The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-07-12

Cradle here to say so? The state
had tried to locate him; the defend
ants claimed they had tried; the
press had carried the news of the
crime broadcast over the land. Would
Cradle let an innocent man suffer.
And if the prisoners had a hundred
acres of land worth 500 an acre,
which VIII declined to sell because
he wanted $25 for his share, why
had they made affdavits of insol-
vency?
Adverting to Bob's struggle to get
an alibi, Mr.. McGeachy referred to
George Blair, the Pensacola boarding
house keeper, and Jim Sellers, who
the prisoner claimed would be able
to establish his presence in that es-
tablishment the night before and
the night of the crime, who swore
yesterday quite the opposite, Blair
| saying Bob had not been in Pensacola
for three weeks before the crime, and
Sellers that instead of sleeping with
Bob on the night of March 81, was
at Ferry Pass.
BOb's Name Forged.
That Bob Blackwel's name on the
! lodging house register was forged by
some member of his family weeks
afterward, State .Attorney McGeachy
declared he positively believed.
After discussing the absurdity of
the motive alleged by Bob for letting
Will Blackwell take his suitcase to
Crestview the night before the crime,
and the impossibility of getting a
Remington typewriter into it, and the
fact that no one would dream of
shipping a delicate piece of machin-
cry by express with such fimsy pro
lection if it had been, Mr.. McGeachy
| said that the suitcase contained the
DISCUSSES that the men woIe spec
tally viii Blackwell, who nd Bob
Blackwell bring him a white felt hat
and a rubber heeled shoe with a de-
preston in the heel, in order to
throw people off the trail, because he
had never been known to wear such
a hat or such SHOES,
SOphrOnia Holmes.
Mr. McGeachy then adverted tC
Sophronia Holmes, who had declared
at the coroner's inquest, before she
knew who viii and Bob Blackwell
were, that she believed she coulC
identify the three men who haC
passed her house the morning of the
crime, one Of whose foottracks raised
surfaces in the sand corresponding tx
the sunken places in the heels. Tw(
of these men she subsequently, iden
tilted as Will and Bob BlackES ell-tht
third man is still at large.
Gave Themselves Away.
Harrison Davis also Identified, bu
not as positively as Sophroni;
Holmes, the men disguised as negroe
who come to his fathers house TIL
fatal night, as VIII and Bob Black
we'll Mr.. McGeachy then declared
that when the black-faced men Gale,
oh Massa" at the gate of the gat
of the murdered couple, they showe'
they were not negroes, who hav
abandoned that form of address; ant
further gave themselves away by de
claring that they did not eat meat
because all negroes do They wer
masQueraders, and fool masquerad
ers, he declared
Mr.. McGeachy then referred to III
45 calibre steel jacket bullet that ha
shot the Winchester from Blu
Davis hand, and discussed Colts 4
that Will Blackwell was known t
have before the crime, although
had subsequently disappeared.
Regarding Sophronia Holmes state
, ment that none of the men she ha
. seen had either coats or guns, h
suggested that they may have bee
held on the off side for concealmen
Mr. McGcachy adverted to Bo
Blackwells ramblings, his alias, a
his smashed alibis, which he had tri>
to establish through Melvin, Seller
and Blair.
Settles Mrs. Settles.
: Attacking Wills alibi, he Shove
how Mrs. Settles trustworthiness ha
been utterly discreditad by men
standing who swore they would nl
believe her on oath; and he az
verified to Henry Weaver and Je
Russell, the men BY whom the a.
cused stated previously could prov
his presence in Crestview that nigl
= before the Settles woman had bee
thought of,
ConcludinC his snooch with u b7-;r