The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-09
MORE EVIDENCE
TENDING To FIX
MURDER ON VAC
CoIored Woman Says She Saw
Meyers Enter Death Chamber
Late on Night of the Crime.
FACTS TO BE RELATED
AT THE INQUEST TODAY
CRIPPLE HAS AMAZING NERVE
AND STILL PUZZLES
THE POLICE.

Today is expected to be one of de-
velopments and rapid progress in the
case of the murder of John c. Barnett,
the young man whose body was discev-
cred i'm the Amer.csn house last Thurs
day. At 10 o'clock this morning the
coroner's jury will meet in Justice of
the Peace Stanley A. Hanks court
room to complete the inquest, and if
predictions are fulfilled, within an hour
OF two afterwsrd Hugh Meyers. the 1s-
year-old cripple. will be placed under
charge of murder in the first degree.
Deep interest will center in the in
quest Of today. Meyers, although he
realizes his desperate situation. still
with amazing nerve declines to offer
any explanation of his story which is
completely contradicted. He will be the
central figure. since he win be called
upon to repeat his talk to the coroner s
Jury. New evidence viii be INTRODUCED.
and Meyers will be required TO sit by
and listen to Detectives Burt and
Wheeling relate how they fitted his
crutch into the wounds upon the head
and hands of Barnett; hear DIS. S. @.
Paul and +. =. Steele give as their
opinion that the blows which struck
Barnett to his death were delivered
with the crutch: State Chemist Harms
that the stains upon the shoe. hat,
han 1kerchief and Crutch belong inS TO
Meyers were fresh blOOdstalns, and
then listen to the testimony of Flo
Richardson and two coloTed men that
will refute and contradict his entire
story of how he spent the night on
which the murder was committed.
Woman's Damaging Story.
In Flo Richardson. a colored habitue
of the American house, the police have
probably found their most important
witness, and her story. which is cor
roborated by others. is the most dam
aging to Meyers. Meyers original story
to the police, and TO which he still
clings. was that on Wednesday night
he had gone to room - where the
murder was committed. but had left
there about { o'clock and retired to a
hall cot. some twenty feet away, and
in a little while went to sleep. This
statement was first contradicted by the
night clerk Of the American house. who
saw Meyers in room AZ as late as 10
o'clock.
The Richardson woman now tells a
story that more positively fixes the
presence of Meyers in room ~ at about
the time of the murder, some two hours
after he had been seen there by the
night clerk.
According to the woman. shortly be-
fore u o'clock Wednesday night. she
had been standing at the head of the
stairway leading TO the floor on which
room AZ is located. and while engaged
in conversation with a Colored man.
she had seen Meyers and two other
men 20 10 room -. Because of the
fact that the lower floor was being
scrubbed. she remained upstairs for
something over half an hour. While
still in the hallway Meyers had come
out of the room and asked her If she
didn't want to come in and have a
drink of white line (the tramp's con-
coction of alcohol and wateTt. She re-
fused. and Meyers returned to the
room. little while later he again
came out of the room and. hobbling
over to his hall cot, drew back the win
dow curtain. and then sat on the cor
Der of the cot. where he remained ap-
parently musing and thoughtful for
some minutes In a quick, impulsVe
way he arose from the cot, pulled the
curtain over the window and re-en-
tered room AZ. That was the last seen
of him by the woman, who fixes the
time as abOgt 1880 o'ciOck.
Confronted by Witnesses.
The woman's statement Is borne cut
BY two men with whom she was talking
and who also observed Meyers enter
room AZ. Neither could give any per-
feet description of the two men who
accompanied Meyers to the room, but It
is considered certain that one was Bar
nett.
Last Saturday night Meyers was
taken into the detectives Office at
headquarters and made 10 listen TO the
story told by the coiored woman and
men. He made no attempt TO deny the
fact that ne had been seen by them.
and. with what was almost effrontery.
conceded the truth of their story at
least BY silent acuuiescence. His only
contradiction was regarding the matter
of the offer of the drink.
Meyers said that the woman had
come around the hallway to the inner
window Of the rool:l. which was open.
and asked if she couldn't get a quarter
to buy drink. When the woman
looked him square in the eyes as he
said this, however. and bluntly told
him that he knew he was lying. that
he had passed her I'm the. hallway and
asked her to come TO the room. nc
simply dropped into a sullen silence
Whether guilty or not guilty OF the
murder of Barnett. Meyers is one of the
most puzzling characters with which