The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1900-12-28
ARMSTRONG
BUILDING A
STRONG CASE
For the State in the Stevens Murder
Trial, at st. clnirsville,
and Now the
.DEFENSEWlLL TRY TOIMPEACH
Some Of the Witnesses Who Have
Testified to Matter Entirely
Unexpected.

The trial OF Leonard Stevens, In pro-
gress in the court at st. Clairsvllle, for
the murder of Clarence Warrick. the
{ fifteen-year-old boy, who happened to
be at the home of his aunt the night In
April tiast, when burglars entered the
house, attracts large crowds Of specta-
tors, which With the seventy-hve wit
nesses in the case make quite gather
ing In that usually quiet town.
The men accused OF the crime are the
boyish looking chap, Leonard Stevens,
twenty-three years Of age, who is now
facing the most trying ordeal OF his life,
and Barney Divine, an uncle Of young
Stevens. That they have been a bad
pair seems to be generally accepted, but
their crimes have been In the form OF
burglaries and larcenies, and IL they
really are the men who went to the
Warrlck home they probably went only
with robbery in their minds. But the
Warrick lad, though only fifteen years
Of age, was a big fellow for his age aud
when he appeared upon the scene Of
theft operations, Stevens, who is very
much, smaller, could quickly conclude
that he would overpower him II he was
not put out suddenly. and he is the one:
thought to have done the shooting.
'ss Both From GAINESVILLE.
Both the culprlts are from Zanesvillc,t
but they had been In Bellaire. Barnes
Vile and along the line OF the BaIti-
mores& Ohio at other points, always at
haunts that bude no good to n commu-
nifty. They SO upon trial with this I'M
sayory reputation, the state believing,
however, that independent OF all their
other acts they have n chain of evil
dence that connects them directly with
the Warrlck burglary ard murder. The
defense feel confident they can prove
an alibi and may succeed In producing
such doubt In the minds OF the jurors
as to make conviction doubtful or ac-
quittal possible.
That there will be some very conflict
ing testimony is an assured fact. There
Is positive evidence of Stevens and d.
vine being in tie vicinity of the murder
the night 1t was committed. and there
will be just as positive testimony, no
| doubt, that Stevens. at least. was not
| anywhere in that neighborhood. To Sc
| lect the true from the false testimony,
to discover or divine the motives of
| urif mi hn n nyt Of =, o,,1k
task OF the Jurors.
Stronger Than Expected.
| The state yesterday, continued its ex-
animation of witnesses and made a
stronger case than at first seemed like
ly. Ross Meanor, who was locked up
at Cambridge for being drunk and dis
orderly at the same time Barney Divine
was In jail there. testified that Divine
had asked him Il he had heard any
thing about the SoInerton murder. he
had, and then Divine wanted to know II
they had found and kept a tarred piece
of Irvine. Meanor didn't know, but ask
cd what the Irvine had to do with it.
Divine. said the ID Irvine had q
machine knot Init" and might do some
thing. Meanor had to be handled gen
tly to get this. as he could not be said
to be o willing witness. (Ths knot is
the one referred to by Squire Reinhart,
the first wltness.)
| Carl Smith was an unimportant wit
ness. save to connect some Of the small
er details
| Squire ]. C. Hampton. who held the
inquest on the dead boy, gave his evil
dence relative to that.
Jesse Warrlck, father OF the dead boy,
testified, but only to some OF the minor
details,
James T. Anderson. editor and pro-
prietor OF the Bellalre Independent, a
copy Of which, without any name on It,
had been found where the burglars left
1t, testified that no paper went to SOM
erton or GAINESVILLE without u name on
It, also that Ned Mononawhan, OF Bell
alre was a subscriber to the paper and
chat his paper would be delivered by 4
carrier without q name on It.
Drs. Copeland and Butcher, who held
the. post mortem on young Warrick,
gave testimony as to their examination.
The Determined Foot.
]. B. wilkins, marshal of Cambridge,
testified as to Barney Dlvine's deformed
foot. the toes being Off and only about
] half the foot would make track This
was coniirmatory OF the evidence OF
Rcinhart as to the tracks about the
house the morning after the murder.
Charles Lynch. who had taken the
Testimony at the preliminary hearing
when Stevens and Divine denied hav-
ing been at Somerton, never heard OF
| the place, ETC., read the full testimony
to the jury.
Albert Stephens. n saloon keeper at
gainesville, testified that Divine and
| Stevens had told him the latter part OF
March that they were going to crack
that Somerton bank and wanted to
know where they could get some gly-
cerinc: nsked him to put them next to
some of tho oil drillcrs In that neigh
borhood. Finally said IL they couldn't
get any there they could get Il down at
the river. They went to the river and
were gone, two or three days; came back
on Saturday. asked the names OF peo-
pie who lived on and Off the pike along
the pike toward Somerton, and dlsap-
moo reI that. o,,npIn, opd t,o 1,,t In