Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1896-05-27
STILL In TIE DARK.
THE JURY UNABLE 7
They Find That the Manchester Man
Came 10 His End "From Some IN
known Cause"-Mr. Ltpscom"s
statement Corroborated.


known TO them"
THIS verdict. returned yesterday aiter-
noon. shows that the inquest in the case
OF Barney Perry. the Manchester hesr'
whose body was recovered below the Guy
Monday morning. did not throw any
material light upon the question OF
whether he accidentally fell from Mayos
bridge early last Saturday morning or
as is more generally believed, was as
sauIted and then thrown over the railihg
into the river.
The inquest was held at the county
COURTHOUSE. and was conducted by Coro-
ner I,eftwich. Several witnesses were
examined, but their testimony realy
threw no light on the case, and the au-
tborities are as much In the dark as
ever. Dr. Garcin. the first person eA-
amined. told the result Of the post-mor-
TEN, which he helped DIR. Leftwieh 10
make.
MIR. LIPSCoMB'S STATEMENT.
Mr.. James NJ. Lipscomb, of Manchester
who reported the fatality 10 the ponce
within fifteen minutes after It's occur
renee, and appears 10 nave been the ohiy
eyewitness 10 the affair. did not give a
very clear account Of the murder. Ills
story was rather disconnected, and parts
of il were somewhat in conflict Mr..
Lipscomb began by saying he realized
that he had talked entirely too Freely
upon the subject, but upon being inter
rtipted and tod to so on with the testi-
mony, he said: But what l know Is
saw the colorcd boy and this Fellow
Barker. lie was sitting in the window
and some officer tapped him on the
shoulder, and told him 10 get up. IN
yited him TO get a drink i could not say
whether II was 10 or half past ~. never
saw Mr. Barker any more. After got
on the bridge. about O'clock heard
some one say, on. don't Then / ad-
yanced and got scared. l saw two men
/ could not tell whether they were White
or black. then ran back to Richmond,
and reported to the authorizes ana
came back to the bridge and found the
stains ana hat on the spot where the
man was supposed TO be thrown over
/ then reported TO the Manchester au-
ihorities. / then came back with Mr.
Jones. and saw Mr.. Barker on the bridge
on the Manchester side. Then MI
Wright did not say anything. l then
told MIR. Wright that ] ssw Barker ana
the colored boy together Mr. Wright
said Barker was always drunk, TO let
him 20 along. Then, after seeing the
spot where the blood was, j left them
/ was not afraid 10 so back then. 1 am
certain they were two white men VINO
threw the body over. l was close enough
TO see that two white men threw a man
over the bridge
At this point Coroner Leftwich inter-
rupted the witness. and asked why he
changed his statement with regard TO the
color of the two men. MIR. LipscOmb sali
If he had said he did not know whether
the men were white or colored he had
made a mistake. as he was sure they
were white, and one was taller than the
other. Mr. Lipscomb added that he did
not know whether the man who was
thrown In the river was white or black
one OF the Jurors here objected to having
the evidence given in by the witness adj
justed to suit his second consideration.
STORY or A FIREMAN
Edward Parham. n colored fireman on
the Southern railroad next took the
stand. and his evidence is recorded as
follows:
Between 2 and 2:S5 o'clock sat down
by an electric light, and went to reading.
/ saw one gentleman go up Mayo's
bridge from the Richmond side. About
five minutes after that l saw two men
10 up there, one man taller than the
other. After that 1 saw two men come
back. They loitered In between. After
that one of the men kept on. / think
the other went down the Nork-Rlver
track. | went as far as Fourteenth street
after the Hghts were out. and when /
got there | saw two police officers. one
of them asked rae where l was going.
/ told him / worked over here. and ne
said, AN RIGHT | went over and stopped
at the com, US Oh "e. i sat there FOR
some time, and was approached by some
other Gentleman. Sat there and talked
for no. | then went on the oppo-
enth street, and this other
came along and asked me
x did they ask me. | said TO him,
" asked me where / was going
mean the policemen asked me. i then
asked the man what did the policemen
ask him. I did not know the man, but
would know him If | saw him. Yes. /
recognize Mr.. Barker as the man. That
was about 2:s0, as near as l can come
TO It, Ii was after the officers went
off the bridge that ] saw Mr.. Barker
lie asked me II l was going over the
bridge. and / told him no He was a
stranger to me. The last l saw of him
he was going towards Manchester. 1
knew the boy who was killed. i could
not recognize one as "a colored man, be-
cause the lowest man was on the out
side. You can recognize white man
by the electric light. / was close enough
TO identity the first man as a white man.
j said there was small man and n
tall man together. The one this side was
dressed In dark clothes. and had on a
derby hat i said l could not see the
small man. This man Barker had on n
light suit of clothes, as he has now. |
could not say he was one of the two
that went towards the bridge
OTHER WITNESSES.
Sergeant Otey reviewed the story OF
finding the hat and pool of blood. He
also testified 10 having met Barker neai
the Allegheny railroad trestle and spoken
TO him. Barker had been drinking, but
said nothing TO excite suspicion and was
allowed TO go on. He told the officers
that he had just left Bakers saloon anc
investigation showed this to be true. anC
that he had been there OF and on from Il
o'clock.
The next witness was Joseph NJ Barker
an employee OF the Rountree trunk.
factory. and the man with whom Perry
had gone from Manchester 10 Richmond
lie told how he. I'm company with Perry
came to Richmond, and had severa
drinks. While In Bakers saloon drink
ing some OF the crowd leased Perry about
the students OF the Medical College catch
ing him on the way home and killing hin
for his body. This caused Perry TO leav,
the bar. but he was persuaded TO return
and remained for awhile, and aftei
the crowd went ont on the street PER-,
left and went up toward Fourteenth
street. while he (BarkeD returned to tn,
bar.
Barker easily proves by the bartende
IN natarsS 0aloop and nv Coleman W.