Arizona republican., 1900-11-21

Thomas F. Flannigan of this city, and having paid MT. F'lannigan his fee in advance he gave him $50 more and carelesSly asked him to do what he could for a young man named Echols, who was to be tried for stage robbery. Ussery said he had no especial inter est in Echols; he only knew him slightly, but he believed he was inno- cent. Ussery was acquitted, but Ech- ols, with all the facts above narrated, against him, was necessarily con- victed and sentenced to Yuma for ten years. He assured MT. Flannigan at the last that he was not guilty, but could offer no explanation of the dam aging circumstances which connected him with the robbery.
 The following winter Ussery stole several valuable horses from John Cline of Tonto Basin and was arrested sev- eral months afterward and put into jail ait Globe. He broke jail, but was recaptured. When he saw that the penitentiary was inevitable he wrote to MT. Flannigan, saying that Echols was an innocent man and that he himself had committed the stage robbery, the circumstances of which he related with some particularfty. He did not want his conf ession made public just then, but he urged MT. Flannigan to work for Echols' release.
 That winter Ussery was convicte1 l and sent to the penitentiary. Last February he made a long confession, put into the form of an affidavit drawn up by Fred G. Hughes. in which he re lated the whole story of the stage rob bery.
 He said he had had that enterprise in mind for some time and carefully worked out a plan of escape, which au experienced criminal always takes into serious consideration. This rlan in- volved the sacrifice of Echols. On tue forenoon of the robbery he went to the cabin of Echols, who he Knew was away from home and wouiC not return until night. He hid his shoes and put on Echols'; he exchanged his coat for Echols' and stuffed gunry-sack b''A' tween his shoulders to alter the ap- pearaBce of his shape. He tore a. cloth in two, leaving the remnant lying con spicuously on the floor, anJ taking Echols' gun, set out.
 Having successfully effected the rob- d with the skill with which it was planned and carried on Qor the mail bag yielded him nothing), he returned to Echols' cabin, loft things as he had found them in the morning, wi.h the exception of the torn cloth. and went away. So far as this crime was con- cerned, the earth had swallowed him.
 Ussery has not been famous for the manifestation of conscientious work inss. but he said he got to feeling sorry for Echols. The $50 he gave Mir. Flan- nigan for defending Echols was con- siderably more than he had realized from the robbery, but he could not bring himself to the point of making a confession when it would do Echols the most good. Nor could he quite make up his mind to do it when he found the penitentiary certainly yawn- ing for him, but now that he was in it and had nothing to hope for, he had decided to save Echols by making a clean breast of it.
 This affidavit was sent to the gov ernor last summer, and the course Of the executive seemed clear to pardon Echols. But even the confession of SSTch a man as Ussery will bear inves- tigation and the governor did not move precipitat7ly. He found in the first place that though Echols had probably net committed the stage robbery, hls record was not good. He had served a term in the penitentiary from Gila county and had previously left bad name in Colorado. The most damaging discovery against Echols made. by the governor was that he and Ussery were not mere casual acquaintances as Us lsery had stated, but had for long time been close friends. The governor had little doubt that Ussery's story as to the robbery was true, but he be- lieved that Echols had at least guilty knowledge of It and other crimes which Uesery had committed. He therefore modified his mercy by in stead of granting Eclpols a full par don by cutting off six years from his sentence. With reduced time for good behavior Echols will be free man in about one year.