The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-09-27
THE PARDONING BOARD
JARED ENGRAM CASE DISCUSS
 ED AT GREAT LENGTH.
Four Persons Convicted of Murder of Barbour County Young Man Seeking Clemency-Crime
 Caused a Sensation.

The State Board of Pardons held its
 regular weekly meeting yesterday but
 took final action on but one application
 for executive clemcncy. that of Meredith
 Provo, for whom the Board recommend-
 ed pardon.
 The Board, which is composed of the
 Attorney General, the Secretary of State,
 and State Auditor, discussed, it is under
 stood, the petition for pardon for the
 men who were convicted of the murder
 of Jared Engram, a well known young farmer of Barbour County, at Eufaula. l No action was, however, taken on this
 matter and it will again come up for
 consideration at the next meeting Of the | Board.
 Two men, Solon Moore and John Brashear, and two women, Anna Vaughan and Gertrude Howard. are in
 the pcnitentiary. serving time of from | twenty to thirty years each for the En-
 gram murder
 | The sensational disappearance of young | Jared Engram on the night before Christ
 mas 1899, the finding of the body in the | Chattahoochee River fifty-tive days later, which his father identified as Jared En- | grams the arrest and conviction of two | young men and two women of ill repute
 for his murder, formed one of the most l uTdH1llC anu StilSsillplldl SlOi lVS SNSA OuN- | lined on the docket of an Alabama court. | The affair brought sorrow to three fam
 lilies of high standing and the whole sec- | tion was stirred by the story. | The theory of the prosecution, which
 was conducted by Hon. John " smith, 1 now President of the Alabama Railroad l Commission, who was then Solicitor. was l that EnEram had gone to town on Christ mas eve where he drank rather heavily. l He turned up that night at house on tn. outskirts of Eutaua occupied by
 ma Vaughan and Gertrude Howard. It vas the theory of the prosecution that Engram became involved in a difficulty with ooon Moon. Evidence was intro duced to show that the men had two fights. One witness swore he heard cries
 for help coming from the house, appar-
 entity from Engram.
 | It was the further theory Of the prose- cutiun that Engram was killed In the | last nsht and that More was assisted by | the Vaughan woman. The prosecution | sought to prove that Moore had left the [ house. gone up town, secured his bug | gy placed te body in 1t and driven to | the Chatta hooChee river where the corpse was consigned to the waters of the river | Fifty-five days later d body was found at the confluence of the Chattanoochee anu Y lllll IhlN 'l'. 4i ''''iH - A4-' H' vioenc" and in the throat woman's handkerchief had been jammed. The father of Engram went to the spot where the hody had hcen buried The 1 river had risen meanwhile and the hastily m mlde grave Was covered by the back wa tcrs of the two rivers. Some days were spent in waiting before the grave was opened. The father declared the body to
 bc that of his missing son.
 In the conviction of the accused an array of circumstantiil evidence was bsought forward. The defense eontended
 that the convictions resulted from the popular feeling, which WAS manifested against tho accused. They contendcd that the crcumstantial evidence was not suf- hcicnt to condemn.
 They fought the evidence that was in troduccd 10 show th at tho body found in the river wa4 that oF young EnErqm They declared it impossible to iIenti " positively a body that had been in the water fifty-flvc days
 On these propositions the defendants are asking clemenoy from the Pardon ing Board. The petition for Moore and Erazhear put forward hy their attorneys
 is said to be a strong one and well en- dorsed.