The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-12-03
kER0L0 PLACED on TRIAL
SAYS HE Is NOT RIGHT MAN
Defense VIII De That Il 10 . Case Of
Mistaken Idcntity-Scors OF Wit.
ncsscs Are Ready TO Swear
lie Is the Murderer.

SsNS NthSN eonNh oc Az TIC
mails of the county. Crezenzo Merolo is
the defendant and the crime for which
he must answer Is the cold blooded. de-
liberate shooting Of Barber Emanuel
I.oro at Old Forge on Sunday afternoon.
June II. 1894.
District Attorney John r. Jones and
Attorney John j. Murphy represent the
commonwealth: and the defendants at
torneys are John r. Martin and Joseph
Brown, the two gentlemen who sue
ceeded in saving Pasquale Perretto
from the gallows
Yesterday morning the regular De-
cember sessions of quarter sessions and
oyer and terminer court opened. The
murder trial was the first case on the
list. Before Merolo was arraigned to
plead to his guilt or innocence Mr.. Mar
tin made n motion to have the case con-
tinued until the January term. alleging
that II would be impossible for import
ant witnesses to reach here this week
from Boston. where they reside.
Judge Edwards asked him what evil
dence he had to produce to prove this
fact and Mr.. Martin responded that he
had received letters from the intended
witnesses. The court asked to see them,
and was informed that they were
penned in Italian. Constantine Mori-
SIM was called to interpret their mean
ing. and after hearing the contents,
Judge Edwards ruled that sufficient
reason did not exist for continuance;
he refused the motion and ordered the
case to proceed to trial.
MerOIo Pleads Not Guilty.
Deputy Warden Price led the prisoner
from the dock to the bar. Merolo
walked with shambling gait. He shuf-
fled about nervously. but when District
Attorney Jones read the indictment and
asked him what plea he desired to en-
ter. Merolo raised his head and an
swered firmly In plain English, mo,
SIR" meaning that he is not guilty.
He wore the same suit Of clothes he
had on when brought here from Boston
by Detective Bauer Of the Barring q
McSweeney agency. The coat and vest
are Of checked goods, pretty well faded.
The pantaloons are of black. cheap
cloth: his shirt il Of striped calico with
rundown collar. He does not wear a
necktie. His shoes are Of the brogan
variety. and he clings to an old bat
tered straw hat.
In appearance ne has not changed
since his incarceration began, except
that his black curling beard has sprout-
ed out and developed into luxuriant
short whiskers. His face has none of
the hlanched color that comes from
prison confinement; it IL still as
swarthy as ever. At casual glance
the general outline of his features Is
handsome. but on closer appearance he
has the look of one of vengeful spirit.
There is a furtive dangerous CLEAN in
his black eyes. which Is especially no.
ticed after he spurs himself from a
lethargic mood into which he allows
himself to drop frequently.
Work Of Selecting a Jury.
The work Of selecting twelve jurors
to try the defendant was begun In the
forenoon. or the sixty men In the
weeks panel three did not answer to
their names. Edward Alsfeldt, mer-
chant, Scranton, and V. F. Dickinson.
laborer, Newton, could not be found
when the sheriff went out to serve the
notices, and the third absent juror was
BARLEY Curran, a hotelkeeper, Of this
city. Mr.. Curran was fined $50 for his
failure to respond.
The jurors came forward as their
names were called and submitted to an
examination to test their competency.
Some had scruples against capital pun
ishment, others had fixed opinions
which they feared would greatly bias
their judgment. There was but one man
examined who had not read the account
Of the homicide. He Is John Acker, Of
the South Side. 1t was almost o'clock
in the afternoon before the twelfth man
was sworn. Ten jurors were selected
before the list was exhausted, and the
remaining two were found among those
who had been previously set aside.
Among the questions which were
asked by the attorney for the defend
ant of the jurors were: Whether or not
they belonged to the A. p. A.; whether
they had any feeling of prejudice
against italians as class; and whether
they could found verdict on their own
conscientious judgment without bias on
account of newspaper reports which
they might have read The twelve men
sworn to do justice between the COM
monwealth and the prisoner at the bar
and the order In which they were chosen
are as follows:
Sydney 8. Adams, machinist, Scranton.
Newton johnson, engineer, Scranton.
John L. Payne. engineer. Scranton.
Walter Depew, farmer. Madison.
X. J. Foster, editor. Scranton.
Frank Bingham, collector. Dunmore.
Charles Egbert, carpenter, Old Forge.
o. T. Wedeman, farmer. La Plume.
T.. J. Roberts, plasterer, Covington.
Horatio T. Fellows, conductor, Scranton.
ts~-~ AQA1 t..l-
Frank Il. Fitzpatrick, fireman. CarbOndale
Judge Edwards Talk to the Jury.
After Deputy Clerk Of the Courts r.
p. Daniels had sworn the jury, Judge
Edwards turned toward them and
urged them to be careful while they are
concerned in the trial Of the case. He
said that everything for their comfort
and convenience would be provided by
the-county. and II there was anything
they needed all they had to do would be
TO make II known to the court.
He cautioned them against discussing
among themselves the guilt or inno-
cence Of the defendant until they shall
retire when the case is closed to delib-
crate upon a verdict, and ne requested
them not to lay in a supply of intoxi-
eating liquor. Last week, said he, COM
plants had come to the court that
juries locked up celebrating on their
verdlcts had in some way or other man.
aged to get large quantities of the ar
dent.
The opening address to the Jury will
be made this morning District Attor-
ney Jones will both open and close to
the jury for the commonwealth. There
win be large number Of witnesses on
the part of both sides. The defense
that will be set up is that the prisoner
In not the man who did the killing; that
It In a case of mistaken identity.
AHS.cNn nffQX TEE