The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-07-12
SAYS SHERIFF WAS
WITH TRAIN ROBBERS
North Daketa Officer Accused
by AttoraeyB Before Pardon
u Board

by AttorneyBe Before Pardon
IA Board
grave charge affecting George E.
MOODY, sheriff of Richland county.
NORTH Dakota, was lodged with the
board. of pardons yesterday
ny u =. Houpt, attorney for Link
ihayef, James Hall, Charles w. Hoff-
man and Homer S. Minot, the four
men serving long term sentences at
saltwater for holding up a Great
Northern passenger train near Carlisle,
otter Ialf county, in 1898.
Inc charge against Moody is in effect
tnat he was implicated with the men
VINO actually did hold up the train, and
that the affidavit which he presents to
the board in. support of the plea TOR
eiemency for quartette now in Still
water was wrung from him by force of
circumstances, and. then only given on
the ADVICE of his attorney.
District Attorney Houpt. who de-
Iended the men now in Saltwater at
their trial before Judge Searle, in OF
" OoAA III IN III III
tnelr unsuccessful appeal to the SUI
preHle court, yesterday made a strong
pea Tor the discharge of his clients on
the ground that they are innocent.
KNOW as far as a man can know
without the use of his. senses of see
ing n hearing that these men are
innocent he told the board of par
oons yesterday. Il know just, as well
as L know am looking at you-Justice
start, that they are innocent. l know
that they are not good citizens. They
had no friends and circumstances were
against them l felt from the first that
they were not guilty, and I have done
what lshave. done jim the past. and what
l am doing now, from "a sensee of my
DUTY as their attorney. They have no
money nor. friends, and"I do not re-
ceive a cent for appearing before YOU"
Not Sure of Mems Guilt
Houpt presented aeletter from John
w. Mason, of Fergus Falls attorney:
for the Great Northern Railway COM
pany and the Great Northern Express
company, who had been special coun-
sci for the prosecution, expressing the
belief that the men had been sufficient
ly punished by their five years i'm
prisonment, and saying that he had al
ways had IAN abiding fear that the
state had convicted the wrong men,"
Judge Seafle, the sitting judge, and
Judge l.. l.. Baxter, the seniorejudge of
the district court, who is also familiar
with n facts, recommended their par
don, while M. ]. Daly,Scounty attorney
when Thayef. was tried and convicted,
and C:*L. Hilton, .who prosecuted the
other three, also recommended the par
don on the theory that the: men are in
nocent. F...1,- =
Chief Justice Start said THAT If the
linens Wereanot guilty. they .oughtesto be
~lrefeased 7but if they We're guilty. Ytheff.
punishment had not; been ;toeI severe.
I In some parts Of the co~untrNrtrain rob-
berry wasj panishablea by death. IF
they are guilty, l doIf1ots concur in the
theory that they have, been punished
enough; twenty Years is. none too
much" declared the chief justice, with
considerable 7emphasisaI -
Attorney Houpt Went into the. merits
of the case at sonnes length. He said
he hadSnexersb 6esfsablesto reconcile the
testimony of one5fnderson. "a section
boss Of i Wahpetaflsd with their gull.
Anderson. had testified that he had met
i and conyeEsed with 1.-THE men arrested
taWahpeton at 8 osclocks Dns the night
of the held-Mp. and Wahpeton- is thirty
miles distant from Carlisle. The state
hadNenever' disproved this testimony,
i.nOr the~testimony acknowledgements
~ . " AfO TN W. ~
finding the men in asdisordeily house
in Breckenridge -onS h night of the
robbery.
But did they not f1ndi the tools on
the men," asked Chief Justice Start,
who, from4s sitting in the3case when IT
was before the. supreme court, is ia
miliar with; all the facts.
Dynamite May4Save Them e.
+They did, quickly responded Houpt,
"but if the men had lone the work
4 charged to them they would not. have
bhadaythe dynamite; they would have
used it. The fact was, the men who
held up the train ram u of nitro
glyeerin and therefore did not: sue
coed in blowing open: the express car
safe" =
Chief Justice Start attempted to
correct Houpt5in some of his state
ments,s and eitedethe supreme court
~-opinionsitas preof that the attorney
was wrong. .sa5t* z
but the opinion doesn't state the
facts" Houpt interposed.J"a @5=
That's a pretty I'VE criticism or
the supreme court the chief justice
remarked in 4an aside t
Then the attorney tried to show the
| board that the state had convicted the
wrong men.
W. showed the state who commit
t-IeQ the crime, he SdlQ.- ne FODDerS
were the men who were dug out of a
strawstaek near Wahpetonzthe next
.morning. They were indicted in Otter
Tail county and our. sheriff went to
st. Joseph, Mo-, for: athem'-but they
were under arrest there for crime and
drew long terms incathe e~penitentiary
there, n he did not get them. They
we're. the same men awho held up ia
train a few years before at Glyndon.
3 Grave Charge Against Sheriff
Moody now sheriff Of Richard
county, .btt then a live1yraan ,oftWah-
petop,. drove..these men ftosthe scene
/ of .t~heaholdAIps He wHs anIconpifeity
! with them, n d!while>f he zbidAwithEt the
team. behind ,:some bushes The was not
/ willing to- share in murder and when
they beganssto shoot he drove away
and <left them sto4 walk9 ito Wahpeton.
In his "a ffdaxit he does al; for
his evidence would convict them saN!s
fces The attorney presented "a petition
signed shy. bankers. editors and OTHER
business and professional faeh&eiof
fergus. Falls asking Sfor the pardon of
the men. = Former Sheriff John sBifir
lings u.s. said jos, haNe circulated the
petition asking for their unconditional
l n4r0OhS =. The Sfba L