GRADY  ALSO  CAUGHT

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The Billings Gazette

Billings, Yellowstone County, Montana, Friday, July 8, 1904

          Last of Sergeant Hannah's Murderers

               Taken into Custody

          IS   BETRAYED   BY  A  WOMAN

Mrs. Melissa J. Merrill Yields to Temptation of Large Reward
                 and Leads Posse to Hiding Place--Both
                          Men Make Confessions

Barring the law's delays complained 
of by Hamlet it now appears as if 
justice swift and certain could be 
meted out to the men who robbed Owl 
saloon and murdered Police Sergeant 
Robert T. Hannah.  They are in 
custody and have made complete 
confessions of their crime.

As published in last Tuesday's 
issue of The Gazette, Orton C. Moser 
was captured by Sheriff Potter of 
Carbon county and ample of assistants 
the day before , across the Wyoming 
line.  The prisoner was taken to Red 
Lodge, where he arrived Tuesday 
morning.  That afternoon he was 
"sweated" by the sheriff and Detective 
Hineman of the Northern Pacific and 
told the entire affair.

Wednesday morning Edward 
Grady, Moser's accomplice, was 
captured here within a short distance 
of the city, and also confessed.  He, 
too, is in the Red Lodge jail, as it was 
deemed wise to take him there to 
prevent any possibility of a mob 
attempting to wreck vengeance upon 
him.

   Betrayed by Woman

Grady's arrest was brought about 
by a woman, who revealed his hiding 
place upon a written guarantee from 
President P. B Moss that she would be 
paid the reward of $750 offered for his 
apprehension.

The woman, Mrs. Melissa J. 
Merrill, approached Attorney H. C. 
Crippen last Tuesday and asked if the 
reward would be paid if Grady were 
given into custody.  Mr. Crippen 
called on Mr. Moss and stated the 
facts to him.  Mr. Moss at once gave 
the required assurance in writing, 
which was given to the woman and 
she sent for  Stock Detective James T. 
Webb, whom she knows well, and 
made arrangements to meet him that 
night at a place indicated by her, 
where she said Grady would be.  She 
insisted that Mr. Webb go alone, 
saying she did not want to be known 
in the matter and promised him that 
Grady would be unarmed, save that he 
had a razor.

At first, Mr. Webb was inclined 
to do as she asked him, but after 
consultation with Sheriff Hubbard it 
was decided not to take any chances, 
as the many escapes of the man were 
still in mind.  Accordingly a posse was 
organized consisting of Mr. Webb, 
Under Sheriff Sayles and Policemen 
Garnant and Mowre.  Two of the men 
were mounted on horseback and two 
went on foot and went to the place 
where the woman said she was to meet 
Grady, which was at the bridge of the 
Big Ditch company's canal at the head 
of Twenty-ninth street.  Shortly after 
the first four had gone out Sheriff 
Potter of Red Lodge, who arrived in 
the city earlier in the evening, and 
Attorney Crippen mounted horses and 
also left for the rendezvous.

   Quarry Frightened Off

The men stationed themselves 
within convenient distances and 
awaited the appearances of Grady and 
the woman, who had told them she 
would be at the bridge at 10 o'clock.  
It was only a few minutes after that 
hour when the watchers heard voices 
of a couple of persons engaged in 
conversation on the bridge.  They 
began to crawl toward the bridge, 
those on foot going first, with the 
mounted men behind.

Before the posse could act W. H. 
Heffner passed along the road and 
crossed the bridge.  This frightened 
Grady and he ran away and 
disappeared in the darkness.  Mrs. 
Merrill followed and overtook him 
and sought to induce him to return to 
the bridge, but he refused.  She left a 
bottle of whisky with him and made 
another appointment with him for 
Wednesday night, when she agreed to 
bring a gun and horse to enable him to 
leave the country.  Leaving the man 
where he was , she returned to the 
road and met the posse to whom she 
told of the new arrangement.  At it 
was intensely dark it was concluded 
that to make search for the man who 
was lying somewhere in the alfalfa 
field into which he ran when Heffner 
appeared, would be useless and the 
officers returned to town.

