The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-11-29
A STRANGE STORY TOLD
LAWYER BECKETT SAYS CITIZENS,
COMPANY SET A TRAP FOR HIM.
A Closed Chest I'm a Coal Mans Shan
the Sixth Time Next Monday.

Attorneys are preparing for another hot
legal fight In the famous street-railway
damage suit in which Mrs. Macy Beaupre,
who resides at Senate avenue and Mary
Ian streets. this city. is the plaintiff.
The case will go to trial for. the sixth
time on Monday. at Greenfield. Hancock
county. AS a result of the different trials
Of the case one witness has been arrested
for perjury, and is at present serving a
sentence In the Indiana R~eformatory. An
other has been arrested for subornation of
perjury, and all sorts of charges have been
made by the lawyers on each side. Wy
mond ]. Beckett is counsel for the plain
tiff, and W.. Fl. Latta and Ferdinand Win
ter have been conducting the case for the
street-railway company.
Mrs. Beaupre was hurt at Senate avenue
and Washington streets In January, 1896.
She was a passenger on a car. and accord
ing to her side of the case requested that
the car be stopped at this corner. She
claimed that before she had time to alight
the car started forward and she was
thrown to the street. She claimed perma-
nent injuries. and brought a suit for $50, 600
damages.
The case was never tried in this county,
and first came before the court in Hend-
ricks county in January. 1897. At this trial
the jury failed to agree. 1t was tried again
in March. 1897, and the jury brought in a
verdict for the plaintiff for $500. The court
granted the street-car company a new
trial. and In June, 1897. 1t was tried a third
time, Judge Higgins. of Lebanon, being
called to the Hendricks COUNTY bench. This
time the plaintiff secured a verdict of
$1,000. Again the company was granted a
new trial. and the case was venued a Sec
ond time. 1t was sent to Hancock county,
where 1t went to trial for the fourth time
In March. 1898. The jury in this trial
brought in a verdict for the plaintiff, fix
ing her damages at $500. This verdict,
however, did not stand, and again, In Octo-
Der, 1898, the case wen to trial for the fifth
time. This time the jury failed to agree.
DIFFERENCE IN TESTIMONY.
There has been a wide difference in the
character Of the testimony IN the different
trials. While a number Of witnesses have
corroborated the testimony of Mrs. Beau
pre-. others have asserted that her version
OF the way the accident happened is not
correct. They said she did not signal the
conductor to stop, but as the car ap-
preached the corner Of Washington street
and Senate avenue, she sprang up and de-
clared that this was where she wanted to
get of. These witnesses asserted that Mrs.
Beaupre deliberately attempted to leave
the car while it was running rapidly. After
one Of the trials Harry Littlejohn. a wit
a., ~ 49,. - III
perjured himself on the witness stand, and
pleaded guilty. He was sent TO the Indiana
Reformatory. where he is yet serving his
sentence. In his confession LIttlejohn said
that James Edwards had induced him to
testify as. he did. and Edwards was indict-
ed for s~ubornation Of perjury. The indict-
ment was afterward quasned.
In connection with the case, the startling
charges made by Attorney Beckett in the
fourth trial Of the case are recalled. In
his opening statement to the jury Beckett
charged that representatives of the Citi-
zens' Street-railroad Company had delib-
erately set a trap for him with the expec-
tation that he would fall into it. He then
proceeded TO give the details Of VIA he
charged was a conspiracy. He said that
one day he had occasion to go to Haugh-
vile, and there he met a man who told
IlIl ne HdO some VdludDlE information Tor
him. This was some time before the first
trial at Greenfield. The man told him
that the information was in the form OF
valuable testimony in the Beaupre case.
Beckett said the man invited him TO come
to see him on a certain evening. and he
went. The man with the information was
a coal dealer, and had for an Office a small
shanty situated In a vacant and desolate
piece of ground south of the Belt Railroad.
Beckett went there on a cold night to meet
the man with the information. He said he
noticed a large closed box in the room. but
at the time mis- attention was not called es-
pecially to IL.
TOOK FOUR MEN ALONG.
Nothing definite was agreed on that
night. and Beckett arranged to return an
other night. He said that before he left
the shanty the first night he suspected a
trap, and when he went the second night
he took with him four trusty men. He sta
toned them outside at the windows of the
shanty, where they could hear all that was
said When he went In the proprietor of
the place deliberately opened the lid Of the
box or chest Beckett had noticed on his
first visit. TIL box was empty, and the
thought flashed over the visitors MIND
tina the box was opened for effect.
AS Beckett related the story. he at once
demanded Of the man he had come to meet
that they get down to business. The man
was agreed. and then proceeded to tell the
attorney OF certain testimony he had. He
then asked: us that worth $500 to your"
rs IL the truth?' asked Beckett. Accord
Ing TO the attorneys story. the man then
admitted that this testimony was not the
truth. He thought, however. that IL could
be utilized.
Then" said Beckett, eff IL is not the
truth, IL Is not worth a cent to me-" He
then left the shanty and returned to the
city with his four companions, who had
heard all that had been said. Beckett de-
clared that he afterward learned that on
the occasion OF his first visit to the shanty
the closed box he had noticed contained a
man. who had been put there TO hear what
vas said. He learned further that on his
second visit a man was secreted under the
floor. He charged that the street-car COM
pany had Matched up this plot and had
stationed these men, thinking that he
would fall into the trap and offer to pur-
chase false testimony. This, in substance.
was the story related by Beckett to the
Greenfield jury.
An attorney who knows something of
the Beaupre case said yesterday that the
approaching trial would probably deyelop
some very sensational things.