| Show TRUE STORY one biter aag the flaw in a perfect case casc WHEN HEN william harrison of glou cester shire england gland disappeared nod and no knowledge could be obtained of his whereabouts everybody to ID that part of the country came to the conclusion that lie had met with foul play piny lie he had find gone away on a rent collect ing tour and it was known that that he was sure to have a large BUM of money in his possession A month went by and still there was no trace of the mussli g man the sole sale topic of discussion in those parts revolved around the query whitt what has become of william har it was during one of these discussions that john perry came to the front and amazed the authorities with a remarkable story lie he said that his brother richard perry had murdered harrison for his annne money y and that the result of the crime was ills his enrichment to the extent of fa aso 0 john and richard perry lived with their mother in a little house on the outskirts outs kirs of the village johi was not mentally strong indeed there were some who regarded him as half witted alehard was physically and mentally strong but his reputation for integrity was not good ile he had been caught in ID some questionable tio transactions and it was hinted that he would not cot hesitate at murder for the sake of money the magistrate of the district sent for john perry and the fellow repeated ills his story he was examined at length but stuck to his original statement stat emeit emett the only addition he be made to it was that lie he and his mother were present when richard had assaulted and robbed richard harrison lie he was unable to say what had become of the body because he had run away while the robbery was in progress the two men and the woman were placed on trial and were inadequately defended they were given the impression that if they pleaded guilty to robbery their lives would be spared hut but at the next term of court sir robert tyde placed them ou OL trial for murder they were at a terrible disadvantage because by confessing to robbery the they had admitted that they were potential murderers in addition to this there was a mass of circumstantial evidence against jolin john there was only one flaw in what might be regarded as an otherwise perfect case and that was the failure of the authorities to find the body sir charles turner who presided at the first trial had refused to accept tile the indictment for murder because of this very flaw and it was that which had caused a change it lu the indictment to robbery but the second judge was not so jealous of the old english law ue he took the ground that harrisons nonappearance after six months was proof positive that he had been killed so the family was convicted and executed soon after the execution one of the residents of Gloucester shire received an anonymous letter hinting that william harrlson harrisod Harrl Harri sou sot was still alle alive then came another story that he was in turkey all of these rumors were treated as mere gossip until three years later when the door of the local inn was opened ed and william harrlson harrison entered the room lie ile said that after he had collected tile the rents as usual he was beset by a gang of thieves and the cash taken from him but the toughs did not stop at mere robbery they took him to ro a wayside inn and invited him to take a drink upon the success of their enterprise uc lie took it and in a little while became unconscious they had given him drugged liquor after this a gang lad had carried him aboard a vessel whet he be recovered consciousness he found that he was on his way to turkey lie ile had lived there for two years when he was asked why he be had not communicated with his friends ho bo said that he feared that they would not believe his big story and jig as he was unable to make good the money that had bad been stolen from him he be had delayed his big return as long as possible since that day over two cen centuries s ago no man has been tried for murder in england without first proving the murder genies |