Second Attempt is Successful

At the sheriff's office a 
consultation was held and it was 
decided not to wait until the following 
night to make the capture, as it was 
feared Grady might hear of or suspect 
the woman's treachery and make his 
escape.  Another posse of a dozen or 
so men was made up and shortly 
before daylight it left and surrounded 
the field where Grady was known to 
be.  By the time the members had 
taken up the stations agreed upon day 
had broken.

Grady suddenly appeared, having just 
awakened, and he saw the posse and 
realized that further escape was 
impossible.  Instead, however, of 
quietly submitting to arrest, he 
attempted to deceive the officers by 
pretending to be working on the ditch, 
to which he walked and followed it as 
far as the road, making a close 
inspection of the canal at every step.  
When he arrived at the fence he 
crossed it and then went under the 
bridge.  Before he had reached the 
fence he had been recognized by 
Charles Smith, a member of the posse.  
When he was under the bridge, Sheriff 
Potter, who did not know him, ordered 
Grady to come out.  As soon as he 
reappeared Mr. Smith covered him 
with his rifle and gave the command 
to hold up his hands.  This Grady did 
and in doing so showed a razor he had 
in his left hand.  An order to drop the 
weapon was promptly obeyed.

   Was Afraid of Torture.

Grady made no resistance to his 
captors, but was afraid he would be 
tortured and asked them not burn him.  
As the result of too free imbibing of 
the whiskey given him by Mrs. Merrill 
he was quite drunk and when assured 
that he would not be burned or 
otherwise tortured seemed suddenly to 
regain his spirits and was quite lively 
at times.  He said that although they 
had known that Fred Morris, the 
bartender, recognized them they had 
spared his life and now he should be 
given a "show."

Grady's appearance was greatly 
changed.  He was dirty and unkempt 
and looked as though he had been 
lying out for weeks, instead of only a 
few days.  He had cut off his mustache 
so as to make identification harder for 
those who might be looking for him.

Leaving the man in charge of the 
others, Mr. Webb came to town and 
informed the sheriff of the capture.  A 
team was secured and Mr. Webb 
drove back and guarded by Sheriff 
Potter, R. L. Nix and Under Sheriff 
Sayles, Grady was driven to Laurel, 
where he was held until the arrival of 
the Red Lodge train, aboard of which 
he was put and taken to Red Lodge.

      Makes a Confession

Grady made a full confession 
and related all the details of the 
robbery and murder.  His version 
corresponds with that of Moser, 
except, that he shielded his brother, 
"Jim," whom he declared to be 
innocent of any complicity in the 
affair and to be in total ignorance of 
any of the events leading up to or 
connected with the double crime.

When asked why they had shot 
Hannah, he replied that when men 
undertook a job of that kind they were 
prepared to do anything to escape; that 
the officer had sought to arrest them 
and they shot him.

  As Related by Moser

In his confession Moser shifted 
the  of blame for suggesting the 
robbery onto the two Gradys.  He said 
that "Ed" Grady broached the subject 
of robbing the Owl saloon to him two 
or three ago, but he had refused to go 
into it.  Subsequently "Jim" Grady had 
taken up the matter and repeatedly 
urged him to join them.  Finally he 
consented, but with the understanding 
that no one was to be hurt, saying he 
did not want to kill any one.

Last Thursday, he said, "Jim" 
Grady had ridden to the Newman 
ranch, where Moser had been 
working, and told him he had looked 
over the ground and it would be "dead 
easy."
Friday night he came in town and 
went in the Davidson house, where he 
met the two Gradys and which was his 
first meeting with "Ed,." who told him 
he had been under cover for a couple 
of days and that if the robbery was to 
be committed it would have to be that 
night or not at all.  Preparations for the 
job were at once begun.  They secured 
overcoats and made masks they wore 
at the time of the robbery.

