James R. Sias was appointed undersheriff by Yavapai County Sheriff Joseph Roberts, but on July 24, 1904, he turned up missing. The Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner reported: “He was seen around town, and [then] Sheriff Roberts received word that he was seen in Ash Fork.” Roberts was slightly surprised, but assumed he would return. He did not.
“This is the second time that Sias has deserted his family,” the paper continued, “his wife surprising him in Prescott a couple of years ago, just at a time when he was [about] to marry a very estimable young lady here, having, until her arrival, posed as an unmarried man.” Trying to discern why he seemed to disappear, “an investigation of the sheriff’s books showed an apparent shortage in his accounts, and Sheriff Roberts employed CA Peter, of the Bank of Arizona, to go through the books and make a thorough examination of them.” Peter uncovered a shortage. $800 was recorded as having been given to the sheriff, but it was not. Later, the total missing was found to be $997.90 (over $38,000 today).
Those who doubted he was actually fleeing changed their minds when Roberts received a package from El Paso, Texas, containing Sias’s badge and keys. Most everyone now believed Sias was going to cross into Mexico, “where he may imagine himself secure from arrest,” the paper reasoned. Indeed, Sias soon sent a letter to Roberts from Juarez, Mexico, that contained checks totaling $110.
“[Sias] did not add any to the popularity of the sheriff’s office during the period he was here, and his departure has created no interest in the community beyond the little sensation caused by his reported [embezzlement], and the further fact that he left a wife and two children unprovided for,” the paper noted.
Nothing more happened until ten months later, when Sias was found in Houston, Texas, using the alias of Forrest. Somehow, his wife tracked him down again, which ultimately led to his arrest. Jim Lowry was now Yavapai County Sheriff, and he travelled to Houston with extradition papers. A group of Texas attorneys compiled a writ of habeas corpus for Sias / Forest and served Lowry with it. However, after “careful examination of the requisition and other papers, the [Texas lawyers] withdrew their petition and [Lowry] was given permission without a contest,” the paper related.
During the trip back, and even after he arrived in Prescott, Sias refused to talk about the case. “There seems to be a well-founded unanimous feeling against Sias in Prescott, more on account of the way he left his innocent family to suffer and to become objects of charity,” the paper continued. “Those who best know Sias in Prescott are at a loss to understand why he placed himself in jeopardy by crossing into United States territory, when he could have remained comparatively safe in Mexico.”
“Quite a crowd of curiously minded residents were at the depot to witness the arrival of the alleged absconder,” the paper declared, “and throughout the day the general topic of interest was the return of the ex-deputy sheriff and the probable outcome of his trial.”
The prisoner was placed under a $1000 bond, and his attorney, A.L. Hammond, told him not to make any public statement. However, Hammond himself did—insisting the loss was not as large as reported and that it was simply a case of faulty bookkeeping.
The morning before appearing in court, Sias asked ex-sheriff Roberts to visit him at the jail. He asked Roberts to “help him out of this trouble.” But Roberts explained that it was out of his hands now and was a matter for the district attorney.
Sias told Roberts that when he went to the depot the day of his departure, he had no intention of skipping town, but the impulse came to him, and off he went. He soon broke down, admitting that he had “done dirt” to the sheriff. “His voice choked, and the words came out one at a time,” the paper disclosed, but there was nothing Roberts could do for him.
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Sias appeared at his preliminary trial “dressed in a working suit of blue cotton, unshaven and rather unkempt,” the paper observed. “Quite a number of Prescott people were in attendance as visitors.” However, some defense witnesses would not arrive until next week, and the hearing began “with this understanding.” The first witness was the County Recorder, who “presented records showing the employment of former sheriff Roberts and deputy Sias.” Next was the assistant cashier of the Prescott National Bank, who certified a certificate of deposit made by Sias.
The most interesting witness was Roberts, who “told the story of Sias’ disappearance and his alleged shortage,” the paper reported. He said “that shortly before the shortage was discovered, he had called Sias’ attorney asking him to bring the books up to date. When Roberts returned from a trip, he found that the books were still not updated. It was the following day that Sias skipped town. The hearing was then delayed for a defense witness to arrive from Texas.
The Texas witness was CW Griswold of Humble, Texas. Unfortunately, his arrival in Prescott was further delayed due to illness. When the defense attorney insisted that Griswold’s testimony would be vital to the case, the prosecuting attorney argued that it was implausible for a Texas resident who was not in Prescott at the time to be able to offer anything germane to the case. Still, the judge agreed to a delay until July 11, but that would be the last postponement he would allow.
Although the Texan was in Prescott on the 11th, the defense attorney ended up not calling him. “What evidence this witness will have to offer, it seems, will be withheld until the trial,” the paper said. Griswold refused to give the newspaper any information about what he would testify to, but even when it meant a loss to his business affairs, he was determined “to help his former employee in any legitimate manner that may develop.”
Sias was arraigned, and the trial was scheduled to begin on November 27, but instead it was delayed two weeks.
The trial was unusual in that both the district attorney and PW O’Sullivan, one of the defense attorneys, were called to testify for the prosecution! O’Sullivan also gave the opening argument for the defense, “which was said by those who heard it to be one of the most eloquent and forcible efforts made by him during his legal career,” the paper observed.
Roberts testified that $997.90 was missing and that the books were not altered in any way after Sias departed.
JD Carter, who replaced Sias as under-sheriff and was an expert bookkeeper, testified for the rest of the morning. Carter went over Sias’ books as soon as he was appointed. He stated that the books “were kept in such a way that a trial balance was impossible on account of the reason that many items were shown without a corresponding entry or any other account.” He found that “the blotter did not check up with the miscellaneous account in fifteen instances, and the alleged $997.90 shortage was found from footings in the cash account, which had nothing to do with the miscellaneous account.
The defense argued that minor accounting mistakes were made and there was no criminal intent. The Texan, Griswold, could only speak to Sias’s character, and the case was sent to the jury.
Both the first and last jury ballots stood nine for conviction and three for acquittal. No one’s mind was changed, and the jury came back hung. The prosecution opted for a second trial.
The second trial came six months later. “Nothing of a startling nature was disclosed,” the paper reported. This time, Sias was convicted, and in June, he was sentenced to five years in the Yuma prison. He was held in custody during his appeal process. By the end of 1908, all of his appeals were dismissed and exhausted, and he went to Yuma to serve his sentence.
This wasn’t the end of his criminal career, however. In 1925, the Arizona Republican reported that Sias was “under arrest at Humble, Texas, where he had been for some time, going under the name of Forrest.” His crime? Embezzlement.
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SOURCES:
Weekly Arizona Journal-Miner:
8/3/1904, Pg. 3, Col. 2; & pg. 8, Col. 1.
6/21/1905, Pg. 2, Col. 6; & Pg. 8, Cols. 4-5.
6/28/1905, Pg. 3, Cols. 1-3; & Pg. 6, Cols. 4-5.
7/12/1905, Pg. 4, Cols. 3-4.
11/22/1905, Pg. 3, Col. 3; & Pg. 6, Col. 1.
12/13/1905, Pg. 5, Col. 3; & Pg. 8, Cols. 1-3.
5/30/1906, Pg. 7, Col. 4.
6/13/1906, Pg. 8, Col. 5.
12/23/1908, Pg. 2, Col. 2.
Arizona Republican:
6/12/1925, Pg. 4, Col. 6.
