Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-06-09
Sheriff Collier Says He Has Evi-
dence to Prove It.
fHE PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
Many Developments Expected. at
the Approaching Hearing.
THE SANDY SPRING ( "A
Staff Correspondence of The Evening Star.

ROCKVILLE, Md, June 0. 1896.
Every face in Montgomery county will be
| turned eagerly and inquiringly toward this
| town tomorrow afternoon, when the pre-
| liminary examination of Sidney Randolph
and George Neale, charged with the muir
| der of seven-year-old Sadie Buxton and
deadly assault upon her parents and sister,
! is to be held. The summons for the wit
| nesses have all been served and all the
engagements have been completed to push
| an investigation into the crime that will
cover the most minute details. There Is
strong probability that the hearing may be
| made sensational in the extreme by the
| confession of some of the parties now held
| on the charge of being implicated in The
tragedy, but even if this is not the case,
| the authorities claim evidence of a char
acter that cannot be contradicted will be
produced to show the guilt of Sidney Ran
dolph and at least one, and perhaps two, Of
the Neales who are now in custody.
This will be surprising statement to the
readers who have followed the case and
who have discerned nothing III the matter
| heretofore written to connect either of the
| prisoners directly with the crime; but the
| reason why nothing of definite character
| in the way of proof has been made public
has been because of the policy of silence
determined upon by Sheriff Collier and his
assistants and States Attorney Kilgore.
sheriff Golfers Personality.
1 talked with Sheriff Collier last night
about the case He has become so we'll
| known to the reading public in the past two
weeks that a few words about him may
not be out of place. AS l saw him last
| night, his solid, sturdy figure was clad in
tow linen suit. A pair of expressive eyes
| locked sQuarely at me from beneath strong
| ly carved brows, and his well formed
mouth, beneath closely cut mustache,
| with here and there a faint streak of gray
| showed kindly humor in itO lines, as much
| as the squarely set jaws denoted determine
| ticn. His age should put at forty-two or
| forty-three, and for all that time since he
reached manhood he has been prominent
| IN the affairs of the county. He is receiy-
| ing DOW much praise for removing Ran
dolph and Neale beyond reach of the popu-
lar 1eellns which was rapidly becoming
uncomfortable.
The very men who were loudest at the
| time in their denunciation now applaud his
course and tell him SO, and he told me to-
night that he would not now be afraid to
take Randolph and Neale to Gaithersburg
itself, alone and single-handed, and he
knew that they would be safe from mo-
lestation.
l asked him if he believed the prelm-
mary examination would result in any
new developments, and if he believed Ran
dolph had anything to do with the affair.
Sheriff Collier is Confident.
''There is no possible doubt of RandoIph's
guilt" said Sheriff Collier, with a prompt
ness that startled me. II believe he is
weakening now, and that he will make q
clean breast of the whole affair." but even
if he does not 1 have ample and sufficient
evidence to convict MIN of the murder of
Sadie buxton and the attempted murder of
the others l am convinced also that as
strong evidence will be presented against
one OF the NealeS-there are three in Gus
tody now. you know-and against another
man Implicated in the crime who will be
arrested. There has been no let up in the
work on the case: of that you may be GER
tam But owing to the many conflicting
elements IN 1t, and the condition of public
sentiment we deemed it best to keep silent
about what we We're accomplishing, and to
let our witnesses tell their own stories
when the proper time came. l can tell you,
now, however that there is no earthly
doubt of Randolphs guilt, and it will be
proven beyond the possibility of a question
at the hearing On Wednesday,"
The Murder at Sandy Spring.
Sheriff Collier was awaiting the arrival
in Rockville of the men charged with the
murder of Clarence Thornton at the COL
ored camp meeting near Sandy Spring,
Sunday afternoon. The prisoners had been
given a preliminary hearing by Justice
Murphy yesterday afternoon, at which
States Attorney kilgore was present and
We're ordered to the Rockville Jail to await
the action of the grand jury. They were
brought over by Deputy Sheriff Sullivan,
and there was large crowd gathered in
the vicinity of the jail and the court house
when the party arrived. The arrested men
were Perry Alcorn. who was proven to
have struck Thornton the blow with
heavy club which caused death; Samuel
Budd, Philip Hopkins and Andrew Hop
kfns, the latter three being accessories
The murder grew out of game of craps
In which the negroes named and several
others, including Arthur Atkins. were en-
a got in,
Thornton. and was cut with a razor by the
latter. who then fed He was overtaken,
however, by Alcorn and his companions
and beaten to death, his body being left in
the public road.
The Tramp Evil Again.
The bringing of these men to Rockville
caused renewed consideration of the neces-
sity in Montgomery of taking some means
to restrain the increasing lawlessness that
has alarmed the community for a long time
Sheriff Collier said he had read with a great
deal of pleasure the announcement in the
letter from Rockville, printed in yester-
days Star, that measures were being taken
by the citizens to put stop to the tramp
| evil with which the county is suffering
| from more than its share. He hoped that
an understanding would be reached among
the farmers and the townspeople through
out the county generally, by which no as
sistance would be given to strangers roam
ing through the country even If such
course would be something of a revolution
| In the well-known hospitality of this part
of Maryland. Other citizens who were pres
| ent In Rockville last night and this morning
expressed the same Views, and there will
probably be a general movement toward
organization toward the purpose in the
course of few days
Startling Stories Expected.
Reverting to the subject of tomorrow's
preliminary examination of Randolph and
Neale. 1t can be stated that a large number
| or witnesses will be examined many of
whom are expected to tell startling stories
| IN connection with this tragedy. One of the
most important Of these will be Preacher
Lloyd OF Gaithersburg, who is understood
| to have important developments to make
| 1t can be also stated that there will he
no change in the personnel of the coroner's