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FRED WILLMANNOT GUILTY__ i----- —*WAS THE VERDICT I TV TIIE WILLMAN MURDER TRIAL,• VJURY ONLY OUT AN HOUR* “ “ '\Verdict a Great Surprise to the Prosecution—Willman Left TownAs Soon as Liberated.After being out about an hour the jury in the Wiliman murder case returned a verdict of not guilty. This verdict was a surprise to the prosecution as at the worst they expected a hung jury. They did not believe it possible that the jury could clear him in the face of the evidence produced while wholly circumstantial, was very damaging. N. T. Shaw, of Decatur county, was on the/ witness stand Thursday afternoon and swore that on September 20 Willman came to Shaw’s house andwanted to borrow $210.00. He told Shaw that he must raise that amount by ten o’clock the next day as he had promised to pay aman named Moore $250.00 toswear that on the night of the murder of Mahlon Wells Moore was at his (Willman’s) home and saw him thereat the time the murder occurred. Willman furthertold Shaw that he had already paid Moore $10 and must raise the rest of the money at once. Shaw refused the loan and Willman asked him then to go to Bartholomew county to see Wm. Baker Willman’s brother-in-law. and ask him to loan him the money. Shaw went to see Baker who also refused him the loan. Baker wasin court and corroborated Shaws testimony. Jacob V. Moore hadbeen subpoenaed as a witness by the defence and had been in court every day until Saturday; when the defence closed the case, he failed to be present. Public sentiment is against him and the. public also blame the prosecution for not taking more active steps when the murder first occurred. The suspected parties should have been put under arrest within a day after the murder occurred. Too much time was wasted in the beginning. When asked for a statement, H. C. Meloy said: “The evidence was purely circumstantial, and the circumstances very weak. The prompt return of the verdict proves the truth of this statement. We anticipated a hard fight when Judge New appointed Judge Batchelor to prosecute, and the trial strengthened me in my former opinion, viz: that Judge Batchelor, is one of Indiana’s ablest lawyers.” After the jury brought in their verdict of not guilty, Willman 'was liberated at once and came to North Vernon where he took the 9:25 p. m. train on the Big Four, out of town.
Newspaper Details
North Vernon Plain Dealer
North Vernon, Indiana, US
Thu, Oct 27, 1904
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Chad S.
USA 23 Jun 2019
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