The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1914-06-06
ATTY GEN'[ BROWN
AND DETECTION
OF CRIME
First Instalment Of that Detail.
ed "SIeuth' Account
TWO ADDISON CO. CRIMES
Prosecutor Takes Occasion 90 Refut,
Statements Of His Home Town
Newspaper

Burlington. June attorney Cen
cral Rufus T.. Brown has ISSUED ihc
first insialmcnt of his promised de
tailed report in explanation OF the
expenditures for detective service.
This instalment covers the cNpendi-
ture In Addison county and is az fol-
lows.
In Addison county two alleged
crimes have been tho subject OF dc.
lective investigation. During the
night of Dec gth. 1912. Henry W..
Ward. a man nearly eighty years OF
age who lived alone IN his own
house near the railroad station qt
New Haven Junction. was murdered
and a large sum OF money. probably
more than Two thousand dollars was
taken from his person
The autopsy showed that the old
man had been choked and his throat
cut with razor which was iaand
near the body The situation show
ed that this was one os the most
brutal murders ever committed IN
Vermont and tina; the sole motive
was robbery. The local authorities
were unable TO determine the ideuti-
~ OF the murderer or to furnish any
clue that proved Of any worth
The states attorney Of Addison
County asked for assistance in trac-
ing the murderer The Wood-Mor.
gan Detective agency OF Boston was
called upon to investigate ard every
possible clue furnished by the local
officials and even by interested ci.i-
zens living in the vicinity was thor
oughly and carefully followed out.
For months patient service was rem
dered and nothing substantial discov-
cred and SO far as the prosecuting
officers were concerned, practically
all hope of tracing the perpetrato- OF
this foul murder was abandoned. Ac.
cordingly, about Sept LIST. 1913, it
was decided to discontinue detective
service on this case and that was
done. Later on, in the fall of 1913,
through the untiring efforts of the
states attorney OF Addison County,
what was believed to be a substant-
ial clue To this mystery was discoy
cred and the detectives we're again
pu. TO work with the result that on
March 10Th, 1914, a special grand Jury
was called in Addison county for the
purpose of presenting the evidence
obtained in the Ward case aud also
in the case of an incendiary fire
which will be referred to again in
this report
AZ this session of the grand jury
the evidence obtained by the dclec.
tiyos was presented and Guiscppi
Colombo and GNovani Colombo
brothers. were indicted for the muir
der of Henry w. Ward on the night
OF Dec 9TH 1913.
In the meantime, these two men
left this country and returned To
their old home in Siracusa, Sicily.
Just prior to their return TO Sicily
these two men were living on Cher y
street in the city OF Burlington
They had both been in the employ OF
the Rutland Railroad company and
worked on the section which includ
ed New Haven Junction station and
were both acquainted with the muir
dered man and had knowledge Of the
fact that he constantly carried on
his person a large sum Of money
Space will not permit going into
the details of the evidence secured
against these men. It was sufficient
to convince the prosecuting authori
ties and a grand jury in Addison
County, that they were guilty Of the
murder OF Mr., Ward. AS soon as
this evidence had been secured H.
w. Morgan Of the Wood.Morgan
Agency was sent to Sicily to t.ace
these men and secure their arrest
which he did.
To anyone acquainted with the
character OF most of this nationality
and the locality which Mr. Morgan
was required to visit in performing
this service, it is needless to say that
in undertaking such mission, the lii
tie English detective took his life in
| his hands
For nearly three months these two
men have been in prison in Sicily
waiting trial for this murder All Of
the evidence against them has beer
put in proper form and forwarded tC
the Italian authorities and there
seems to be little doubt but that
these men viii be convicted and pay