Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-03-04
GLAD HE is A THIEF.
DOBsON DENIES BEING "'h''
LARS PAL or MURDERER.
THIS TO Be HIS DEFENCE.
His Attorney Seeking 10 Have HIS
Case Tried Separately from Th"t Oh
rn,. wbo nx Yet Has No Counsel
lie Tried This Month.

Samuel Dobson the Richmond negro
charged with murder in Philadelphia
hopes to escape punishment for that Sc
rlous crime by pleading guilty TO being
common. everyday sncak-thiei.
The Philadelphia Record says:
The trial Of Samuel Dobson. and prob
ably that Of william Epps, who are ac'
cused Of having murdered Mrs. Mary ~
I,awlcr. at No. 7l3 yaskcr street, several
weeks ago, will be postponed TO the lat
ter part of March This move is 10 be
made at the request Of Dobson's counsel
Ellis 5. Abrams. who states that because
OF press Of work he will not be ready 10
go ON with the case next week. when IL
was TO have been heard. Indictments
against Epps and Dobson will be found
by the grand jury on Monday or Tuesday.
Mr.. Abrams viii exert every effort 10
have Dobs0n's trial separate from that
OF Epps as he is not counsel for the lat
ter. The defence is Understood 20 have
practically been determined upon. As a
basis Of operation. II is said that a claim
will be made that the store and home
were not entered by force, and that the
stealing of the money, the eggs the
shoes, and the skirt was simply the work
of a sneak-thef II Mr. Abrams can
prove that there was no burglary. he is
said to believe that he Will have gone
long way toward saving DObson's neck
lie is not worrying about Epps
THE SNEAK-THIEF THEORY.
In substantiation Of the sneak-thief de-
fence, an attempt will be made To show
that if the home of Mrs. LAWYER had been
entered burglariously and the old lady
murdered the burglar would not have
left behind the money found upon the
victims body, but would have made
systematic search for every cent OF avail
able cash: the bureau drawers would have
been pulled out and rihed, the carpets
torn up and the bed clothing scattered
about.
Both Epps and Dobson, IT will be claim
ed were accomplished sne9k-thieVes, but
were far too cowardly 10 commit burg
larry. In fact. it may be proved that
until six months ago Dobson bore an OK
ccllcnt character, and that Epps dragged
him into stealing.
on the night of the murder Epps is al
legged TO have said 20 DObsOn: Come on,
Sam; wen get some money"
Dobson says he construed this TO mean
that they would 90 somewhere. sneak a
chicken or some article from a sgore and
get cut. If Epps planned burglary Dob
son declares he was not aware Of it. Ac-
cording TO Dobson's story he and Epps
arrived at 7l3 Tasker street about 7:3O
o'clock.
NOT IN THE STORE.
1t was quite dark there and Mrs. Law
Ter was standing I'm the door. 1t had been
planned that Dobson was TO purchase a
bucket of coal az the side street while
his pal slipped into the store and stole
something. This idea was carried out by
Epps i'm a limited degree He went into
the store, but when Dobson had travelled
down Tasker street with the coal ne did
not come out again
So the sucak-thieving did not pan out
and murder resulted instead. 1t is said
that the defence will claim DObsOn TO be
entirely innocent Of any participation IN
or even knowledge of the crime. IT was
not until netX morning. it is declared.
that Dobson knew OF the assault upon
Mrs. Lawler. The nc1k-th!eying charac-
Ter of the defendant lawyer stated yes
terday afternoon. may prove To be one OF
the strongest points in his favor in this
case. The testimony of the Henderson
girls also favors Dobson. it is said. But
AN this. while il may possibly help Mr..
Abrams client. if it is proved. will proba-
blv settle the fate OF Epps. No attorney
has stepped forward as yet to defend the
latter.