeing them so certainly,
not varying ten minutes either way from
four O'Clock that suspicion was aroused.
This suspicion was strengthened by the
fact that Edgar Thompson. at ~arious
times, oontradic1ed himself as to his
location when he saw the tramps whom
| be identified so thoroughly that he could
pick them out from thousand In one
statement he was In the barn when he
saw them; in another, in the road in a
third statement he was at the corner of
his house fixing blind One particular.
however. of the minute description OF the
| tramps, given by Edgar l.. Thompson,
was omitted in his earlier accounts: that
was the posse ssion of an umbrella hy
one of them. Subsequently this omission
was supplied and efforts were made 10
induce the neighbors TO recall this fact
To their minds
Why was it that this tramp theory was
so pcrsistently urged by Edgar Thomp-
son! Because Mrs. Rhoda Prescott one
of the near neighbors, had seen two men
go by, late Saturday afternoon, as had
also Mr.. Leighton, another neighbor
These men sprang into existence at
Thompson house and vanished soon
after passing Leighton's Across the lot
to Sawyer's from near this point, is a
short cut which would afford parties
going that way ample concealment
Thompson says that it was four o'clock
when he saw the tramps going by his
house but Mrs. Prescott aud Mr. Leigh
ton say that it was five O'Clock or laters
Augustus Sawyer was last seen alive
at about o'clock. Between that hour
and Sunday morning he was killed and
the body was discovered, Monday morn.
ing. The persistent talk of Edgar
Thompson upon the tramp theory aroused
the suspicious Of the neighborS. ard in
vestigations followed. Aside from the
excited condition of A on the morning
he left Monmouth for Gardiner it was
found that he had several times told of
the bills Of sale on Eds horses Ed says
that Al sauccd his wife and circulated
defamatory stories about him, and that
he ordered him away. Al had come to
work up loan of Si00 from Edgar: but
in the midst Of the seasons s work he was
hustled off to Gardiner. There are also
discrepancies in the statements made con |
cerning what was done after the arrival |
In Gardiner Edgar has told different sto |
ries regarding the place he left his brother |
Mt in that city. To one he has said that |
he left him at the steamboat wharf; to |
another that he left him on the hill above
Hotel Brunswick, and to another that he
left him upon High street. To one he
stated that his brother AL wss at work
driving job wagon; and to another that
he was going by the first boat to Boston.
A appeared ut the Hotel Bruins wick.
morning, and told the landlord
that he was going to Boston. He changed
his clothes; hung around for a few days,
and then abruptly left without paying his
bills. He left behind hand bag con
tanning his old clothing. 1t also con
tained stockings covered with mud and
sand. The road between the SAWYER
house and barn contains peculiar
sand. There is none of this sand about
the Thompson house, and yet necks of it
were found upon the stockings left by
Al In his hand bag at Hotel Brunswick
The day he left his brother Edgar, n
lady, who came to stay with Mrs. Edgar
Thompson while her husband was away,
saw flecks of this same sand in the room
at Ed house that had been occupied by
AL. Two days after the same thing was
seen by another lady who was visiting at
the Thompsons' house.
Soon after the murder the proprietor
If Hotel Brunswick received newspaper
an account of it and passed II
pver to Al Thompson who read il without
The newspapers finally con
aimed insinustions that the crime might
he traced to the Thompsons. Then the
ramp theory was worked with retIouhlcd
,nergy. Every duplicating circumstance
vas explained away with some plausible
tory. Edgar says that he ploughed u
ield and Al got wet and muddy helping,
IN the day of the murder; but Al says ]
hat he did not do so, and Mr. Crosby !
ays that al was present at their house, '
forenoon, and remained until
ioon. The afternoon of that day is
accounted for by Al by saying that he
vas at Crosby's, and Ed that he went To
he store at Monmouth Center and re-
urned at four o'clock. 7
Al. at repeated interviews, has said +,
hat he didn't know Sawyer; had never :
leard Of him in fact didn't know that ,
here was such a man o. sawyer in the !
world; but the government will show 7
hat he had conversations concerning
sawyer with two different parties resid-
pg iu Monmouth. OF one he asked II
sawyer Was NOT queer old fellow, and If
e hadn't saved up large amount Of !,
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