EVANS, Noah - Putnam

Greencastle, Oct. 17—The jury in the case of Noah Evans, the Roachdale murderer, returned a verdict of penitentiary for life. A motion for a new trial was at once filed. The sentence has not been pronounced by the court.

Roachdale, Ind., June 2—This morning at 7:30 o’clock Noah Evans and wife, of near Groveland, nine miles southeast of this place, came to Roachdale in a light road cart. They deliberately drove up in front of the home of Dick Adams, who was sitting in a chair on the siding with his back toward them. Stopping his horse and leaping from his cart, Evans pointed to Adams and asked his wife, “Is this the man who outraged you?” She quickly responded, “Yes.” Whereupon Evans drew two revolvers and rapidly fired eight shots at Evans, five of which took effect. One ball passed through his heart and two entered through the back of his head. Evans, after he finished his firing, coolly remarked, “I got you this time,” and getting into his cart drove rapidly out of town cautioning the crowd which had assembled not to follow on their peril. Recovering from the shock, the citizens formed a posse and with shotguns and other arms started in pursuit of the flying murderer who took an easterly direction. Adams’ wife was wild with grief at the murderer and her frenzied cries could be heard all over town. Six weeks ago, Adams while lying in bed was shot by some unknown party and he had just recovered sufficiently to be out.

The trouble between Adams and Evans dates back eight months. Adams had once been addicted to the opium habit but going to the sanitarium was cured. Returning Evans entrusted his wife who was also an opium eater to Adams who took her to the same physician.

After their return, Adams one day while drunk, boasted of having been intimate with Mrs. Evans. Evans at once resolved to kill him and has finally carried out his awful resolution.

At eleven o’clock the sheriff of Putnum County left Greencastle to hunt Evans down. Evans has the whole community terrorized and when he shot Adams six weeks ago, it was impossible to find anyone to arrest him. Three men did go to his house with that intention, but were completely buffed out. He wrote three letters to Evans telling him that he intended to kill him and swore to a large number of persons that nothing on earth could prevent him from it. All persons concerned are bad eggs and Adams had been a saloon keeper in Roachdale for several years and once at Crawfordsville. The brother of Evans was sent to the penitentiary for life 25 years ago for murdering an aged couple in Groveland. Noah Evans, the man who did the shooting this morning, was thought then to be implicated but it could never be proved on him.A special this afternoon from Ladoga gives the following version of the first difficulty:

Two years ago Mr. Adams went away to be treated and if possible be cured of opium habit which he was successful in and returned home a happy man. Not long after his return he learned that Mrs. Evans was addicted to the same habit and thinking to play the part of the good Samaritan, he undertook the case with the hope if possible to cure her not thinking that anything of an evil nature would grow out of it, but Mrs. Evans, being a very sociable person and of more than ordinary beauty, one who would be in her society much would naturally admire her. Adams was struck with her beauty and made advancements which were, as we learn, not rejected. This, it appears, had been going on for quite awhile before Mr. Evans learned of it and being an unprincipled person and a temper that he had no control of or tried to subdue, led him to make his threat. He accosted Mr. Adams and demanded satisfaction in the sum of two hundred dollars for destroying the peace and harmony of his household, whereupon Adams used some very bad and forcible language, when Mr. Evans declared he would have his life sooner or later.

Later—At 3 p.m. the posse was still in pursuit of Evans who is heading for the hills of Brown County.

Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal Wednesday, 3 June 1891 Edition

Noah Evans, who foully shot down Dick Adams at Roachdale yesterday, was always a dark, mysterious man. Of good appearance, fair education, smooth spoken and oily he was, nevertheless, always a puzzle to the community in which he lived. One thing about him was certain though, and that was that anyone who incurred his enmity was sure to meet with some misfortune. Their barns would burn, their stock died suddenly, or some of their family assailed by an unseen foe. It was that way from his youth and before he and his brother, Harper, were of age, they were known and feared for miles around. Harper fell in love with a pretty girl living in Groveland and plied his pursuit hotly. The girl, however, preferred Tilman Hanna, a rising young merchant, and they were happily wedded. Harper Evans said not a word when he was rejected, but gloomy and silently went about his daily work. The months ran on and Mrs. Hanna was soon to become a mother. At this time, in the dead of night, Harper Evans, screened by darkness, marched through the streets of Groveland, picked up an ax from the wood pile of John Lydick, and went straight to the home of Hanna. He entered it by stealth and as his old sweetheart and successful rival lay wrapped in peaceful slumbers, he cut their throats with his sharp ax, almost severing their heads from their bodies. The man of blood then went away, and leaving his ax, covered with blood and hair, at the wood pile from which he had taken it, marched back to his home. He appeared at the scene of the murder early the next morning and endeavored to make it appear that the deed had been committed for purpose of robbery. He was at once suspected though, and after arrest and trial, was sent to the penitentiary for life. Noah Evans and his wife were strongly suspected of being accomplices but it could never be proved against them. Mrs. Evans was pregnant at the time and when her son was born, a blood red star encircled his throat, as though it has been cut and healed. It never disappeared either and the 26 year old man still bears it as a horrible remembrance of his family’s crime. Harper Evans went to the penitentiary and when he had been there about a year his brother, Noah, visited him. This was during the war and matters at the northern prison must not have been conducted in a very careful manner for in a few days Noah returned with Harper stretched out in a coffin.  It was opened at night and Harper, the dead man, fled out into the darkness, while his family with much ostentation buried a block of wood in the coffin. No one knew of the deception for a year when Harper Evans, like a man from the other world, suddenly appeared one evening on the streets of Groveland to suddenly disappear. He has been back a number of times since and is reported to have killed a man in southern Indiana several years ago. Noah and his wife had not been captured at noon today for the crime committed yesterday morning, but were reported to have been seen at the home of a cousin in Lebanon last night.

Source: Crawfordsville Daily Journal 28 Sept 1891