The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-01-14
THEIR FREEDOM RESTORED.
Missouri's Governor Convinced al
Two Conyicts' Innocence.

ST. LOUIS. Mo. Jan. l3.-Jacob Henze
and Henry Kaiser convicted of ;he muir
der Of Edwin L. Brown and sentenced tC
the penitentiary for life. were pardoned
by the governor yesterday and returned to
their homes here late last night. The
case is one of the most remarkable in
criminal annals
Brown was 4 wealthy Chicago dealer in
live stock. In the early spring Of 1898 he
| visited st Louis on business. and on the
night of March .. 1898 he was set upon by
three men at the corner of Garrison and
! franklin Avenues He was dragged into
| the caulage entrance OF the Niedrinshaus
residence. nov the Baptist Hospital,
where he was beaten and kicked into in-
| sensbility. The highwaymen stole his
watch and fed Brown lived half and hour
| brit was never able to describe the men
VINO assaulted him. except to say that
| they were betACen eighteen and twenty
1 one years of age and that one OF them
/ wore a light ovcrcoat
! A reward of $4,000 was offered for the
arrest of the murderers. Annie Boghne,
ccloied woman. the police found pos
sessed some knowledge ofthe crime and
of the men who committed it. She was
| arrested and told a story of having wit
]
| and recognized his assailants as Henze and
Kaiser. Public feeling was SO high over
the crime that threats were made OF lynch
ing the prisoners. They were given
speedy trial. a strong chain of circum-
stantial evidence was wound around them
which. when strengthened by the direct
evidence Of the Boghine woman. secured
their conviction. They were sentenced to
death. but this was commuted to life inn
prisonuent
Subsequently evidence was brought to
light showing that the negro womans tcs-
timony was a tissue OF falsehOod. She was
in turn sent to the penitentiary on convic-
tion of perjury. The circumslantiai evi-
dCnce against Henze and Kaiser was so
strong that the feeling prevailed that the
sentence was just The prisoners had not
been in prison long before rumors began
to circulate that they were innocent, the
murder having been committed by mem
bers Of the Blair gang of young men,
ranging in age from sixteen to twenty
five years Cf age. Finally Detective Shev-
lin gathered so many elews that he was
satisfied a great wrong had been done
Henze and Kaiser
Following up the threads. he learned tha,
prisoner in the penitentiary could give
him some information. Going to Jefferson
City. he interviewed the convict. and was
sDiu bA nm AudA NdIoltun iDonhpdTle an
drews. Philip b. Brady. and John Brennon
had committed the crime. These men were
said TO be members of the Blair gang. and
all are now dead. Continuing his investi-
cation. Shevlin came across a woll-known
business man 10 whom confession hal been
made of the crime by the man who had
secured Browns watch from the assassins
The business man was pledged to secrecy
as long as his informant was living As
soon as the seal was removed he told his
story to Shevlin. The evidence was laid
before the governor a week ago. He him
self visited the penltentiary and had long
with the men and with the ne
gro woman.
In his letter 10 the secretary of state |
the pardon OF the two men Gov
ernor Stephens says nothing of the effort |
OF the police to fasten the crime on the (
three men who have since died, but ap- /
parently bases his action entirely on his I
belief that the testimony Of the woman |
was not credible. The efforts to secure 1
the pardon were bitterly fought by the cir |
cult attorney. He said today:
This one move on the part Of the po |
lice undoes the work OF the courts for |
quarter Of n century,"