The herald., 1895-05-05
Alva johnson COnfesses the
Train Robbery
THE KIDS GUILT NOW PLAIN
He Gets Mad and Strikes Witness in
the Face
Story>pf the Roscoe Outrage as 1t Happened
Tod by One OF the Two Criminals
Who Did the Job

uence gathered against him oy the pros
ecution, might not prove sufficiently con-
vincing to the jury trying him, to SEND
him to the hangman's rope. Whatever
were these hopes or fears up to that tlme.
they were changed il half an hour
from state of lncertitude to the most
positive assurance that his crime had
found him out and that presently he
must suffer the punishment that ne mas
so well dese1 we'd.
The attorneys for the defense on Friday
must have felt gratitied when Alva John
son withdrew from the stand wit hout
having told the story of the train week at
Roscoe. 1t was matter OF considerable
Importance to the defendant. Whatever
kind of influence it was that was brought
to bear upou Johnson since thcn-and
it must have been paramount-t swept
away his conscious scrupleS which were
of the old saw variety, towit. that thre is
honor among thieves. And when Alva
came to the witness stand at lO:45, uneX-
pected by the defense. unexpected by any
BODY in the crowded court room, except
by the prosecution. he had made up his
mind to tell the plain, unvarnlshed tale
of the terrible misdeed which hurled two
staunch soldiers of labor on duty into
eternity. Johnson was not an unwilling
witness when he spoke, neither was he
an eager one. He had forgotten the ex
and little details, not extra materially
important had slipped his memory, but
in the main his story was as straight
and complete as could have been desired
by any lover of the truth.
Johnson looked stout physically. but
when he first entered the court room 1T
was very evident that he was anything
but stout hearted. His narrative. told i'll
soft, mellow tones, i'll grammatical Eng
ish, carried conviction with it from be-
ginning TO end At no time did he seek
to screen himself or to try to throw more
odium upn Thompson than he was Will
ing to take himself. and only at the time
that he was telling of having heard that
some one was pinned under the tram dld
he make use of language that was some
what palliative to himself. The facts as
related by him without commentary show
what a heartless. cold -blooded villain Kid
Thompson is, and how richly he deserves
the direct punishmnt that can be meted
out by the laws OF the state to an evil
doer of his kind.
Not only does his own accomplice's
plain. unvarnished story show that but
his own act yesterday morning points to
that he belongs to a variety OF humanity
that ought to be indellblY labeled 'mad
dog
As Kid Thompson. the desperate, was
being brought from the county Jail to de-
partment one of the superior court. he
passed in one of the halls of the court
house, little man named Doke whom
he forthwith smote violently in the face,
and might have harmed him considerably
if not restrained by depty sheriff. Doke
Is witness who was material. by his
testimony, is supplying certain import
ant links to prove Thomps pson' S unqualified
guilt.
Owing to the delay IN the arrival of
the southbound train, one of the Jurors
did not reach the court room till 10:40.
1 l. l.. NInt,,
ed to Judge Smith the cause OF his ab-
sence. Deputy District Attorney McConas
said: III the court pleases we have lit
tic further testimony to offer We have
one witness, who has been sent for and
who will beNhere presently
Very well; is there any objection on
the part or the defense?"
The defense evidently did not know
what was in store. for the reply that the
query elected was the nonchalant one
that it was within the discretion of the
court to say whether the evidence should
Alva johnson shambled in between the
bench nd the lawyers table and imme-
diately took the stand.
District Attorney Donnel conducted
the examination of the man turned state
evidence at last. after many an Intellectual
attempt had been made to get the truth
out OF him publicly. although in a
moment of discouragement. not long ago.
lie had confessed privately.
After answering a few preliminary ques
tions to esta bish the length OF his ac-
quaintance with the defendant. Johnson
said that they were together at Roscoe on
tile 18th of February. 1894, about sun
down.
The shifty looks of Thompson darted at
johnson Ain itful, fury loaded glances,
but the latter went on imperturbably. un-
disturbed by any vengeful glitters of the
%I.,+ &c ,,,i,, f,111x Ia
up. But Thompson vas uncomfortable
and wrathful and for once he had not the
drop on the man who was scaling his
fate.
I'VE started from Los Angeles. said the
witness. speaking clearly and deliber-
ately. although not in voice tnat was
audible in every part of the room, land
went straight on to Roscoe in a spring
wagon drawn by two horses. One was
black. the other a sorrel. There was no
other person with us. Just we two
Thompson and |. We tied the horses to
due.
''rhe train came along about IL 80. |
made a torch out of brush and signaled to
make it stop. Then Thompson and I
broke the lock of the switch, and he
threw it as the train approached. 1t hal
slowed up, but did not come to stand.
still. and as it left the side track some of
the Cars toppled over.
''Then came the crash, and wnen l saw
what had happened, l said to Thompso
For Gods sake let's get out of this We
went little ways and then Thompson
spoke: BY Cod we have got them now.
We can get it anyhow. We turned back.
was armed with Winchester and re-
volver. Thompson had revolver. We
met a man, made him throw up his
hands and took him with us to the ex-
press car We used giant powder to blow
open e door,
Th1 witness recollection was indistjnct
as to the order in which the car was IN
tered. but he knew that Thompson
ordered the messenger to open the safe.
Neither did he decidedly recolect what
was done in the car, but he had perfect
remembrance of what his own actions
had been during that time.
II walked up and down on each side of
the car" said he land fired my revolver
once or twice. +"
When the money was put in the sack
and he proposed that they should carry
it, Thompson with an oath said that
the train hands should carry it for them
to the wagon Then they started upon
the return trip which he .described. Be-
ing asked whether he had heard during
the time that the robbery was going on
Charming Cottage
or 5 rooms, new and modern, little gem, on
car line. corner lot. we'll improved; parties
,..1Is t.n ftttr r,rt.,