Evening star., 1961-02-20
Rees; Jurors
Get Testimony
0nSecondG Gun
Boy Tells Court
He Found Pistol
At Norfolk Beach
By JERRY O'LEARY, JR.
star staff Writer

| BY JERRY O'LEAhYs JH.
star staff Writer
BALTIMORE, Feb. 20.-An
S-year-old boy today injected
Testimony about a mysterious
pistol into the kidnap-murder
trial of Melvin Davis Rees, jr.
Barry Sawyers of Norfolk,
Va, testified in Federal Court
that he found the weapon half
buried in the sand last Sep
tember about four houses away
from the beach house where
the defendant lived with Glenn
| L. MoSer, Pat Weidenhaus
Routt and Mary Scarborough
at the time Of the Jackson
family murders in 1859.
Under questioning by Defense
Attorney william J. O'Donnell,
the small boy said he believed
the pistol could not have been
there any longer than a week
because it was not rusty. He
testified a boy named Skipper"
he couldn't remember his
companions real name-was
with him when he found the
weapon.
Weapon Was q Colt Cobra
Under croSs-examination by
Assistant United States Attor-
ney Robert E. Cahill, the boy
said the gun he found was q
Colt Cobra. He said he knew
that because q private investi-
gator for the defense. Howard
Bonner, showed him a Cobra
and they were similar.
The boy said the weapon was
q .32-caliber pistol, had no bull
lets, had the word police" un-
der the serial number and bore
a horses head on the grips.
A .38-caliber pistol was used
in the Staying of Carroll v.
Jackson after the four mem
bers of the Apple Grove (Va0
family were kidnapped January
IL, 1859.
Found in September
The boy said he remembered
finding the weapon on the
ocean front in September be-
cause school was ready to
start. He said he gave the pistol
to three older boys later the
same day and has never seen
it since, Attorneys for the 81
year-old defendant told re-
porters they do not know the
whereabouts Of the mystery
weapon.
Barry was shown q collection
of seven pistols to see If he
could pick out one most resem-
bling the pistol he found in the
sand. The pistols on the court
room table were q Colt pocket
.32-caliber, q SO, o AS, q police
special, a police positive 80, a
Cobra 80 and q police .3S. AL
the pistols bore the horses head
medallion Of the Colt Co.
The little boy after some
study picked a .3S-caliber detec-
tive special as the pistol that
looked like the one he .ound.
Another Boy Testifies
The next defense witness, g.
year-old Tommy Bledsoe, OF
Norfolk. testified Barry had
shown him the gun that was
found in the sand. Tommy
described it as small, black. with
grips and q 2-inch barrel and
added it had q horse head on
the side and the word police
under the serial number.
A Colt Cobra SO was found
by FBI men In the home Of
ReeS' parents at 390S Madison
street, Hyattsville, Md.
ReeS' pistol, which was found
on the day Of his arrest, June
"a, 1860. has been linked
with a pair Of pistol grips found
near the spot near Fredericks-
burg, Va. where the bodies OF
Mr.. Jackson and his daughter,
Janet, 18 months, were found
on March 4, 1859.
The dark-haired musician IL
lon trial before Federal Judge
Roszel c. Thomson under the
Lindbergh law in the kidnap-
ing and murder Of Mrs. Mildred
jackson, 81. and the other
daughter; Susan Anne. 5, whose
bodies were found in q shallow
grave in Anne Arundel County
Md, on March 81, 1859.