The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-11
WILL KENNEDY'S CASE
SERVING A r SENTENCE, Al
THOUGH PROBABLY INNOCENT.
A Remarkable Story of Mistaken
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Voorhees, Sits
the Evidence.

VI lie Ease, tIidt his cOIlVlcliOn Was WIOilE,
absolutely wrong, and that it is a shocking
case of mistaken identity. / have not the
~faintest trace of personal interest in the
case, except so far as naked justice is con-
cerned. If 1 were Governor / would par
don him in an hour. After forty years ex-
perience in Sitting testimony, l have no
more doubt that he is wrongly convicted,
than / have of my own existence"
These are the words of Senator Voorhees,,
written in a letter to be presented to Gov
ernor Matthews in behalf of William Ken
nedy. a prisoner serving a life sentence at
Jeffersonville. The case is one whose de-
tails have been dished out by the press
from time to time, as new and
new proofs have been turned up by the
sister of the convict, Miss Kate Kennedy,
a woman who has devoted ten of the best
years Of her life to convince the world
that her brother is innocent of the crime
FOR which he was convicted. The heroism
OF historical women characters has reached
no greater type, at least so far as patience
ana untiring effort are concerned, than that
or this Cincinnati woman, who has braved
reDuff after rebuff, and who has invited
such dangers as would intimidate a man.
1t is not the spirit of sentiment nor of
sympathy that she plays upon in her plead
ings; 1t is the spirit of justice, TO come
from the mass of convincing evidence which
she has linked by arduous and unceasing
labor. Three Governors have given heed
to her petitions and have intimated that
they would pardon her brother, but each
time there has come some unusual pres
sure and some strange influence from
Greensburg, where the crime occurred. that
has headed off the pardon.
II was on Nov. j, 1884 that David NJ.
Baker was killed on the streets of Green's
burg. General John A. Logan was addess-
ing a night meeting and the occasion had
brought a large number of pickpockets to
the place. Kennedy had the reputation of
being a light-fingered man and it is pre-
sumed that he was in the town for the
purpose of plying his craft. The pickpock-
ets had a good harvest. reaping right and
left. Baker was one of the men robbed.
ing TO pick his pocket and gave chase. OPP
posite the courthouse, the pursued turned
Baker. The town was so full of strangers
mat the AUTHORITIES had little hope of de-
r resttas w 1ns on ntay namea A WsI1ace the Tb men w ars
Baker or at least knew the guilty man, and
sought a number of times to have Wallace
tell who committed the crime, but on each
iy that he had seen the murder or
that he knew who committed it. He
was informed that there was a strong
sentiment in favor of lynching him. 1t is
evident that Wallace became scared. Al
last he made the statement that Will Ken
..S hIico IdktE. OH lilS
claim Kennedy was arrested in CINCINNATI,
the authorities in that city having a hesi-
Of os'e Gre IN turning MN ,bsS over dil to ct the e. marshal "a
could be the man who did the murder.
Kennedy went to Greensburg without a
was all a mistake. He was afterwards
tried at Rushville, convicted and sentenced
to life Imprisonment, the evidence being
cfrcumstantial. The case ran the entire
course OF the courts and finally the friends
or the convicted man had to turn their
eyes to the Governors office.
EX-GOVERNOR GRAY'S STATEMENT.
Isaac p. Gray was the first Governor to
feel the pressure. In referring to the case
q Few days ago, before leaving for his post
at the city of Mexico, he said: Il always
had a very serious doubt as to whether
Kennedy was the man that killed Baker.
When the case was first presented to me,
l felt that it was a new one, and that ac-
ton had best be deferred lest a mistake
might be made by hasty action. Yes; l was
at the Marion county Jill when Mr.. Dick
erson, of Greensburg, went there and picked
this man Tettman out from a crowd of
prisoners and stated that he answered the
description OF the man who killed Baker"
upon her brother. Miss Kennedy has worked
sion she masqueraded in mans attire and
mingled among some of the thieves that
to hsv get maze eveae Dayton on o. notorioSSs, in order
IDENTITY OF the real culprit, Tettman was
nirbt II to }ba have been in Greensburg the
rested and brought to this city for robbing
the postof1ce at Attica., Tilford Dickerson
this city to see if they could not recognize
IN MN the man who killed Baker. This
visit VII Of Mr.; Dickerson was the one to which
was Questioned a few days ago. Tettman
was sent to the penitentiary for the post
office robbery, Notwithstanding the fact
that the Dayton (O.) band of crooks used
a considerable sum Of money to save him,
Miss Kennedy. in the course If a fay
years. became a full-iedged detective in ex-
perience, and no information was too slight,
nor trail too cold for her to follow. She
was informed that Wallace, one of the pick
pockets arrested the night of the murder,
that Kennedy was the guilty one, knew of
whereabouts on the night in
question; Merritt c. Welsh. who has been
file at the Governors office, tells of Miss
kennedys interview with Wallace at the
ne testified against Kennedy at the trial,
that he could not have seen the murder.
Miss Kennedy asked him a number Of times
n ne knew Tettman, and each time he re-
Piled no. Finally, after Miss Kennedy
said:
You can't fasten that murder on Tett-
man; because he was not here that night
know that he was not here % wars the ques-
tion the young woman turned on Wallace,
anu the prisoner could not answer her.
me circumstances under which Mr.. Dick
erson came to identify Tettman at the Ma
ron county Jail were singular. Mr.. Dick
erson was an eyewitness to the crime, and
that night gave it as his belief that Deputy
County Recorder Moulton was the man who
nred the shot. He was unwilling to believe
that MouIton would commit such q crime.
and the people promptly scoffed at the idea,
knowing the character of Moulton. 1t after
wards developed that Moulton was in a diff
Terent part of the State that night. and Mr..
Dickerson changed his belief, giving a de-
scrlption, however, that answered closely to
that or Moulton's. When he came to Indi-
annapolis he saw wherein he had erred.
governor Gray accompanied him to the jail.
Dfckerson having first given a description of
the man he saw fire the shot. Among a
crowd of prisoners in the corridor the
Greensburg man singled out Tettman, and
II Is said the resemblance between Tettman
ana Moulton was very close. Among the
other. witnesses who saw Tettman at the
jail the names of Elizabeth Evans, Jacob
Black, Elisha Davis and Bernard Mullen
ana others are given on the list on file with
the Governor.
Other witnesses to the shooting. some of
whom testified against Kennedy, have since
made statements that they were mistaken.
FOREMAN OF THE JURY.
There was some surprise, several years
ago, when a man in prison for numbering
his wife was pardoned, although but a few
"a NC ~ 1+-