Author says man who was executed did not commit century-old crime
By Bob Cudmore, Focus on History, Daily Gazette, 09-24-16
Tara Hime Norman believes that hired hand Lewis M. Roach was wrongly convicted of a crime he did not commit over a century ago.
Norman came across Roach’s story while doing genealogical research on her own family. As a child she lived on her family’s farm within a few miles of the town of Palatine farmhouse where John Barrett was brutally murdered the night of December 20, 1913.
A bullet was fired into Norman’s grandfather’s home months after the murder. Several such gunshot incidents made locals fear a dangerous criminal was on the loose.
The murderer bludgeoned Barrett and shot him three times. The perpetrator then tried to set the 67-year old farmer’s McKinley Road home on fire.
Barrett was a widower. His two children, 22 year old Katie and a grown son named Boyd, were in the house at the time of the attack. Boyd had speech impediments and was subject to epileptic seizures. Neither Katie nor Boyd provided a description of the assailant.
Norman said that Katie was asked if her father had any enemies and at first responded he had none. She then added there was one man her father had argued with, George Potter. Potter, who owned the large farm next door, reportedly argued with Barrett over use of a well.
Potter was not popular in the community. He was a gentleman farmer who had come by his large landholdings by marrying into the prominent Nellis family. Egged on by Earl Van Wie, a local farmer’s son who disliked Potter, authorities began investigating Potter and Roach, one of Potter’s two hired hands.
Potter apparently wanted to buy Barrett’s land and set Roach up as a farmer. The prosecution’s scenario was that Potter had convinced Roach to kill Barrett to make the land available.
Under intense questioning, Roach, whose wife was expecting their second child, confessed to the crime. He was prevailed upon to make a second confession, this time implicating Potter. He was told by authorities that if he testified against Potter, he, Roach, would not face execution.
Potter was also arrested but before the case went to trial in Fonda, the prosecution asked that he be released. They said they did not have the evidence to convict him. Potter and Roach were represented by attorney Andrew Nellis of Johnstown, Potter’s prominent father-in-law. Prosecuting the case was former district attorney and future judge Charles Hardies of Amsterdam.
Using blood evidence that Norman regards as bogus, Roach was found guilty and sentenced to die.
Norman said public opinion was changing but an appeal was unsuccessful. A petition for clemency was circulated and signed by eight of the twelve jurors who had convicted Roach. However, Governor Charles Whitman would not issue a pardon. Roach was electrocuted on September 3, 1915.
Roach could not have been the murderer, Norman said, in that when the crime occurred he and his fellow hired hand were in a wagon coming up McKinley Road after a trip to get supplies in Canajoharie. Potter also had a plausible alibi that night.
Norman believes the killer could have been one of Katie Barrett’s suitors. Her father, Norman said, was not keen on Katie’s male companions. Attorney Nellis even got the name of Frank Crowter, a possible suitor, into the court record.
Norman, for many years the city clerk in Naples, Florida, described herself as a “research-aholic.” She used numerous newspaper stories and New York State archival documents to write her first book, “The Vindication of Lewis M. Roach.” She will sign books from 1-3 p.m., Saturday, October 1 at Mysteries on Main Street in Johnstown.
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