Statement of Roland Pennington as to the Pinkerton Homicide
I, Roland Pennington, being duly sworn according to law depose as follows:—
I went to work at the Wilson farm about October 7th; I boarded with George March and his wife; George worked on the farm too; he was the butter maker; from the time I went to the farm, George was always kind and good to me; George had charge over me when Lew was not there; George would loan me money when I wanted any, and several times took me to Gradyville with him, when he would take me over to the hotel and treat me to a drink; about a week or two after I went to the farm, George had a fight with his wife at the dinner table; George told her she was too intimate with Lew and a painter, who was working there; she talked back to George and George threw things at her; after dinner George told me that what he said to his wife was true; that was the first I knew about George’s trouble with his wife; after that George talked to me about his wife all the time; once I told George I would like to go West; one day George said he was going to take the painter to law, and get some money from him, and if I would stick by him, he would divide up with me and take me West. Afterwards he talked more about Lew and his wife; one day he said if it didn’t stop, he would break up, sell the furniture, and go West, and that if I would save my money to help out, he would take me with him; one day George’s wife was away all day, Lew was away that day too; they came home about the same time; George told me afterwards that he accused his wife of being with Lew; that night Lew came in the cow stable while George and I were milking; they had some words, but I could not hear what they said; George looked pretty mad and Lew was excited; George told me afterwards that he had accused Lew of being with his wife and Lew denied it; he also said it was as much as he could do to keep from getting up and smashing Lew in the face. On several different times when we were working together, George said that if Lew didn’t stop going with his wife, he would put a stop to it; George had charge over me when Lew was not at the farm, and one time when I asked Lew for some money to buy shoes, he would only give me two dollars, and gave five dollars to George to buy shoes for me; after the first of November, George said, “Lew hasn’t paid me. I wonder why”; he said this on two or three different occasions; on Thursday, November 6th, George came to me and said, “Well, Rol, Lew paid me to-day.” I said, “Did he?” and he says, “Yes, he had a big bunch of money on him. Did you ever see a thousand dollar bill?” I said, “No, I never saw one.” He says, “Well, neither did I. What figures ought a thousand dollar bill have on it?” I says, “I don’t know. A thousand is one and three noughts after it.” He says, “Well, I asked the Mrs. about it, and if that’s right he had one of them on him.” This took place Thursday afternoon about half past three in the stable. That night about quarter after five while George and I were separating the milk down in the milk house, George said, “How would you like to have that bunch of money Lew’s got on him?” I don’t remember saying anything to that. There was nothing more said about it that day. The next morning, George and I were separating the milk down at the milk house before breakfast, and George said, “Well, Lew will have that bunch of money on him to-day. Let’s get it.” I said, “What do you mean?” He says, “Why, do away with him.” I says, “What? Kill him?” He says, “Yes.” I says, “No. I won’t kill him.” He says, “Well, you start it and I’ll finish it. I got a blackjack up at the house, I used one time myself to knock a man in the head with out West, to get seventy-five dollars from him to come East on.” He said he was in a bank in the West and saw this man get the money—the seventy-five dollars—and when the man came out, he managed to get a ride with him, and while they were going along the road, he hit the man in the head and knocked him out, and went on his way. I didn’t say anything.
That afternoon, about three o’clock, George came to me in the milk house, while we were getting the milk buckets and cans ready to take to the barn, and handed me the blackjack and said, “Here’s the blackjack; you can do it with that.” I put it in my pocket. We then went to the barn. From then up to about five o’clock, while we were working about the barn, George kept saying to me, “Don’t lose your nerve. The first chance you get after the workmen are gone, get him.” Several times he said, “Don’t miss your chance—Don’t forget.” Lew was away that afternoon. He came home while George and I were milking.
