Strange Tales of Crime and Murder in Southern Indiana by Keven McQueen

Author:Keven McQueen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2012-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

The grand jury met for a fourth day on December 14—a rare event in that time—with forty witnesses yet to be examined. Some gave testimony suggesting that James had physically abused his sister. Other witnesses who spoke were Carrie Barbour, a neighbor of Elizabeth’s named Miss Clore and two Gillespie cousins named Belle Campbell and Mary Boyle. It was also reported that Myron Barbour brought some shotgun shells he had purchased a few days before the murder, some of which he admitted he had given to James Gillespie.

On the fifth day, a dozen witnesses remained to be examined. Several women testified, including the victim’s sister, Belle Seward, but the press was not allowed to reveal anything about their testimonies. However, journalists did note that James Gillespie was the beneficiary of a $2,000 life insurance policy that his late sister had taken out in July 1901. Despite their well-known arguments, it appears that she did not change her policy. The newspapers also published the police’s theory of the crime, which seems irresponsible, but they printed nothing that was not already on the lips and minds of every person in Rising Sun. The theory, as printed, did not name any names, but it did not require much imagination to fill in the blanks: “The police believe that four people here had knowledge of what might [have happened], one being a woman, and she is the one instigating the deed and nerving the assassin to the final act.”

The grand jury was expected to release its report on December 16. It was anticipated that four indictments would be released for two men and two women—one for murder and the other three for conspiracy. To the disappointment of everyone except those four persons, the day was spent only in taking more testimony, notably from Mr. and Mrs. Barbour and Belle Seward. The next day, an enlightening—though gruesome—testimony came from R.A. Steele, undertaker. He revealed that Elizabeth had been shot at such close range that he found wadding from the shotgun imbedded in her ear. On the same day, the jurors—no doubt glad to have a change in the routine—got to leave the courtroom to examine the Gillespie house, the notorious sycamore tree in the front yard, the shattered parlor window and even the dooryards of other houses in the neighborhood—especially the house across the street where, it will be remembered, lived the victim’s brother James, her sister Belle Seward and her relatives by marriage, the Barbours.

On December 19, the jury heard from John Griffin, who was “said to have testified to threats that had been made in his presence against Elizabeth Gillespie by those who are generally believed to be under surveillance.” Two days later, Elizabeth’s remains were autopsied and the results were given to the grand jury.

After so many days of testimony from witnesses called and recalled, on December 22 the grand jury returned true bills of murder against the victim’s brother James, her sister Belle and Carrie and Myron Barbour. Nobody was exactly

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