The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1919-03-01
COLUMBIA Thief
ADMIT IS GUILT
:Janitor Of Richland County
Court House Gonfesses to
Bnrglary of Office
pt11IlE RECOVER LARGER
ART or THE MONEY
nasof The Janitors Charge That
ther .Tanitor Assisted Him in
Robbery 81 Vault.

Robbery OF Y alit.
so1uu,kia, Feb. % odeH Tho mp.
sons nesro 5anitor at the court house
made confession at the police sta
Sionyestefday saf fternoon, in which he
e1Efssned the robbery from the vault
81 Tie county treasurer Of more tnan
3sSlS zoe. Ia his confession he lnpll-
eatsd another janitor, Henry DARK,
ana also expressed the opinion that
= anofher person also participated an
ne sfhefes The robbery occurred
Griaaay IA a6rning and when It became
asiova yesterday that thetyault mao
;bsen entered, the city buzzed VIII
Axci1enent. .ss... :.
Iast nsght at o'clock the officers
sw6rEins on the case had recovered
hief Richardson and Officers
$ $ Ssls hna ter. Ford and +. A. Heise, deputy
s sS,ss4R recovered $10.4S5s from a
8 raosef nnAes i stairway on the frse:
floor of the court honse.
x chiSt Richardson Eonsta9ie;
sVsatherly and a Heiss, eepussl, %
Ehsrn located IS. .a16 sronas the base
.fIyaut az tie home Of J. Frost Walker 4
one SO hi,l was recovered from;
8 fsirdie Walker, negress Thompson
directed the officers where they could
ind the money after he confessed TO-
his part in the robbery.
odelI Thompson was put through
Ssfiiing examination by CaIel 1I =
s nachardsor, officers and Solicitor.
sniRuer: he made his open state:
ment in a private room at the police.
sfaaion IN the presence OF the cniel,
solicitor, deputy sheriff. oficers Ford.
Shorter. Constable yWeatherly and
representative OF The State.
YhoYnpson said he went to j. Frost
Makers home on Sunday morning
III. sahont o'clock to fire the fur
:ss,aee: From there he went to the
I ,Soaurf house. He picked up his broom
I 8 80 sns usually does. every Sunday and
liked 10 the treasurer's Office ito
81 sweep the floor: He entered thesof-
I lie and saw Henry Dark stanalng
near the partition door. He stepped
Saia pfIesof brick on the floor and ex-
ti8aansd ssdy God" He said. Dark
MaKoned 4to him and he thought he
= = Nsara a noise on the inside OF the
Manit he looked through the hole
{ hisf aaf was dark. Dark then called
s Yssssns and told him to- take several
Ssekages OF money which laid on
sSfns books and keep his mouth shut
sayi,, s:sri e. .sYo ou know they cant do
( anythfng with q niger He made
jsnse - promise to Dark and left the
room -.
hs 5anitor said he walked to the
frost OF the building with the mon
- sand started up the front steps.
f4r eSnne back and reentered the
SSading. Heard a door slam and
HsErd something hit He felt sure
ESrA threw the money in the closet
S IS Sadfse the sound he heard, but he
di& not see it. He then heard
aeor shut and when he walked to the
rsai discovered that the rear door
,pas open. He locked the door and
vent upstairs to study over the mat
tn He decided to take the money
and left the court house from the
: srous aosr on the second floor ana
came down. the steps. He gave Bir-
die Walker, q negro woman, $40 and
declared to. the officers that she did
not have anything to do with the
case.
,Her,ry Dark was brought in the
room and when the chief told him
What Thompson had said he became
axtreutely nervous and wruns his
hands continually. Thompson told
10 t,n Of
he: concluded Dark said, "f:> don't
: know anything about that money
Che fiiest thing I knew happened yes
seraay morning when odell :. Thomp-
son opened the treasurer's office and
told me- to look there"
Ozark told the officers that he did
not 30 in the court house Sunday. He
went to church and from there he
vens; home. He told the officers that
the two $40 bills they found at his
home he'd been saved from his salary.
The. negro Dark was put through
q; thorough, examination, but he
maintained he was innocent. Officer
Fore reminded Dark that he met him
Sunday afternoon shortly after 2
o'clock carrying a small package.
DARK said he wrapped some paper
sround q piece Of wood. The officer
then told the negro that he saw him
several hours later coming from the
direction Of the court house with an
other pacakge. Dark told the Of
fieers he, had wrapped some paper
around a lump of coal. He then said
be- got the stick Of wood and the
hump OF coal from the court house.
The officers argued with Dark about
the size Of the package and the size
and weight of stick Of wood and
hump. of coal, but the janitor stuck to
the story.
;.Afner Dark had denied having any
connection with the robbery Chief
Richardson told Thompson to be fair
and feel like he would rather burn
than put blame on an innocent man
II Bark was. not connected with the
- SOW -