At about 11 o'clock he and "Ed" 
Grady came up town cutting across 
the Northern Pacific yards, and took 
up a place in the alley in the rear of 
the saloon that was to be robbed.  
They had been there sometime when 
"Jim" Grady appeared and brought 
them a bottle of beer.  He left them 
and went to the Northern hotel, where 
a dance was in progress.  After the 
dance was over he came back to them 
and told them he had been in the 
saloon, saying "now's the time. It's 
pickings."  With this "Jim" left them 
and they undertook the robbery.

Moser's account of the events 
that occurred in the saloon and in the 
alley is practically the same as that 
given by the bartender at the inquest 
and to the newspaper reporters.  He 
claims that Grady fired  the first shot 
at Hannah and that then he shot the 
officer  with the shotgun he carried.

After the shooting, he said, they 
ran north to the Burlington tracks and 
then west to near the brickyard, 
crossing the drainage ditch in their 
flight.  Into the later they threw the 
shotgun and also the masks and part of 
the clothes they wore.

     Money is Recovered

Moser told where the money 
taken from the saloon was cached and 
to aid in the recovery drew a rude map 
of the locality where he said it had 
been buried.

Supplied with this information, 
Mr. Potter came to Billings Tuesday 
evening.  Accompanying him was 
Doctor J. A. Crum of Chance.  They 
went to the place indicated and 
securing a rake made a careful search 
of the ground, raking up every spot 
that indicated recent disturbance of the 
soil.  The search proved long and 
tedious, but was finally rewarded by 
Doctor Crum striking the exact spot 
with his foot.  Some of the loose coin 
was unearthed first and then the bag 
came into view.  In all $210 was 
recovered.

The place where the money was 
buried is northwest of the city about a 
mile, near the brickyard.

Moser said that after they had 
buried the money he and Grady 
passed west of the Sister's hospital and 
south to the Davidson house, where 
they arrived a few minutes before 
Sheriff Hubbard appeared.  He 
furthermore said that he had not seen 
Grady since the time they jumped out 
of the window, as they separated as 
soon as they struck the ground.

  Had Another Job in View

In his confession Grady said they 
had expected to make no more than 
$200 or $300  as the proceeds of the 
Owl robbery and had undertaken it 
merely for the purpose of gaining a 
"stake" to tide them over until the time 
was ripe for another "job" they had 
planned.  He refused to say what the 
other was, but said it was a big one 
and one from which they would have 
realized a large sum.

    Is Not Fully Believed.

Glad to have the man in their 
power, the officers are not inclined to 
question Mrs. Merrill too closely as to 
how she came in touch with Grady.  
However, they manifest and apparent 
disinclination to take as absolutely 
true all she says in connection with the 
matter.  She claims that she donned 
men's clothing and haunted the 
railroad tracks and out of the way 
places, confident she would see and 
recognize Grady, and that she did 
meet him and ingratiated herself into 
his confidence.  While this may be so, 
they say, they doubt it.  In their 
opinion she knew Grady and he 
appealed to her, or else she knew 
some man who was a friend of his and 
that she acted as go-between for them, 
taking food and other articles to him , 
and when finally assured she would 
get the reward decided to inform on 
the fugitive and be the gainer thereby.

Whether furnished by him or 
someone else is not known, but after 
his arrest Grady said he had a bed 
some where northwest of the city 
where he had blankets concealed in 
the rimrock.  He claimed to have slept 
here several nights.

Sometime the true particulars 
may be known, but until then one 
story seems to be as good as another.  
Anyway, the woman has the money, 
which was paid to her by the First 
National bank Wednesday morning.  
Her receipt was taken and is now 
properly filed.

       Masks and Gun Found.

Wednesday afternoon the two 
masks and the shotgun used by Moser 
and Grady were found by Policeman 
Garnant and Mowre.  They were 
recovered in the drain ditch at the 
place indicated by Moser in his 
confession.  The gun is a magazine 
affair and it remarkable for its length 
of barrel.  The masks are made of 
colored gingham and evidently were 
torn from an apron or dress.  They 
correspond exactly with the 
description of them given by Fred 
Morris, who said they were plaid, with 
what he believed to be blue stripes 
running through them.  A couple of 
coats were also found with other 
articles.  All were under about two and 
a half feet of water.