The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-01
HE DARES THE STATE
ALLEGED MURDERER OF An IN
DIANA NAN MAY ESCAPE TRIAL.
Novel Point In Law Made Use of by
Amos Stirling, Accused of killing
Prof. Roy White.

PHILADELPHIA, March S1.-That the
commonwealth of Pennsylvania is afraid
to push the charge of murder against
Amos Sterling seems TO be proved by the
facts now before the court. The county au-
thorities have appeared before the judges
three times with doctors certificates set
ting forth that Sterling is too i'll to stand
trial. The last certificate was filed yester-
day. Sterling says he is in perfect health,
and that the authorities dare not let his
case come to trial. A more remarkable
condition of affairs does not appear on the
criminal records of the country.
Two men nave been sentenced TO death
for the murder of Roy Wilson White, a
professor of the University Of Pennsyl-
vania. They were convicted solely because
they were with the man who struck the
fatal blows. The commonwealth never
claimed that either of these men actually
killed Professor White. but introduced a
chain Of circumstantial evidence tending
to prove that Amos Sterling committed the
murder and that these two men. Henry
Ivory and Charles Perry, were with him at
the time.
The murder was m on the night
of May 10, 1900. A general roundup"
was dnQ ICdllg 0V SuSDCClS NtAt
arrested within twenty-four hours. Ster-
ling was arrested a week after the murder.
Ivory and Perry were arrested on May p.
Ivory was tried first and convicted of muir
der In the first degree. The district at
torney, in his argument, and the Judge, in
his charge, called attention TO the fact
that the commonwealth charged Ivory only
with having been with the actual murderer
at the time OF the crime, and the judge
said that the verdict must be murder in
1 to hav e' beeh present aaal sH N The SS eapaeit ty1g Of Y ah
accessory. The verdict was rendered in
three hours The witnesses who convicted
Ivory appeared against Perry, and his con-
victiOn was only a matter of hours.
The trial of Sterling. who was always
charged with having committed the muir
der, was scheduled for the day following
the conviction of Perry. The court was i'm
session.; Sterling was in the dock, and the
case was actually under way when the dis
trict attorney suddenly moved for a con-
tinuance. He made no public explanation
then, and has since made none. Sterling
grinned in his face and said:
'.Guess you have heard that / was with
Buffalo Bill in Harrisburg that night"
Three times since that scene the case
against Sterling has been scheduled for
trial, and three times has the district at
torney produced certificates from the coun-
ty prison physician setting forth that Ster-
ling is too i'll TO stand trial. Sterling seems
TO be quite as we'll to-day as he was the
day he was committed to prison, and his
friends assert in plain English thai the
authorities are afraid TO proceed.
Ivory and Perry regard their conviction
as a huge joke, both of them seeming to
nave positive assurance that they will
never be hanged. Here Is a proposition
in law and in fact credited to Ivory: Il
was convicted because l was with Sterling
s.leuL -slIuM IosSsJoId p9I9pInW sq u9uM
the way the judge explained Ii. White was
murdered in Philadelphia at a time when
Sterling claims he was in Harrisburg. 100
miles away. IL 1 was with Sterling then
/ was in Harrisburg. Now that they have
proved that / was with Sterling ana have
convicted me of murder. what are they
going TO do when Sterling proves that he
was 100 miles away at the time the muir
der was done? I'll never hang; III tell
you that"
The case promises TO become a matter OF
national Importance, as IL involves a point
In criminal law that has never been tested
before the highest courts.