After we finished milking, we took the milk down to the milk house; then I went back to the barn to feed the horses. While I was feeding them, George came up from the milk house to feed the calf. I generally fed the calf. George seldom did it. In feeding the horse, I had to carry hay around from the old horse stable to the new one. In going around for some hay, I met George right outside the old horse stable door. He said, “Lew will be around here pretty soon. You can get him then.” After I had finished feeding the horses, I took the fork over to the old stable. As I was doing so, Lew went in the new stable. I met George at the stable door when I came out from putting the fork away. George said, “He’s in the new horse stable; go get him.” I went in and told Lew there was a nail in the last stall next to the box stall and that he had better look at it. He went up to look at it, and while looking at the place I told him, I struck him on the head with the blackjack. He turned part way around, threw up his arm, and said, “Hey, what are you doing?” I struck at him some more; he rushed at me and we clinched. This happened in the stall alongside a horse. After we clinched we got out into the passageway, back of the horses. Lew soon got the blackjack away from me. As we came out into the passageway, I think I saw George near the door. He afterwards told me he heard when I hit Lew first and that he came in, and that while Lew and I were wrestling, Lew made a grab for him and knocked his glasses off. Lew and I tussled quite a while up and down the passage back of the horses; Lew was hollering all the time; I think we went down once, got up again, and went down again, with Lew on top of me; then I got on top of him. At about that time he called for George; George must have gone out in the meantime, for when Lew called for him, I remember the door being opened and George coming in. He came up and asked Lew what was the matter, whether the horses kicked him. Lew said, “Yes, yes, help me.” George stooped over and whispered to me, “Where is the blackjack?” I told him Lew had it. Lew then said, “George, you are no kind of a man.” Whether George got the blackjack or not I don’t know. He then went around by Lew’s head and started kicking. I had my hand on Lew’s head and the first kick George made he kicked my knuckles. I then left go of Lew and got up. While getting up George was continuing to kick him in the head. After continuing to kick him in the head after I got up, George went around and kicked and stamped Lew in the side. Then he stopped—and said as though to himself—“Which side is his heart on?” Then he started to kick him on the other side. After a while he stopped. I don’t remember whether he said anything to me or not. Anyhow, George took him by the head and shoulders and I by the feet and we carried him into the box stall. Then George went up to the house for a lantern. I waited for him at the stable door. He came down with the lantern and went in the box stall, felt Lew’s heart, and then stood up and stamped him some more; then he searched him.
In tussling with Lew I had gotten blood on my coat, pants, and shirt. After George searched Lew, we left the stable, and I asked George where the overalls were that the whitewasher had worn. George said he thought they were up at the wagon house. We went there, but could not find them. George did find an old pair of Lew’s pants and a shirt. He gave them to me and I put them on. While I was putting them on George went in the house. I went in later, went to my room, put on another coat, and went down to supper. George finished his supper first; got up and told the Mrs. he was going to Gradyville after some sulphur for the pigs. He then asked me if I wanted to go along with him. I said I would. Then we went to the barn; George got two bags in the old horse stable and put one inside the other. Then we went in the new horse stable where Lew was. George set the lantern down and told me to take hold of his arms and lift his head and shoulders. I did so, and George slipped the two bags over Lew’s head and body. Then George tied a cloth around the neck overtop the bags. Then he told me to hitch the horse Dick to the milk wagon. I did so. Then I returned to the new horse stable. George then said we will carry him up to the wagon. I had left it in front of the wagon house at the barn. George said, “We had better take him up through the barn.” George took him by the head and shoulders and I by the feet. We carried him up through the barn. When we got to the wagon, George got some bags and put them on the floor of the wagon. Then we put the body in. Then we got a blanket and threw it over the body. Then George got two shovels and a grubbing hoe, and put them in the wagon. Then we drove away.
After we got started George said we would bury the body in Lauterback’s woods. When we reached the road that he said led up to that woods, he said it was too near home and kept on driving. After driving for a long time we came to a pair of bars. He pulled up there and said, “That wood over there looks pretty good.” Then he drove on a little piece further. Then he said we better go back to that woods. Then we turned around and went back to the bars. George got out there, handed me the lines, and he took down the bars. I drove in, he put in the bars, and led the way, and I drove on across a field, till we came to another pair of bars. He took them out and then led the way across the fields to the woods. When we got there, George picked out a place; said he thought it would be an all right place. Then we dug the grave. Then we went back to the wagon, got the body, put it in the grave, and covered it up. Then we returned home.
That night George suggested that we clean up the marks in the morning. The next morning we got up early and cleaned up the marks on the floor and washed the walls. George said to make sure there would be no marks on the wall it would be better to whitewash it. He said he would do that and for me to go to other work, so I started to haul stone. George also said to take my clothes to the milk house and burn them. I did take them there on Saturday morning. George was there and I gave them to him. He said he would burn them. On Saturday, George came to me and gave me seven dollars and a watch and a ring which he got off of Lew when he searched him. He told me he had only gotten fourteen dollars and five cents and to pawn the watch and chuck the ring. I threw the ring away and took the watch to Philadelphia and pawned it at Carver Reeds on Market Street near Fifteenth Street for four dollars. When I saw George the next morning, Sunday, I gave him the pawn ticket and said I would give him two dollars when I got the change. He said never mind that.
(Signed) Roland Pennington.
Here again is a crime so abhorrent in its details that it is unbelievable. There is no excuse for it, no adequate motive, no justification whatever so far as the boy, Pennington, is concerned.