The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-20
COLLEGE ROW
AGAIN AIRED
Marine Corps Officer 5
Death Probed.
WITNESS TELLS OF fight
Lieutenant Gives Description Of
Sutton Affair.
Death OF Omcer Followed wild Mid
naeAt Ride In Automobile--Cen-
fused Account OF shoot
ing ARRAY Given.
WITNESS TELLS OF fight

Annapolis, Nd. July 1.-THE opening
session here today OF the Court Of In
CURRY, which 10 conducting second
tnyestigation into the death Of Lieu
tenant James Nuttle Sutton of the
United States Marine Corps. was re-
plete with dramatic situations. The
court was held In the big auditorium
Of the academic building. The very
largeness of the hall added to the sol
emnity.
Lieutenant Robert e. Adams, SUIT
toms former classmate at the academy.
and one of the principal actors in the
midnight fight which cost young SUIT
ton his life, nearly two years ago,
occupied the witness stand during the
entire session, and he told q graphic
story of the incidents leading up to
6utton's death, under the severe
REORGANIZATION OF Henry z. Davis,
counsel for Mrs. Sutton. The young Of
fhcer sat facing Sutton's mother and
sister during his examination.
His brother officers. Leutenants
Bevan and osterman. fanked by
Adarns's two lawyers. sat farther down
the inquiry table. Major Henry Leon
ard, U. s. M. c., the Judge Advocate.
and the three members Of the board.
rompleted the impressive sitting, in
their white service uniforms.
At one point in his testimony. Lieu
tenant Adams and an orderly enacted
the struggle with Sutton in the court
room The witness chair was removed
and they both lay prone upon the door.
The witness was still under cross-ex-
animation when the inquiry adjourned
until tomorrow morning.
Dfsngrees with Former Tale.
Mr. Davis succeeded in bringing out
a number of discrepancies in Adams's
Testimony today compared with hts ver-
sion of the tragedy at the former in
vestigation when the board Of inquiry
Found that Sutton died by his own hand.
A ride to the marine camp in an
automobile with sutton and two other
Officers of marines, Aeutenants Utley
and 0sterman, an alteration between
Sutton and the witness and deferred
encounter when the senior officer inter-
fered. as the automobile was stopped
short OF the camp with the intention
of avoiding being caught returning
after hours: later accidental meeting
of the witness and Sutton, on the bor-
der Of the woods near the barracks,
and the fight between the two men.
with Sutton armed with q revolver in
either hand and firing ave shots. the
last OF which he directed at his own
0E4Q WAltG lying Ott TITO 8kOuAos thc0c
were the points In Lieutenant Adamss
tastfmony.
The witness said he had risen from
the PROSTATE Sutton. whom he believed
70 be exhausted, and stood few feet
back of him, when he saw Sutton raiss
his right hand and fire q bullet into
his own head. Just previously one
OF the oficers who had come upon the
scene had cried that Lieutenant Edward
Rocker had been shot and killed, the
witness said. Adams had made no at
tempt to take the revolver from SUIT
toms hands when he broke away or
was pulled away from him, he said. In
reply to Lawyer Daviss oft-repeated
question,
Sutton Made Threats.
Sutton had previously threatened to
kin and was generally avoided by the
marines because of his wild talk and
actions, according to the witness. Mr..
Davis said 1t was not his intention to
fasten the responsibility Of Sutton's
death on any one, but that every effort
would be made to discredit and refute
the suicide theory. Rocker is an i'm.
portant witness, who has not yet beer
called.
Mrs. Sutton's counsel said tonight
that Miss Margaret Stewart OF Pitts
burg, the young woman who was will
sutton most of the evening before hi
met his death, might be called as q
witness.
At the opening Of the first session
this afternoon Judge Advocate Leon
ara read into the record the govern
ment order that the hearings should be
open to the public. Lieutenant Robert
e. Adams, a party to the inquiry, was
the frst witness. The Judge advocate
asked him to tell of all his movements
from p. m. to ? a. m. on the night
of October 1918, 1907, the night Lieu
tenant Sutton was shot
Went To Academy Dance.
The witness said he attended the
dance at the Academy on that night
and afterwards went to Carvel Hall
with Lieutenants Oserman and Utley.
There they met Sutton and later on
started in Owens automobile from Car
vel Hall with Sutton to the marine
camp.
I'VE went over the College creek
bridge" said the witness, "and going
over the bridge the machine was max
ang considerable noise and as we were
Dut after hours. IL o'clock being the
limit, Lieutenant Utley suggested we
stop the machine and walk, so as not
20 be caught. I reached over and
touched the chauffeur and told him to
and said he would lick hell out of me.
unfastened my collar and jumped out.
Sutton and the others got oNt and as
we were preparing to fight the senior
0fficer stepped In and ordered US to stop
and said we could fight II out next
morning. We started for the barracks
and got under an electric light when
Sutton and Osterman mixed It UP and
struck each other several times be-
fore they could be separated. 1 stood
from fifteen to twenty-five feet away
during that time. From there we went
by the old road to the barracks to re-
port to the officers of the day, leaving
sutton behind. He refused to go with
the officers OF the day. leaving Sutton
behind. He refused to go with us.
Witness Feared sutton.
ct told Osternan on the way over II
4 had known, as heard then, that
Sutton shot up the camp two weeks
before, we would have gotten a rifle to
protect ourselves. On the way over an
Officer helped us up. It proved to be
Ut1ey and he ordered us back to the
scene of the fight to Sc If we could
And any clothes I started down the
path and had gone thirty or frty PAGES
when saw something white. 1t SEEM
ed to arise and a voice said, That's
that ID Adams! I'm going to kill
you I ran at him. He fired again.
I'VE grappled. He fired a third time
Gnd hit me in the finger. AS we wheel
nd around I saw Rocker in a position
70 assist me. I threw Sutton around
and got on his back trying to keep
Aim from shooting. At that time some
one jumped on Sutton's LEFT hand 7