The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-06-01
ALL THREE t: |
ARE SENT ON.
e. G. Wooldridge and His s son
and Young Forbes to be Tried
for House Burning.
EVIDENCE clRcuMsTANT J
Officer Who Made the Arrests,
Himself a Relative Of the Dead
Man, the Chief Witness.
,snec,,, q the Times Dispatch,

fsnecIaI TO The Times Dispatch.)
ROCKINGHAM COURTHOUSE. VA,
May sl.-The preliminary hearing OF y.
C,ff Woodbridge and Charles 8. Forbes.
on The sensational charges goi having
htrned and robbed the home Of John s.
Forbes, an aged and prominent citizeh
az Tho county, tho night OF March Sd. was
Maid here to-day. 1t Will be recalled that
Mr.. FORBES then, over eighty years old,
was alone with his daughter at the time
n The fire, and. the fatigue excitement
and exposure caused his death Charles
rorbes, one OF the accused. is q son OF
the late John s. Forbes.
The Magistrates Court was already IN
SESSION when the prisoners, In charge Of
officers, arrived from Farmville. No case
in buckingham In decade has caused as
much excitement. and q large crowd was
present.
Anderson and G. I. Taylor occupied the
bench, and their appearance brought back
10 the memory OF many old citizens. olden
times, when the court Of associate JUS
tees OF the peace was very lmportan',
tribunal.
Mrs woodbridge, wife OF the accused,
came IN early this morning with her iit-
teen-year-old daughter. and they occu-
4, pied SCENTS In the bar before the, court .,r
was onened. and remained during the
nrouresa OF tho examination. When her
Young son. who had been also arrested
IN connection with the same charge. ca mo
4 n In charge or tho officer, she wept
and shook his hand.
The attorneys for the prosecution are
70, w. Hubbard. attorney for the conf
+ nonwealth. assisted. by a. r. Strobe,
who has been employed by the FORBES
family to aid Mr.. Hubbard. Hon. "a. -.
Flood and Judge J. n. Crute are for
4 tho defense
+ Tho case against Dan Woodbridge wa va
called first The young man Is charged
with having a hand In the burning. me
onIy witness against young Woodbridge
was a Miss o'Brien, and the two were
schoolmates. She said John Woodbridge
told her that Charlie Forbes. one OF tho
accused. left home at l o'clock In the
night and he (Dan Wooldridgel tod
her sof the things that were said, and
said that If Charlie had had any sense
he could have saved the bugsies; that
when he found out the things were on
e fire. he left. , u !. III !.
Young Woodbridge looked cheerful and
does not seem to be worried about tho
charges against him
The Case Of Woodbridge,
The examination next related TO the
charge against z. c. Woodbridge. the first
man arrested, Edlow Spencer. who arrest
cd Woodbridge. at his home Sunday. &
week ago, and WAS the main witness
against him. He said in substance that
nc heard that his cousin, Charlie Forbes.
had been murdered. and that nothing mad
been done looking to the arrest OF any
body charged with the burning, and that
he went up to Buckingham from Farm
Vile. to search for the body OF Forbes.
He heard vixen he got in the community
that Charlie Forbes had come back
1T could not find him." witness said
81 went 10 wooldrldge's. and he came
ont To the carriage 1 asked where Charlie
Forbes was. He said he did not know;
that he had been trying to find him.
said: "a buggy from APPROXIMATIONS brought
him near here Saturday morning lie
burning.
WHO did It. then7 / asked. q
.'Hc replied: I don't know.
..1hen + told him would have to take
him. He said he would go. and that
he had been expecting his arrest for sew
eral GAYS. He remarked that he had said
he would help lynch the man who DID
tina burning. bus had no idea that nc
4 would ever be caught. On the way 10
thu TAIL he said Charlie Forbes was four
and a half miles OF this place. Forbes
rostoffice. Flo would not toll where
Forbcs was. He said he would tell where
hn could be caught. and called for pen
Is eli and paper and wrote down in a note
book as follows:
..,Phone Winston Mckinney. deputy
sheriff OF Appomattox depot, 70 see = 10Y
Harvey, and find out positively a ooul
Charlie Forbes, aud 60 on by Joe CONS
and Jones's old place: there are thrfe
OF us; you have, me, now get the others,
SHOES FITTED THE TRaIfSo.
Before we got to Farmville, ne sara
tho shoes he had on when arrested made
those tracks.
t'A pair of Wooldrdse's brogans was
exhibited In court A measure taken OF
the tracks applied TO them fitted eSac GUY. y !,
Spencer said the accused said cparlie
Forbes. got hin, into this, Witness WV ~
not know whether accused reierlsu ),
his arrest or the burning, hut saiu no
had talked too much. re snuMeu ,hen
element. and was very nervous Wnen
arrested; he attempted to read q. ietter
and was too nervous TO complete ~:
He went in the house. dressed and toin
the youngest child good-bSe, Wool-
bridges wife said: Charlie Forbes gave
his father money in the morning, s.n
came back that night ana sol " fier
husband told to her to hush.
The accused was not looking we'll when
he arrived from Farmvllle this morn
ing. but seemed to brighten up and toe {.
a keen interest in the examination OF ne
witness. He himself at one time wan
ed to take hand in the cross examlna-
tion Of witness for the common
wealth 80
Case Of Charlie Forbes.
The charges against Charlie FORBES
WHO is son OF the victim of the disas-