The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-02-26
SHEETS GIVES
HIS VERSION Of
NOTED AFFAIR
Relates His Connection With
McWhirter Case and Story
Is mistaken.
BRIBERY CASE MAY GO
TO THE JURY TODAY
JAIL8IRO TEsTIFlEs HE AND
BELL REHEARsED PAR
RENTS TESTIMONY.

| The case against George A. Sheets. for
/ mer chief of police, who is being tried
on charge of receiving bride. will go
| to the jury probably this afternoon. The
/ defense will rest it's case shortly after
court convenes this morning. A short
rebuttal will be offered by the state. fol
lowing which the arguments will c0m-
mence.
| When court opens this morning the
state and the defense Will submit their
requests which they desire to make Iela-
/ tive to the instructions to be given by
the court to the Jury The defense will
/ all evidence given by an accOmDlice
/ should be viewed with suspicion and
should not be considered at all unless
/ it is cOrrObOrated by other witnesses 10
such an extent that it tends to con-
meet the defendant with the commission
] of the crime. The requests Of the de
1 Tense will cover the main points of the
charge 70 the jury by Judge Fremont
I Wood in the Haywood case.l The state
will ask for instructions to the effect
( that the evidence of an accOmDlice may
/ be cOrrObOrated by circumstantial evil
/ dence and that in case the jury believes
/ the testimony of an accOmpliCe il can
convict on such testimony.
Sheets Takes Stand.
! For the first time since the various
/ charges, growing out of the New hirter
| robbery, have been made against him
! George Sheets yesterday took the witness
stand in his own defense and made his
! first sworn statement of the part he took
/ in the alleged defense.
! Sheets made an excellent witness for
j the defense and his testimony was rot
/ broken by four hours OF cross-examina-
/ ton. In vain did County Attorney Han
son endeavor to twist his story. Sheets
| told it the same way repeatedly. Du-
/ ring the most of this time he was calm
! but occasionally he became angry II the
mention of the testimony of Parent and
! Bell. On one of the occasions he said:
/ Il have vet 20 take my first disnoo-
J est scent piece and / defy any man
/ other than a crook who has been prom
/ ised immunity for testifying against me
! to say that ] have ever grated
/ Aside from Sheets the important Wit
/ ness for the defense yesterday was II.
! d. Simmons, who was an inmate of the
/ county jail for several months last fail.
/ Simmons testimony was direct con-
/ tradiction of that of Bell. The latter
/ script of the evidence in the Sheets case
! in his cell for several months he never
! looked inside of it. Simmons said that
he and Bell were often together ind
/ had gone over the transcript with each
/ other. frequently reading the TESTIMONY
/ The witness created considerable amuSe-
ment by referring 10 the transcript as
them scriptures"
Story Told BY Sheets.
A few minutes later George A Sheets
was called to the stand. After answer
| ing a few preliminary questions the for
mer chief OF police said:
''The first intimatiOn ! had of the Nc
/ Whirter robbery was in the evening If
the day it occurred. when Sergeant John
1 Hempel brought William McWhiTter into
my office. He said:
. chief. this man says he has been
swindled out of 5000 in bunco 'ard
game.
"McWhirter started to tell me about
the way the swindle was worked and
Hempel Interrupted, saying.
.. The chief knows how Jhose buncO
games are worked
'sThen I told Hempel to go out with
MeWhirter and see if he could run across
anv Of the gang that swindled him
Some time after that. between D end
is o'clock in the evening. ] snoul1 say
two men came in the rear entrance to
police headquarters was standing IN
the hall These two men L row FL W
! to be Bell and Alexander McWhirter-
never saw either one OF them prior to
that day. Bell came up to ne in the
hall and asked:
CT said that I was. and walked into
my office. They followed me.
when we got inside Bell told me- that
McWhirter had been gambling ana had
lost $4,000. McWhirter then asked:
is this man az Officer
y replied: Decidedly not
'"Then Bell turned to McWhirter and
said:
''I never told you that 1 was an
Il then said to Mewhirter: DO you
want this man arrested?'
He said No; 1 want my money
bach
'aThen Bell turned to McWhirter ard
asked:
Have ! got your money! Did | fake
it? What have I done?
''McWhirter said: Indirectly you are
one of them
Then he started to cry
McWhirter Wouldn't Remain.
'AcWhIrter said he had only 10 cents
left to his name Bell then handed him
$50 Then he said he had a proposition
to make to him. He said that he would
loan him 81 600 McWhirter seemed agree
able and said he would consent to allow
Bell to go after the money. About that
time McWhirter asked me if a man he'd
not left $500 with me for him. I tod
him no money had been left with the
police for him. Then he told me that
a man representing himself to be a DO
Iiceman had taken $ 00G away from him.