Daily Kennebec journal., 1901-07-11
Said to Have Been Found to
Prove TheriauIt's Guilt.
Witness Who Saw Him on Tote Road
on Day Of Pare's Murder.
rheriauit Asserts lnnocsmce but State Is Con.
iideni Of Conviction.

gress made in securing evidence
against Alexander Theriault or Tcr,io.
charged with the murder Of Pare. on
the Misery tote road. last March:
Skowhcgan, Me, July S-Thc back
woods tragedy, as the Pare murder
case is called now, is being kept con
stant'y before the public by reason of
the new phases that are brought to
light nearly every week. Alexander
Thcriault. the man accused of the
crime in the Misery township, is in the
county Jail here. He still maintains
that he is innocent.
The state officers claim to have dis
covered the missing link" The new
evidence is that of Il witness who, il is
alleged, saw Teriault on the tote road
near the scene ot the crime on the
fatal day, March IL. Up to the dis
coyery of the witness the State had
been at Il loss how to get the snowshoc
tracks. about which 50 much has been
said. nearer to the tote road than the
witness Muriy had placed them.
1t is said that the State officers have
been looking for the new witness for
many weeks. and at last found him
way up in the northern Androscogin
county after a chase of more than 1909
miles.
The State holds that the motive for
the murder was robbery. Matthias
Pare had cashed at kineo the day be
fore the murdxr an order amounting to
S1066s. At I\iheo he had made several
,.-hi
clothes. a pair Of white shirts. a mack
intosh and other articles. lie started
with two packs-onc an extension case.
which. it is dlso alleged was bought at
kineo, and the other a common can
vas bag. such as the woodsmcn usually
carry into the woods. His route lay
along the Misery tote road to the sta
tion of Asquith on the line OF the Cana
dian Pacific Railway. When the body
Of Pare was found, % days later. there
were no packs.
At the finding of the body guide
named Joseph Nurry stated that he
believed he knew who committed the
crime and at the inquest and subse-
quently at the preliminary hearing
held here. Murry testified that on the
day the murder must have been com
mitted he discovered the peculiar
shaped snuWshoc tracks of Alexander
Thcriault leading in the direction Of
the tote road. Murry followed the
tracks. though he has never said why.
to within one and onc-half miles of
the tote rSad when the tracks sud
denly turned in another direction lead
Ing from the tote road.
While looking after evidence the Of
ficers were told that Alexander Their
iault had not worked of any ConSe
quence during the winter just past and
had. Notwithstanding. paid numerous
bills. At tho time of his arrest Thcri-
ault said that he thought he was at
home on the day that Pare went out
toward the station from the little set
tlement Of lockwood
The defence will show that Thcriault
haG money during the winter, as much
as several hundred dollars in cash
when he left Madison. where he hal
been at work in mill. An attempt
will also be made to prove that there
were several other men on the Misery
tote road on the fatal day
IT is commonly reported about Rock
wood that Pare and number Of the
residents had a blowout the night he
fore the formers departure for the
railroad and that a row occurred be
tween Pare and two other men, hut
that Thcriault was not present then
nor at any time during the night.
From the first the State has claimed
that the fracture Of the skull was made
with the stock or butt end OF the rifle
with which the shooting was done. The
dc fcnsc will deny this and attempt TO
show that the murderer, If there was
only one, must lave had rifle, an axe
and a knife: that the rifle was dropped
the knife used and afterward the axe
brought into play.
Thcriault is eccentric. When he was
brought here f. N. Merrill was secur-
cd as his counsel and after the Theri-
ault hearing had been postponed once
Hon. S. l.. Walton assumed charge of
the defense. During conversation
with the accused the latter told the
counsel that in the cellar ui the Rock
wood home he had buried money and
the attorney would find it in a certain
snot Mr.. Walton went to lockwood.
which is on the bank of Moose river.
In the presence Of another man and
the wife Of Theriault. Mr.. Watson su-
pcrintended the digging up of the eel
lar bottom. While the party was thus
c,,rarcd Sheriff Pennell happened
along. Mr.. Walton became satisfied
that all the conversation between him
self and Thcriault had been repeated To
the sheriff by the prisoner. No money
was found in the cellar or about me
,,r,m misses. and Mr.. Walton realized that
Theriault had imposed upon him.
The attorney discovered several
small things at lockwood that tended
10 convince him that Theriault was an
innocent man. When the attorney re-
turned here and had another interview
with his client storm arose ana the
gave UP the case. +. A. Morey
conducted the case for the defense at
the final session of the preliminary
hearing, June IL.
There is still the unexplained mys-
tery regarding how the Pare extension
90 sc came to he on the tote road not
ereat way from the scene of the mur-
Continued on page 81