The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1920-01-19
Jury Finds Elmer
Hill Not Guilty
Confined from page one)

{ wanted him (EcicH) to 80 with hin
to Craftsbuly.
4 Moody Bclknap was the next wit
ness.
I Belknap testified that Bodell stayed
at his home during The i,asg summer
and that he received goods stolel
from the Cuthbertson store and tina
he had pleaded gully to that offence
Belknap said that to his knowledge
Bedell had a large amount of tobacco
hid in the hen house He declared
that he had never seen Bedell give
young Hill any tobacco but admitted
that the respondent WAS down to his
place to see Redell quite often.
The witness testified that he ha
seen Bedell and Hill talking to-
gether considerable and that on sew
eral occasions they had private talks.
He said that on September % he met
Hill and Bedell on the road in the
day young Hill was there in his ma
chine and showed him -four plugs to-
tobacco he said Bedcll had given him.
| At the same time Hill had told him,
he said, that Bedell told him (HiiD
he had sold SO worth of spices to
Belknap and that he. better look out
or he would be arrested.
On closs-eXamination Belknap said
that at the suggestion of his wife,
Hill, himself and Mrs Belknap went
up to Hills fathers place for the
purpose of getting some advice re-
garling the four plugs of tobacco
and the spices.
1t appeared on Bclknap's cross-ex-
animation that his daughter, Grace,
married Hill without the fathers
knowledge. On the question as to
when the couple were married, Bel
KNAPP answered that he had "heard
they were married in October.
During the cross-examination, Bel
KNAPP was asked if he did not change
his plea of not guilty to guilty" al
ter the so-called Detective. Brown
had talked with him. He said no,
that he had made up his mind before
the detective talked with him.
A. E. Cuthbertson testified that he
worked in the store owned by his
father and uncle and that during last
summer they had bought a large
stock of tobacco. He said that from
125 to $50 pounds had been stolen.
The witness testified also that on
November IL the day that the Belk-
nap premises were searched that
when the officers returned to Green's
boro Village the respondent APP
preached them and wanted to know
if they were looking for stolen goods
and when told yes he told them they
would find some at the Belknap
place.
Mrs. Moody Bclllnap was the roXt
witness. She testified practically
the same as her husband as to the
spices and the tobacco Elmer Hill
said he had in his automobile. She
said that Elmer told her on the same
day that he had Is pounds OF tobacco
from Bedell. She testified the advice
received at Hills fathers place was
for Hill to let the tobacco question
drop.
Harold Garfield Of St. Johnsbury,
cmployol for the past season at the
all farm, testified that he accompa-
MED Hill 10 the Belknap home and
that on the way down Elmer told
him that he was going TO get toba-
CO from Bedell and that after they
arrived there Elmer and Bedell went
into the field and talked for two
hours. On the way home, he said, FL
mer shove him the tobacco he got
from Bcdell. On two or three other
occasions, he said Elmer told him he
was going down to Bedell's to get
some tobacco but that he didn't go.
On cross-examination Attorney
Hubbard made strenuous efforts to
pry out of young Garfield that he had
been given tobacco by Elmer Hill
but Garfield stuck to the story that
he never received any tobacco from
Hill, giving as a reason that he didn't
use chewing tobacco.
A. c. Chase went on the stand
next. Chase is constable at Greens
boro and is the officer who served
the search warrant on November 13
TO search the Belknap place.
He testified that after returning
from serving the warrant, he was APP
preached by young Hill who asked
him if Cuthbertson didn't have some
goods stolen. In the course of the
conversation Hill told them, he said,
that they would find lot Of the stol-
en- goods on the Belknap property.
N H. Kaiser, farmer and ex-con-
stable, of Greensboro, went on the
stand next and testified that he as
sisted Officer Chase in making the
search on November Is. They re-
turned to Greensboro Village he said
and young Hill was approached by
he and Cuthbcrston while their ma