Ogden Evening Standard | 1911-06-17 | Page 1 | Cooke is Not Guilty

I COOKE IS I NOT GUILTY II Agent of Big Four ,1 Exonerated by a 1 1 Jury I" "" pS T Cincinnati, June 17. Edgar Cooke A j was todav declared not guilty of cm- J bezzllng "$24,000 from the Big Four fl 1 railroad. The Jury was out about Sf three minutes less than two hours. B " Of those Indicted In connection with I '' the $G43,000 shortage of Charles L. jj t Warrlner, Cincinnati treasurer of the 'm )i road, Cooko was the laat to be tried. c Warrlner, Indicted on. numerous ij J charges, pleaded .guilty to one charg-fc charg-fc ? lng embezzlement or $5,000. He was ija II sentenced to sJx years In prison. Then g r Mrs. Jennotte Stewart Ford, accused I '. of blackmailing Warrlner, was tried J in 'February, 1910. The Jury In her E i case disagreed. j ' Cooko sat Impassive as the formal 5 A verdict was read, but Mrs. Cooke, who I had been at his side for days, put her I )f face in her hands and then approached I '1 the jurors and shook each one by the I I hand. i I Cincinnati, Juno 17. The fate of M Edgar S. Cooke, charged with embez- I'f sling $24,000 from the Big Four rall- I way will be decided today bv the Jurj" I which for five days listened to the scn- Rational testimony presented by the i , different witnesses. I When court opened all that was I necessary to wind up the case waB the jfc ' charge to the Jury by Judge Charles J. jh Hunt and a verdict by the former. IF It was the general opinion about the If; court house that It would not require if lengthy discussion for the Jury to VI. reach a final decision and that the f close of the sensational case would f come before nightfall I Judge Hunt delivered his charge to J the jury shortly after court convened. !t His instructions were brief. i J,Thc state," he said, "must estab- H lish these four facts: I!-V "1. Was Cooke, on September, 11, ?t 1901, an agent or employe of the .oig I Four railroad-' J "2. As an agent oremploye of the i Big Four did he have in his posses- SiK sion $24,000 of Big Four railroad cash, ! or some part of that amount? & "G. Was the $24,000 wrongly taken "M and converted to his own use? $& J'4. .Jf'the Jurx. finds, -according to 'iff' the evidence, that a"cs"7nmount"wa5- vSjr, taken by Cooke, the amount should bo & Btated. JU "Cooke is only on trial for embez- zlement," said Judge Hunt, "and not ' for the commission of any other or- & fense against the state or the laws -m. of morality. The testimony as to oth- M. er such nlleged offenses Is of weight . only affecting the credibility of 3 Cooke's testimony. In considering the S testimony of Warrlner and Mrs Ford, I the Jury must consider the fact that bv the same testimony these witnesses make themselves they are equally t sulltv with him ' oo