The
Johnson County Circuit Court which convened at Clarksville. The
trial was for the murder of Sheriff John H. Powers. Wallace's
case was called first. Due to the inability to produce proof of
his appearance in Clarksville the evening of the murder, the jury
was instructed to return a verdict of acquittal. Five hours
later, the evidence was obtained, but too late for use in this
trial. Three other indictments were returned against him,
however, one of which is that of an accessory before and after
the fact - the punishment of which under the state laws if
convicted is the same as that of murder. Durham and Underwood's
trial commenced and so complete was the evidence that they were
promptly found guilty and were sentenced to death by hanging on
February 5, 1903.
An appeal was made, but the Supreme Court ruled against him. The
execution was rescheduled for June 9, 1903. Wallace and Clark
went on trial in August of that year. They were both given life
sentences. 3 to 4 months later, Clark escaped and was never seen
again. The evidence in which Derham and Underwood were convicted
was mostly circumstantial, but a better chain of evidence was
never brought out. It developed that all of the men were seen
together in Ft. Smith prior to the robbery. They were said to be
shady and of bad reputation and character. They had all left Ft.
Smith about the same time. Derham, Underwood, and Dunn were seen
in Clarksville the evening before. Derham and Dunn were seen on a
train in Van Buren the next morning. Then they went to Kansas and
were arrested in a hospital while Dunn was there treating his
wound. They were convicted of first degree murder and hanged on
June 19, 1903. The hangings were done privately
because of a state law that said that executions should be done
in private, unless the legislature approves a public execution.