Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 April 1885 — A BIG CASE. [ARTICLE]

A BIG CASE.

The Trial of George Stitz for Arson, r z A destructive fire occured ini Remington last April; Some six buildings south of the depot were burned, entailing the destruction of about $5,000 worth of property. Among tne buildings burned was a meat market belonging to Geo. Stitz, and suspicion at once fell upon him as the author of the fire. He was arrested shortly alter the fire and indicted in June. Owing to various untoward circumstances the trial of the case lias been deferred from term to term until the present. As has been previously stated, the trial was begun on Friday of the first week of the present term. A number of witnesses were examined that week, but owing to the absence of one of the jurors, the case was not resumed until the present week. Below we give a brief, and necessarily imperfect, summary of the principal points in the evidence :

Stitz’s building stood very close, within 12 or 14 inches, to a building occupied as a harness shop, by a Mr. Wilson. The fire, when first discovered, seemed to have been started in the space between the two buildings, or under the corner of Stitz’s building. His building was insured for all, it was worth, and there was, also, a heavy insurance upon the contents. (Wilson’s stock, it is proper to say, was wholly uninsured, and the fire was a great damage to him) Stitz’ building stood upon leased ground and the lease had about a year to run, with the privilege of renewal for a year or two longer; it was not salable property. tiis business did not pay, and besides he lived on his farm about six miles from town, and looking after the shop necessarily caused him much inconvenience, and interfered greatly with his farm work. The weather was warm, and there had been no fire in either building for several days; it was not likely, therefore, that the fire was accidental. It was in evidence that Stitz had been overheard to say, in conversation with his son, that he wished the shop would burn, and that he had the insurance upon it. On or about the afternoon previous to the fire,. Stitz had sent his shop-keeper, S. H. Raster, away, ostensibly to buy beef cattle, but with the, unusual instruction to pay not more than one dollar per head, advance money, upon any animals be might bargain for J Contrary to his usual custom, Stitz stayed very late in his shop that evening, and that; too, when he had almost nothing in his shop,to sell. Stitz was an ignorant man unused to business and did not pretend to attend

to the retailing business of the shop and especially he was never knownilo stay in his shop in the evening, but on the afternoon before the fire, at live o’clock he told Kuster tp take his, (Stitz,) horse, and ride home and‘stay there. Kuster offered to stay, but Stitz insisted upon his leaving. For a number of days previous to the fire, Stitz had a number of horse collars and other parts of harness hanging in the front part of his shop, for sale. Between 5 and 8 o’clock of the afternoon previous to the fire, these goods were removed from their accustomed places. There was no evidence showing that they had been sold, and their disposition has never been explained. Wilson, the harness man, at Stitz’ request, kept the latter's shop a few minutep, at about 8 o’clock in the evening, while Stitz went to a drug-store, and while there, at the request of a man who came after beef, he looked in the refrigerator, and found it contained nothing but a pile of game birds, of little value. Stitz was much displeased at Wilson for looking |in the refrigerator. Willson slept in a room back of his shop, and very 'ft ear to Stita’ shop. After going to bed that night, he heard Stitz walking about in his shop fora considerable time, and later in the evening he heard what he ’bought, was a man crowding himself into the space between his building and Stitz’s. Stitz left his shop about 10 o’clock, and, late as it was, he went about half a mile to Kuster’s place, and. stayed and talked with him for about an J hour. Stitz carried to Kiiater a rubber belonging to him, which had been banging in Stitz shop for days, and which there seemed to be no •gooff reason for taking away ’ fioni tne shop, at that lute hour.

Stitz left Kuster's housi at about 11 o’clock, ostensibly with the intention of going straight home, a distance of six or six and a half miles. Ho did not reach home until nearly or quite two o’clock, or three hours after leaving Kuater’s. It was about 11 o’clock when the fire was first discovered. Early the next morning, after the fire, Stitz told one Belliele, a young laboring man staying at his house for a few days, to do acme ditching, that his “shop had gone to hell”* On being asked how he knew his shop was burned, he said h'e saw the fire when abou t six miles from town, and he knew from its position tljat it must be about where his shop was.' He also atUkd the astonishing statement that the light of the fire was so

great that at that distance he could see to read a paper, ", He did not go to towh the next day, sent his son after a load of tiles and with directions to take an extra horse and if he found that his, shop was burned to come back, at once, with the news. Before the boy could return, however, the man Raster, accompanied by a boy named Hascall drove out to Stitz’s house to fell hi mos the fire. Te them he repeated the statement of having seen whore the fire was when six miles out. At neither that time nor any other did Ke ask any questions about the results of the fire:’whether any of his property was saved, nor what were the losses of others. His daughter testified that the subject of the fire was never discussed in his presence. Previous to the fire Stitz showed much interest in the subject ot insurance, and especially was anxious to find out if Wilson had any insurant on his harness stock.

After the fire, in his sworn schedule of property destroyed, he put down a barrel of corned beef. Koster swears that when he left, at 5 o’clock there was not more than 100 pounds or at most 125 pounds of corned beef in the shop, and it Was shown by the testimony that at leas tSB pounds of that amount was sold before dark. In the same way ho valued the fresh beef in the refrigerator at $lO, while Kuster says that tbore was not more than $2.50 worth when he left, and Wilson says that when he wss in the shop, at 8 o’clock, the beef was all gone. There were many ether points in the testimony, but it ts impossible to give an ythin’g more than an imperfect outline of a case in which the testimony is so voluminous. THE TRIALWith Prosecutor Walker and Judge Hammond upon the side of Jthe state, and DeHart and Thompson for the defense, it goes without saying that the case has been ably conducted. The defense was mainly technical in its character, although a stritng, but scarcely successful, attempt was macle to impeach the credibility of Bellisle, one of the most important witnesses for the state. In making their argumen ts on the case Hammond opened for the prosecution, Tuesday afternoon, DeHart spoke far the defense in the’ evening and Thompson yesterday 'forenoon, and Walker closed tor the state in the afternoon. The case was given to the jury late yesterday afternoon, and at this writing, (Thursday morning,) they have not agfeed upon a verdict.