THE THIEVES ARE TAKEN AFTER A FOUR MONTHS CHASE, AND ALL PLEAD
GUILTY--THE MESSENGER DUPED.
The Rohan Pacific Express robbery occurred near Rohan, Indiana, on what
was then a part of the Wabash Railroad. The Pacific Express Company had
one of their cars attached to the Wabash train, which was running
between Detroit, Michigan, and Indianapolis, Indiana. It left Detroit in
the evening and should have arrived at Indianapolis at about two o'clock
the following morning.
One night in October, 1883, the train stopped at Rohan, a small, local
station, and the train was boarded by two men. They entered by the front
door of the express car, and overpowered Bert Lumas, the express
messenger, stuffing a large roll, consisting of two handkerchiefs, into
his mouth. After tying another handkerchief around his face, and then
tying his hands behind his back, he was leashed with a rope to the
express company's safe. They took the keys to the safe from the
messenger, after overpowering him, and looted the safe of its contents.
There were, besides much jewelry and other valuables, about $4,100.00 in
the safe. They left the car at a point between Rohan and Peru, Indiana.
When the train halted at Peru station the expressman rapped on the car
door, and receiving no reply, he and others forced entrance into the car
door, where they found Lumas lying on his back with his arms and
shoulders tied to the safe, and unconscious. They found indications of a
struggle. There were three or four bullet holes in the side and roof of
the car, the shots evidently having been fired from within. They
discovered the safe open and the contents gone. Medical aid was
summoned, and the doctor, after considerable trouble, succeeded in
restoring Lumas to consciousness. He bore no marks of violence other
than what he had suffered from the gag that had been forced into his
mouth. This gag had almost cost him his life, as the ball was so large
that it had prevented him from breathing hardly at all. When restored to
consciousness he stated that as the train was leaving Rohan he was busy
writing out his report, and while thus engaged he was pounced upon by
two powerful men who were wearing masks. They felled him to the floor,
gagged him and bound him as he had been found, and took his keys and
robbed the safe. While they were doing this he became unconscious from
the effect of the gag. He said that they had taken his pistol, which was
lying on a table in front of him, and fired two or more shots at him,
but none of the shots took effect. I was Chief Special Agent for the
Wabash Railroad, which was a part of the Gould System. The case was
reported to me by wire the following morning. I went to Rohan at once,
and was unable to obtain any information. It seemed that the robbers had
not been seen by any one in or near Rohan. They had probably been in
hiding and boarded the train unobserved, just as it was leaving the
station. I then went to Detroit, where I saw and interviewed Lumas, the
express messenger. Lumas was a young man about twenty-six years of age,
fine looking, about six feet tall, and weighed about one hundred and
eighty pounds. He was born and raised in Vermont. He had an older
brother, who was a passenger conductor on the main line of the Wabash
Railroad, who had been in the service of the company for many years, and
afterwards remained in the service about thirty years, or until his
death. They had a widowed mother, who resided in Vermont. Bert, the
messenger, had always lived with his mother until he took service with
the Pacific Express. His standing with that company was first-class.
While I was making my investigation at Detroit, I met Mr. Brazee,
superintendent for the Pacific Express Company of the Wabash division,
with headquarters at Decatur, Illinois. Mr. Brazee told me of Lumas'
good standing with the company, and spoke of him in the highest terms. I
told Mr. Brazee that I was inclined to believe that Lumas might have
been connected with the robbery. He vigorously discredited the idea.
"Why," he said, "Lumas, you should remember, was almost dead when he
was found in his car at Peru. The robbers, doubtless, tried to kill him,
and would have succeeded had it not been for the timely assistance
rendered by the doctors, and, of course, if he had been connected with
the robbery in any way the robbers would not have tried to kill him."
I knew Mr. Brazee personally, and I knew him to be a kind-hearted man
and a thorough gentleman, and I appreciated very much the stand he had
taken for one of his subordinates. I interviewed Mr. Fuller, the general
superintendent of the Pacific Express Company, and all the other
officers who would have been likely to know anything about Lumas. They
all spoke of him in the highest terms, and of his brother they spoke
equally as well. I did not know that Lumas was connected with the
robbery in any way, and they speaking of him in such high terms, I did
not deem it advisable for me to inform the express authorities that I
believed the express messenger was implicated, so I decided to put a
shadow on Lumas' movements on each end of his route. I placed two of my
operatives on the work; one at Indianapolis, and one at Detroit. The
operative at Detroit was told to take up Lumas when he left his train at
Detroit, and not to lose sight of him until he left on his train for
Indianapolis. The operative at Indianapolis was likewise instructed;
thus Lumas was kept under observation at each end of the road. This was
kept up continually for about four months. The operative at Detroit had
discovered that Lumas was drinking heavily while in that city, and that
he was a habitual frequenter of saloons and places of ill repute. Our
operative at Indianapolis reported that Lumas, while there, would leave
his train and go direct to his rooming house, retire almost immediately
and remain there until time to leave for Detroit. I explained this to
myself in this way: He needed the sleep and rest after his carousing in
Detroit. My operative secured a room adjoining the room occupied by
Lumas at Indianapolis, and the other one in Detroit was just as
fortunate, and in a short time my Detroit man made the acquaintance of
Lumas, became his chum, and was with him almost continually in Detroit,
and in that way became acquainted with most of Lumas' friends.
At this time there was a private detective in Detroit, whose name was
Pat O'Neal. O'Neal was a widower and lived with a widow sister who kept
a rooming house, and Lumas and my operative both roomed with this widow.
