Norwich bulletin., 1909-08-10

death of Lieut.. James N. Sutton, U. $. M. C.. on the government reser- vation, here about two years ago, con ducted the proceedings of that day in secret and the cross examination of Mrs. Sutton. the mother of the dead officer. occupied practically all of to- days meeting of the board.
 No sooner had Mrs. Sutton taken the stand to testify this morning than Major Leonard, judge advocate, de- manded that the letters of Mrs. Sut- ton. read at the closed session on last Saturday, be read in public, along with the record of the whole meet ing.
 I've have been accused of holding star chamber session." declared the judge advocate. and besides, there are sundry other members who are | entitled to know why their sons are accused of crime"
 A hot wrangle ensued. Lawyer Da- wis, counsel for Mrs. Sutton. did not | ing of the letters, but he argued against the necessity of making them known, inasmuch as they had no ac- | tual bearing on the evidence in the investigation. The public reading at l this time would be merely catering to | a prurient curiosity he contended. | The letters were four in number. and they were written to H. M. Swartz, ! clerk in the marine corps paymaster's | office in Washington, D. G. by Mrs. | Sutton
 Eventually the court decided that | they be read.
 Declares Adams and UtIey Hated Her Son.
 | to the ill-fated automobile ride, Mrs. Sutton declared that if Jimmie had been himself he never would have asked Adams, Utley and Osterman to ride with him. Adams and Utley hated him, she said. Mention is also made of Lieutenants Potts, Sumner and Shearer, who were in another au- | tomobile on the night of the tragedy. | She speaks of a money transaction ! between her son and Shearer and several times during her correspon- | dence with Swartz expresses a strong dislike for him in uncomplimentary terms.
 1 hOn October l." she wrote, Jimmie ! borrowed $211 from the bank On Oc- i.tober he gave Shearer check for l $130 and l wrote Shearer and asked him what it was for. He said he had just cashed it for Jimmie. l didn't be- lieve him and wrote and told him what l thought of such men who would lead | man in a helpless condition to be
 taken out and beaten to death" 1 On subsequent occasions when she had written Shearer his replies were curt, she says.
 SeoIded Son for Being Too Generous.
 Mrs Sutton says she used to scold her son for being so generous and his | answer was Mamma, my greatest happiness is when l am making oth-
 CTS happy"
 On May Mrs. Sutton promised to send Swartz a copy of the first in- quest testimony and a copy of what evidence she had later obtained. She .recites her difficulties in obtaining anything definite about "Jimmie's" | death.
 Do you mean to say if we prove i what we know these men cannot be | punished, simply because they belong | to the navy? These men know why
 they are so secret about the affair but we are not sleeping, and I think
 the United States will be compelled to sit up and take notice of what kind of men run the navy and shield
 a pack of low brutes."
 Shearer then comes in for further attention. Just get a copy of the
 A. and N. Journal for October 19 and
 see the expression on Potts face" she suggests to Swartz, and adds: As to Adams, Utley and Osterman, their faces will be enough to convict them.
 You will see that Jimmie is the small ] est in this class. and yet it took three 1 big men to do him to death Shearer
 looks like an ex-convict. Willing ] turns in the picture a little from Jim
 mie, showing they were not on good
 terms"
 On the cross examination Mir. Bir-
 ney insisted that Mrs. Sutton explain | why she made these deprecatory re- | tAaN ufaa I | express an opinion about Potts face without intending to mean that every ] one criticised was implicated in her | sons death. She further insisted that i the contents of her letters to Swartz had been arrived at through reading the testimony and/a sense of deduc- tion and that she still held to her orig
 inal belief.
 Had Premonition.
 "The love between Jimmie and my l self" continued the mother in this letter to Swartz was the greatest | that could exist between two persons l If Jimmie met with an accident. l felt it at once. Well. the night those beasts
 were laying their plans for Jimmie an awful fear came over me and my two | daughters. We could not talk and each kept away from one another for fear of betraying our feelings. The | neXl OdN MT. oullO0 iH anu asked me if l could stafl some aw- ful news. He told me that Jimmie
 was reported to have killed himself. ] Says Son Appeared to Her on Day
 After His Death. | "Tf Jimmie had not spoken to me | then," the writer exclaims. 'I would | have died. but Jimmie came up to me and said Mother. dear. don't you ] believe it 1 never killed myself. Ad- ans killed me; they beat me to death and then Adams shot me to hide the 1 crime
 "IIe told me how they laid a trap ! for him, how he walked into it: how Utley grabbed him to pull him out of the autonoblle: how they held him and Osterman beat him about his forehead being broken. his teeth | knocked out and the lump under his l jaw. and how when he was lying on l the ground some one kicked him in the side and smashed his watch. He | begged me not to die. but to live and i clear his name.
 Well. after three weeks I proved that some things he told me were true and after repeatedly demanding the | evidence after four months l got it. and within the last month have prov ed everything he told me.
 Nothing could separate Jin1r e I from me. not even death. Adams. [ L. iiev Potts and Osterman will never