Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-03

time was Cocks superior, Superntend-
ent Bent.
In a rural community Habrons ar
rest and discharge and the threat he
made in the courtroom bulked large
that day and evening as gossip
throughout the neighborhood.
| u X X X
THEN midnight came, and with it
came more sensation than Whalley
Range had ever known before or since.
Two carriers driving trucks of farm
produce toward Manchester had just
passed Policeman Cock on his beat
near West Point when behind them
they heard two shots.
The carriers jumped off and ran back.
They heard Cocks voice crying out as
| they approached:
| Murder, I'm shot! I'm shot!"
When they reached him he was still
| alive, but no longer able to talk. Put
| ting him into a cart one of the drivers
took the policeman to the station house.
Supt. Bent tried to make the dying
man speak, but it was too late.
Simpson, one of the carriers, told the
police Official of a glimpse he had
| caught of a man at just about the time
and place of the shooting BY the light
of the cart lantern Simpson had seen
q man IN brown coat, pots hat-a
man who walked with Stoop.
Supt. Bent called several conStableS,
saw to it that their pistols were ready
and said:
st suspect it's that Will Habron."
Through the night they went to the
Deakin farm and made for the small
clubhouse where the Habron brothers
slept At first the windows were dark.
AS the policemen came near candle
light flickered. Then darkness again.
Bent knocked loudly on the door.
I'VE are armed and will shoot unless
you tight up and show you mean to
give no trouble" he called out.
Again candlelight showed in the WIN
dows The three brothers were seen
getting out of bed. hurriedly dressing.
William opened the door.
The police entered.
| William Habron, John HabSon and
Frank Habron, arrest you in the name
of the law for the murder of Constable
Cock!" Supt. Bent said. II warn you
| that anything you say now may be used
against you at the trial."
BY the candlelight Williams face
showed deathly pale.
I'VE were in bed at the time!" he
blurted out.
Supt. Bent had not mentioned what
time it was Policeman Cock had been
shot. He made an entry of Williams
remark in his notebook.
Then he asked him:
Which are your boots?"
William pointed. Supt. Bent picked
up the farm laborers boots and exam
ined them carefully. The soles were
xrif
fully wrapped them UP.
Then he searched Williams clothes.
In a pocket of the vest he found two
percussion caps of revolver caliber.
"Dress!" he ordered.
William had to take fresh pair of
boots in place. of those which Supt.
Bent was taking with him. Then he
put on a brown coat and pot hat.
And as william Habron preceded the
police toward the station house Supt
Bent saw the decided stoop in the mans
walk, such a stoop as Simpson the
carter had described.
A policeman had been left on guard
at the spot where Cock was shot and
remained all through the night. After
Supt. Bent had lodged the three broth
ers in Jail he came back and Joined the
policeman on guard. Under his arm
Bent was impatient for the light of
| day to come. In the morning he care
fully examined what footprints there
were near the smear of mud where Cock
had lain.
He saw boot print that interested
him. The rain had stopped just about
| the time Of the murder and had not
resumed. The night had dried all boot
prints in the mud
Bent looked at William Habron's
shoe. The sole was heavily studded
with nailheadS in double row along
the edge Of the selling. Near the toe
were eight other naiiheads. The heel
was shod with metal plate like a
small horseshoe, inside of which were
six nailheads.
Bent looked at the dried imprint of
| the boot in the mud. Nail for nail, as
we'll as the iron plate in the heel, the
track In the mud corresponded with
the sole Of William Habron's boot.
| Xxx X
THE murder of the constable, the ar
rest of the Habrons and the charge
against them threw the. neighborhood
into fever and spread. From a nearby
town came two store clerks to Supt.
Bent. They reported that on the after
noon of the murder a man had come
| into their store and asked the price of
| revolver cartridges. From what the
| clerks had heard he was most interested
In caliber approximately that of the
bullet found in Policeman Cocks breast.
The man who priced the cartridges,
said one of the clerks. had on brown
coat, pot hat and walked with a
stoop. Supt. Bent took the clerks for
a look at William Habron.
That's the mani" said one Of the
clerks en1phatically..
''It looks rather like him." said the
other.
The trial was held in Manchester.
Frank Habron was released before the
trial, as there was no evidence against
him. William and John were held.
The prosecution laid utmost stress
on the facts with which we are ac-
quainted. William Habron was known
to have had strong feeling against Po-
l1cen1an Cock, who had so often stopped
his fighting and finally arrested him.
On the day of the murder, the prose-
cutor pointed out, William Habron had
threatened to revenge himself on the
policeman for the arrest. Neighbors
were called in who also testified that
William had threatened to kill Cock for
arresting him.
II Supt. Bent testified that when the
police approached the house In which
the Habrcns were presumably asleep
candleNght first showed, then quickly
went cut
Much, too was made of the fact that
although Supt. Bent had not mentioned
when the murder had taken place
william Habron had blurted out, 1--WE
we're in bed at the time!"
The two percussion caps found in his
vest pocket and the positive identifica-
ton by at least one of the store clerks
of William Habron as the man who
had priced revolver cartridges were
heavily emphasized by the prosecution.