O'Neal did not know either of them personally, but doubtless learned
from his sister that Lumas was employed by some express company, and
that my operative was, as he represented himself, connected with some
advertising concern of the east. There was also a noted thief known as
Jim O'Neal, who was no relation to Pat O'Neal, but one being a thief and
the other a detective, they knew each other.
One night, while my man in company with Lumas was sitting at a table in
a beer garden in Detroit, they were approached by a man about medium
size and plainly dressed. He appeared to be about forty years of age,
five foot eight inches tall, and weighed about 145 or 150 pounds. He was
light complexioned, sandy haired and smooth shaven. He evidently knew
Lumas well, for he sat down at their table, and after they had had
several drinks they engaged in a conversation in an undertone, evidently
not intended for the operative's ears. However, the operative managed to
hear a good deal of what was said. The stranger was evidently trying to
convince Lumas that everything would be all right. Lumas was heard to
say, "I have not been treated right, and this is why I have been
drinking so much of late." The other man was heard to caution him about
drinking so much, and to keep quiet, telling him that "everything would
be all right later on." After hearing this conversation, my operative
located the intruder and found that his name was Denny Downer, a
barkeeper at a prominent saloon on Griswold Street, Detroit.
While the above conversation was going on between Lumas and Downer, Jim
O'Neal, the thief, was seated at a table very close to our party, with
some of his friends. O'Neal knew Lumas to be an express messenger, and
knew that he lived at the house of Pat O'Neal's sister, and hearing a
part of the conversation he concluded that possibly Lumas was implicated
in the robbery of his car, and when he met his namesake, Pat, the
private detective, he told the conversation he had overheard between
Lumas and Downer, whom Jim O'Neal did not know.
On the evening of the following day I received a report telling me of
the happening, and on the next day I received a report from the
operative, telling me that he had located the intruder and learned what
his name was. On receipt of this report I at once decided that Denny
Downer, whom I had known for years as a thief, was undoubtedly one of
the parties who had participated in the Rohan robbery. I had known
Downer in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In fact, I was in criminal court in
Pittsburg on one occasion when Downer was convicted of burglary, and
received a sentence of five years. I knew his criminal record. The
description I had received tallied perfectly with that of Denny Downer,
of Pittsburg memory, therefore I felt sure of my man.
I decided to go to Indianapolis and take with me all of the daily
reports received from my two operatives. I notified Mr. Brazee of my
intention, and requested him to accompany me to Indianapolis, telling
him that I expected important developments there. He wired that he would
join me at Decatur, Illinois, and go with me to Indianapolis. On arrival
there we secured adjoining rooms at the Spencer House, which is just
across the street from the Union Station, Indianapolis. We arrived there
in the evening, and Lumas' train was to arrive at two o'clock the next
morning. I instructed my operative at Indianapolis to be at the Union
Station when Lumas' train arrived and to bring him from his car over to
my room just as soon as he arrived. I had had one of my operatives meet
him at his train several times before and take him to see different
parties for the purpose of identifying them as one of the express
robbers, but Lumas, on each of these occasions, failed to identify them,
and he had always declared that he could not identify any person, nor
give any accurate description of the men who had attacked him in his car
at Rohan. I never expected him to identify any one, but he had been told
by the express company to go with me or any of my men any time that we
might need him for the purpose of identification, so I knew the
operative would have no trouble in getting him to come to the hotel.
On this particular morning I learned from the dispatcher that Lumas'
train would arrive on time, and I prepared my room for his reception. I
set a table in the middle of the room and spread the daily reports of my
two operatives over the top of this table. They filled it completely. I
told the operative to tell Lumas that he had a party that he wanted him
to see, in my room.
Mr. Brazee was occupying a room next to and opening into mine, and I
arranged to leave the door partly open, and he was to sit alongside of
the door in such a manner that he could hear everything that was said.
He considered the whole thing would be a failure, as he firmly believed
in Lumas' innocence, as did all the other officers of the express
company.
The train arrived, and the operative got Lumas, who grumbled a little
about going to a room at that hour of the morning, but nevertheless he
came over. The operative rapped at my door, and I bade him enter. I was
sitting at the table containing the reports when he opened the door and
came in accompanied by Lumas. I asked Lumas to be seated, and told the
operative to retire to the hall until I might need him.
I began by saying, "Lumas, I want to call your attention to these
reports that are spread out on this table. They are the daily reports of
my operatives who have shadowed you and those associated with you, for
the past four months. These reports set forth everything you have done
in those four months, and every one you have associated with. I can tell
you how many cigars you have smoked, how many drinks you have taken,
whom you have talked with, and what you talked about. I find that your
mother is a fine old lady and stands high in the community where she
resides, in Vermont. I find that you have respectable connections, and
that you were well raised. I know all about your brother and his high
standing on the Wabash Road, and that your character heretofore has been
good. Also that the officers of the Pacific Express Company have had the
highest regard for you and your integrity, and for these reasons I have
taken it upon myself to give you the opportunity of telling the whole
truth about this express robbery, but I want you to understand
distinctly that if you do not tell the truth, if you say one word that
is not the truth, I shall stop you and turn you over to the officers of
the law. But, if you do tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,
I will do all that I can to secure the extension of leniency to you for
your part in the crime. I can also say that if you tell the whole truth,
that Mr. Brazee and the other officers will be as lenient with you as
the law will allow. So now I want you to answer my questions truthfully
or not at all. Now, sir, I want you to tell me how much money you
received from the proceeds of that robbery."