The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-01-18
GRAND JURY is BALKED
NO INDICTMENTS IN sCOTTsBURG
LYNCHING INVESTIGATION.
Members of the Mob Now Wondering
What Governor Mount Will Do
Trouble in Lawrence County.
special to the indianapolis journal.

Special to the Indianapolis Journal.
SCOTTsBURG, Ind, Jan. 1.-THE grand
jury which has been investigating the Tyler
lynchirg, adjourned this afternoon at 2
o'clock without returning indictments
against any of the guilty parties. The jury
employed eight days in its investigation and
examined 100 witnesses The jury made
special report to the court, which is as fol-
lows:
ITO the Honorable Judge of the Scott Coun-
ty Circuit Court
1--WE. the grand jury in special session,
January term, 1899, do hereby supplement
our report to that part of our work LOT
which we were especially charged by your
Honor, viz, the lynching of Marion Tyler
on the night of Dec. q, 1898.
We desire to say that We entered upon POI
9Th day of January, 1899, and have without
any intermission earnestly, faithfully ana
conscientiously labored in our endeavors 70
lynching or some evidence that would lead
to the knowledge of the names of one or
more who were in possession of the facts.
We have called and have had before us,
and questioned under oath, 100 witnesses.
The greater part of these witnesses We're
citizens of Scott county, some from WASH
ington and some from jackson county, IN
diana, and thoroughly questioned all OF
them as to their knowledge of who the
guilty parties might have been. We have
gone in our invest igations of this particular
matter far beyond what our better JudS-
ment would nave leo us III ordinary SeSSlOho
of the grand jury, to wit: by following
every suspicion, regardless of its remoteness,
to actual facts, with the hope in view that
some light might come to us that would
possibly lead to the Indictment of one or
all of the persons who took part in COM
hitting the horrible crime of murder in the
after eight days of continuous labor we
very much regret that the evidence that we
have taken in this matter does not warrant
us in returning an Indictment against any
person. RESPECTFULLY,
JOHN W. MONTGOMER Foreman
This sort of report had been anticipated
for several days. At first it was thought
the grand jury had available clews to work
on that would bring out sufhclent evidence
to warrant the return of indictments, but
when the witnesses We're placed on oath
they either knew nothing or would tell noth-
ing. The many stories That were expected
to afford clews for the grand jury were ex-
nesses appeared to be willing TO tell all they
knew and what they had heard, but when
all this was known 1T amounted TO nothlng
The knowing ones, or the ones who were
supposed to know something were. the ones
who knew the least when they faced the
grand jury. After q few witnesses had Deen
examined it was plain that all were not
willing witnesses and that 1t would doubt
less be impossible to secure evidence to JUS
tify indictments.
When the grand jury made it's report
Judge New thanked the members of the
grand jury for their efforts to discover EVIL
dence sufficient to justify the return OF m
dictments. He explained that he was fully
aware of the great disadvantages under
which they had labored, and appreciated
their attempt to find indictments against
those who had disgraced the county. He
wanted the jury to understand that he sin
cerely believed it had done its duty.
The failure to return indictments is the
sole subject being discussed tonight. 1t is
now believed the coroner will continue his
official investigation, In the nope OF secur-
ing at least enough evidence to cause the
arrest of some member of the mob. His in
vestigation was adjourned Indefinitely at re-
of FTa VII