Milltown Historical Society

Tag: trial

This Day in History: January, 23rd 1922

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This Day in History: January, 23rd 1922

BAGOYNE ASSAULT CASE HAS VERDICT OF NOT GUILTY

Charging that he was held up on the outskirts of Milltown by a crowd of men on the evening of November 10, and that they robbed him of $28, Steve Bagoyne, a farmer living near Milltown, testified this morning in the county court against Andrew Kroposka, identifying him as one of his assailants.

Kroposka and Frank Simko, also from Milltown, were both charged with the robbery. However, this morning, Assistant Prosecutor John E. Toolan motioned for the discharge of the Simko indictment, on the grounds that Simko could not be identified.

Bagoyne claimed that on the night of the robbery, around dusk, he was approached by a group of men who asked him for a match. He informed them he had none, but as he was smoking a cigar, they insisted he give them a light. They closed in around him and followed him for a short distance until one of them suddenly hit him in the back of the head with a blackjack. He stated he was knocked down and robbed, and identified Kroposka by his voice as one of the assailants, but admitted he was not entirely certain.

Kroposka denied the charges, claiming he was at work at the Michelin Tire Company plant when the robbery occurred. Fred Hartlander corroborated this claim with Kroposka’s time card. Andrew Hanlon testified he saw Kroposka leaving work around 5:45 p.m., while the robbery was alleged to have occurred at 5:15 p.m.

The counsel did not present closing arguments in the case. The jury, without leaving their seats, found a verdict of not guilty. Frederick F. Richardson represented the defendant.

The jury consisted of John Peters, S.C. Schenck, L.E. Gariss, Charles Melbourne, Theodore Brown, William Jemison, Charles Nafey, John O’Toole, Louis Seel, William H. Cladek, Emil Bohnsack, and Joseph Zar.

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This Day in History: December 19th, 1912

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This Day in History: December 19th, 1912

$1,000 THE PRICE OF GIRL’S RUIN

Jury Awards Damages to John Eib in His Suit Against John Baierl, Whom He Accused of Betraying His Daughter.

For the betrayal of Miss Gertrude Eib, a Milltown factory girl, John Baierl, of this city, must pay $1,000, according to the verdict rendered by the jury which heard the case in Judge Lloyd’s court yesterday. The jury took something less than an hour to reach this conclusion.

The plaintiff in the case was John Eib, father of Gertrude. She was but twenty in February, 1911, when, she declares, she met Baierl at a party and her ruin was accomplished. Baierl, who is about the same age as the girl, was tried and acquitted on a criminal charge, but the girl’s father brought a civil suit against him for the distress the affair had caused his daughter, his family, and himself.

Freeman Woodbridge, counsel for Mr. Eib, laid stress on the resemblance he declared Miss Eib’s child bore to Baierl. The jurors inspected the little one closely. The defense in the case was a denial of parentage, which made the baby’s features an important factor in the case.

Baierl Charges Another.

Baierl on the stand admitted in part the girl’s charges against him, but denied that he was the cause of her trouble, or that the child was his. He admitted having taken Miss Eib home from the Stein party in February, 1911, and to the occurrences much as the girl testified.


Henry Naronosky, the next witness, declared that he had been at the Stein party. A game of forfeits was on and one of the penalties was that he and Miss Eib must leave the house. They went out at 1 a.m., he testified, and stayed out for three hours in the barn. He told very coolly about the occurrences then. Judge Woodbridge, counsel for the Eibs, asked him if he considered himself the father of the child, but the question was ruled out.

It was brought out that Naronosky also goes by the name of Smith.


George Bailey, George Roth, Michael Baierl, and Jacob Roder testified regarding the party and that Naronosky and Miss Eib were absent for the time stated. Thomas Revolinsky testified that Naronosky was known to him as Stanislaus Naronosky.


Freeman Woodbridge summed up for the plaintiff and John A. Coan for the defense, Assemblyman George L. Burton being associated with the latter. The jury retired shortly before four.

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This Day in History: December 2nd, 1914

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This Day in History: December 2nd, 1914

MILLTOWN COUPLE ON TRIAL FOR KEEPING SPEAKEASY

Breton, Who Knew Mr. and Mrs. Porgoinnec in France, is the Principal Witness Against Them When They Face Jury Today.

John Porgoinnec and his wife, Marianna Porgoinnec, are being tried this afternoon on a charge of running a “speak-easy” at Milltown. According to Assistant Prosecutor Stricker’s opening, they sold without a license on October 6 and various other times within the past two years.

The State’s principal witness against the Porgoinnecs, who are French, was John Leroux, a Breton. Leroux cannot speak English, so Albert F. Russell was sworn as French interpreter. It is a long time since any French translation has been required in the local court.

Leroux testified that he had visited the Pergoinnec place many times within the past two years, buying beer and whiskey there. When ask- ed how many times, he said it was so many that he couldn’t remember the number, but thought it at least twenty.

On cross-examination by Walter Van Sickle he said that he had lived. in Milltown two years and worked in the Nickel works, in this city. He met the Porgoinnecs the day after he arrived in Milltown, but had known them before that, in France.

The Jury.

The following jury heard the case: Charles E. Paxton, Elmer C. Slater, A. C. Shreeve, Thomas Horan, Charles E. Breckwedel, John Case, Harvey H. Mershon, George F. Giles, A. G. Snedeker, Louis Appleget, Michael Masterson, E. W. Clayton.

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