| Show THE BOUNTIFUL incendiary before commissioner greenman september ath joseph joseh H green of davis county was arraign tad on a charge of unlawfully maliciously and feloniously setting fire to a dwelling house at bountiful davk davia county belonging to the estate or of holbrook deceased on august slat the accused pleaded not guilty in answer to the commissioner he be said he be had not the means to employ an attorney to defend him but later mr L chrie appeared in his behalf green is about forty years of age and his occupation is that of a jobbing carpenter he did not appear greatly concerned as to the ch charge against him the case evident arar y excited considerable interest there boing a large number of persons s from bountiful present during tho the proceedings mr R W young conducted the prosecution the first witness was enoch A J holbrook of bountiful who said he be was now under arrest for being concerned in the burning of the H premises in question he testified t concerning conversations which he had bad had bad with green on and after the abe of july relative to the firing of the house on the of the they met and witness bitne s ac edged green who was full of burning tuttles pret premises ulses which he denied witness then told green he would have him arrested to which green replied dont do that until you see me again an and d witness promised that he would not they met again on en the when green admitted having fired tuttles property on n the evening of the same day green remarked to witness you ure are insured are you not witness replied that he be was and green then ached for how much witness answered that he did not know exactly whether it was for or or gren said that is very good insurance witness remarked that there were things in the house that he kouhi not have burned for four times the amount green rejoined that that could coula be managed jai all right and added well ill tell you ill set your place afire for 20 0 and you can save part of your things witness answered ill think about it and see you again on a subsequent day he paid 1 id green 7 on account and C later tr other sums they afterwards went into the barn and arranged where witness should place the things which he wanted to save CA covering vering them with hay bay the burning took place early in the morning of the of august witness by Arlan arrangement gement let green into the house through a window on in cross examination the witness denied positively that it was he him neif who fired tu tuttles wes place and also his own his conscience hurt him terribly all the time the enquiries were we re going on about the fires in bountiful witness did not know how it was war that he be was arrested as he made no confession until after he be was lodged iu in jail when he be had put what household goods he desired to save in a sack he reported to oreen green witness lay down and adept e in the barn over the night of the burning although knowing what was going to happen his brother aged 23 siept with him but knew nothing of thep stowing away of the goods there the fire I 1 insurance us urance policy was taken out on the ile he had no spite against the prisoner green though lie he had threatened to do him up if he sought to throw all the blame of the affair upon him replying to mr young holbrook Hul brook faid id that 2 of the money which he first gave green was in part payment of a piece of carpet which he had bad purchased from greens mother gheen gh een had admitted to him that he set fire to the wayte place in order to remove suspicion over the tuttle tattle fire are he likewise said that it was he who fired david stokers smokers place lahce but that he knew nothing of me tithing house blaze he gave jw as his reason for setting fire to the tuttle place that the land on which the premises stood belonged to him and he ox expressed pressed his anten tion of fencing it just as ao soon as he could get barbed wire he wanted the land cleared green dreen told witness that before he got through he wanted to fire jim buckless Buc klens placed place heber holbrook brother of the last witness stated that he slept in in the burn barn with his brother because of the number of fires which had taken place in bountiful on the night the house was fired he was awakened by a crackling noise and a few moments later he saw the blaze he duew nothing of there the re moval boval of any hou household sebold goods or of their storage in the barn at the time of the burning of the house his mother was away from home in answer to mr young witness said on the of june he be met green and remarked to him brother tuttle is erecting anice a nice hay bay shed but may be hell never complete it referring to his slow methods in such matters greer green to this answered I 1 and may be it will never do him any good if he does finish it at this stage the court took a recess until I 1 two upon the court reassembling assembling re the witness holbrook who is aleo aho a prisoner was recalled re called by the prosecution mr young was about t interrogate the witness as to a fire which occurred nn mr tuttles premises premi aes four or five years ago whom the defense objected mr young said his intention was to show that that was part of the present system 0 fires in bountiful the commissioner ruled that the question was admissible holbrook then stated that on tha tb night of the of july while they were standing talking together in bountiful green admitted to him that he set tuttles place on fire once an aoi I 1 again meaning several years ago this was the case for the prosecution and mr lochrie claimed that in the absence of any corroborative evidence the accused should be dis charged lie he intimated that he had several witnesses whom he could call if it were deemed necess try the commissioner said that they might be examined george aslett of bountiful said he had bad known green for twenty years he remembered the night of the fire at mr holbrooks did not see green at all on that day but he was present during the time the fire wat was burning at tuttles premie no arancis tuttle testified to having seen the accused near the Hol holbrook brouk residence while the tire fire was in progress gre he could not say whether or not green was in his mothers house when the fire broke out jane ann green mother of the prisoner said that her son resided with her on the night of the of august the prisoner came home very early went to bedana did not she was positive leave the house again until after the alarm of the fire at holbrook had been given he could not have gone out without her knowledge the witness testified to the sale of afie carpet to holbrook for 1250 as mentioned in that prisoners evidence to mr kuung my son might pos possibly bibly have gone out while I 1 was waa sleeping without my hearing him lut but I 1 dont believe it he such a hypocrite as that joseph H greem the accused suid said he was pot in bountiful on july but in salt lake it was not therefore true that lie he had any conversation with the prisoner holbrook on that night as he had stated he and others had a good time going from saloon to saloon he hired a bid at the house of a person named sprague near the theatre but did not occupy it he went back to bountiful on the afternoon of the following day he had no talk with holbrook on his return as sworn to by hina higa it was not true that holbrook Holo Holu rook accused him of setting fire to the tuttle premises nor did he be make any admission to him bim concerning it on the night of the he careen green was pretty full the only k he maleto maue to holbrook about the fires was that it beat h the way they were going on and holbrook replied that it did all the money holbrook paid him was towards the carpet he received no money whatever from him for firing the house when lie he asked holbrook the q question besdon about the insurance on the premises the fire was burning witness here corrected his statement by saying that it was on the night of the 3rd ard riot not the that he was in salt isalt lake he was in bountiful on that night the doubt lie expressed to rol hoi brooks brookma brother as to tuttle finishing his bis new shed was meant in a general way as tuttle seldom finished what he undertook he green greed went to bed at quite an early hour on the night of the holbrook fire wid and did not get up again until the alarm had bad been given witness had openly said that the man who was guilty of causing the fires ought to be lynched he had md m ide 11 some claim to a small portion of the laud land on which tuttles place stood but there much in it in answer to mr you young ng the prisoner said he be was rather intoxicated on the night of the of july and if he did speak to holbrook he had no recollection of it he was riot not aware that he talked falkell any louder than any anybody lody else in bountiful about the fires but he had said that ba hanging u ging was too good for the incendiary bend cen lary diary sheriff D OW 0 willey illey testified to seeing in 1 green so drunk in the road on the ni night of the tuttle fire that he could hardly stand to mr young witness said he wata hed the prisoner pretty closely but saw nothing in his actions to lead him to suspect that he had taken any part in these fires mr young said he had no desire to ask ak a k the court to hold the accused but felt rather to leave the case to the commissioners dis discretion re tion for the reason that really the only testimony agai against net green awas was that of a a self elf bonfe confessed E ased felon the accused was discharged |
