This newspaper story was printed on September 8, 1930

TELLS SECRET OF 50-YEAR-OLD MURDER CASE

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Amazing Maine Mystery Cleared Up --- Real Truth Astounding in Its Strange Angles

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BY JOHN BANTRY

ROCKLAND, Me., Sept. 8 -- The inside story of one of Maine's greatest murder mysteries has, after a lapse of 50 years, been revealed. And the revelation is so extraordinary, the facts so entirely unlike what was ever suspected that old timers who remember the case are amazed. No queerer combination of circumstances could be imagined that this seemingly (at the time) simple murder case now reveals.

It rivals the most thrilling of detective mysteries.

Fifty years ago Sarah H. Meservey was found dead in her home at St. George's, Tenants Harbor. She was the wife of a prominent Rockland sea captain who, at the time, was away at sea. She had apparently been strangled to death by a long woolen scarf which she wrapped around her head and neck.

SUSPICION FALLS ON A SAILOR NEIGHBOR

After a time suspicion fell on one Nathan F. Hart, who admitted he had been cutting wood in the rear of Mrs. Meservey's home about the time the murder was committed. He was a sailor who lived with his wife two houses away from the Meservey home. He knew the dead woman well. His reputation was fairly good, yet his alibi seemed not convincing as he stoutly denied going to the Meservey yard. He saw no strangers about and heard no disturbance though he was in a position to notice anyone entering or leaving the house.

FOUND GUILTY IN THE FIRST DEGREE

Gradually public sentiment turned against him. At the trial the evidence offered by the government was very scant. The defense was flat and general denial. Hart stuck to his story that he was entirely innocent. The jury convicted him of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, Maine having abolished the death penalty for murder. Soon after the conviction public sentiment shifted. There grew up a feeling that the evidence against him was slender and his powerful protestations of innocence made a profound impression. As time went by a real clamor for his release grew up. A prominent man named A. R. Duton wrote a book entitled "Nathan F. Hart, An Innocent Man in a Felon's Cell."

LAWYERS FAIL TO SEEK NEW TRIAL

This book circulated all over the country. It was a very effective plea for Hart, showed up the hollowness of the case against him and pleaded for justice. This resulted in an almost country-wide demand that Maine remove the stigma from an innocent man and set him free.

Hart's friends soon numbered the vast majority of persons in the immediate counties. Yet, strangely his lawyer made no move for a new trial which apparently they could have obtained.

Some years after Hart died in prison still asserting his absolute innocence. The general opinion was that a terrible mistake had been made and that the State had virtually killed, by severe imprisonment and humiliation, an innocent man.

Now comes the real story. It is made public by Hart's counsel at the trial 50 years ago, Job H. Montgomery of Camden, president of the Knox County Bar Association. He has kept the secret all these years in spite of the terrific agitation that went on for years. He believes the public entitled to know the truth and he makes the Hart case a chapter in his life history which he has given the Rockland Courier-Gazette.

KILLED HER, BUT ACCIDENTALLY

Hart did kill Mrs. Meservey. The story he told a the trial was a lie. His protestations of absolute innocence were false. His alibi was a fake.

BUT, he was not guilty of deliberate murder. The killing was a pure accident. Had he been in a position to tell the real story his punishment would have been a short term in jail. Why he was not in a position to tell the real story constitutes an amazing episode the truth of which was never suspected and could not have been guessed by the shrewdest detective.

On his way home on the afternoon of the crime Hart passed through the Meservey yard. He was a sneak thief at heart and when he went to the door to speak to Mrs. Meservey he found no one at home. He conceived the idea of slipping into the house to see if he could pick up anything. He found the kitchen window unlocked, raised it and went in.

CHOKED BY SCARF IN STRUGGLE

While Hart was peeking into the kitchen closet to see if he could lay hands on anything worth stealing Mrs. Meservey returned. She came in so quietly that Hart did not realize she was in the room until she grabbed him by the throat from behind. She was a powerful, courageous woman nearly as strong as Hart.

The two engaged in a terrific struggle, knocking over the furniture and upsetting the kitchen table. Mrs. Meservey was wearing a long woolen scarf about her head and throat. In some manner as the pair were wrestling about the scarf caught, suddenly tightened up and Mrs. Meservey fell to the floor choking.

HART AND WIFE LEARN SHE IS DEAD

Hart stood watching her, fearful to aid her since she had recognized him. As she lay helpless on the floor he jumped out the window and ran away.

Hart's wife was one of the most prominent and best liked women in town. She was far above him in station, intelligent and well bred. When he got home he told her the truth, adding that he must flee, since Mrs. Meservey had recognized him.

Then came the development that no one had ever suspected. Hart told his wife that the only thing which could save him was the possibility that Mrs. Meservey was dead. The two of them started out in the darkness to find out. When they reached a point where they could see the Meservey house they saw it was dark. That convinced them the woman was dead.

TRY TO DIVERT SUSPICION

They then went to the rear of the house and climbed in the kitchen window. They found Mrs. Meservey dead on the floor--the scarf had choked her to death.

Then they did the foolish thing. In order to make it appear that a burglar was responsible they turned the place upside down, opening bureau drawers and scattering the contents about.

Even that might have fooled the authorities if Mrs. Hart had not proposed a crowning bit of folly.

She wrote a letter purporting to come from some person who had a grudge against Mrs. Meservey threatening her. She crumpled this note up and left it beside the body.

It was this note that convinced the police that no burglar committed the crime. At the trial they tried to pin the note on Hart. No one ever dreamed that Mrs. hart knew anything about the case. Had they thought to secure a sample of her handwriting the solution of the case was right in their hands. But Mrs. Hart's reputation was above reproach.

YIELDS TO WIFE'S PLEAS, KEEPS SILENT

Before the trial Hart told the real story to his lawyer, Mr. Montgomery. Mrs Hart confessed her part also.

Harts's lawyer advised him to plead guilty, tell the real story and promised that he could be convicted only of involuntary manslaughter with the sentence of perhaps two or three years. But of course Mrs. Hart would have to stand trial as accessory after the fact and probably get a light sentence. Mrs. Hart was terrified and pleaded with her husband to save her since he had pulled her into the terrible business.

Hart yielded to her and decided to go to trial with a flat denial of any knowledge of the crime. He felt the evidence against him was not sufficient to convict. His attorney, while still urging him to tell the truth, felt bound to follow his client's wishes.

WHY NEW TRIAL WASN'T SOUGHT

Conviction followed.

The reason his attorney never pressed for a new trial was this. The year after Hart's conviction the Maine Legislature restored capital punishment. Hart was greatly frightened of hanging. He asked his attorney to give absolute assurance that he wouldn't be hanged if he should be convicted again. His attorney told him he felt the new law could not apply to his case but Hart, still fearful, would not sanction the plea for another trial.

Mrs. Hart was also vehemently against a new trial. She felt that had a narrow escape at the first trial and did not want to take another chance, though not a breath of suspicion had rested on her.

DEATH RELIEVES WIFE'S FEARS

Then Hart died in jail with a plea of innocence on his lips.

Mrs. Hart remained in the town honored as a brave and faithful woman. She received the sympathy of everyone. She was more popular and respected than before because of her heavy affliction. No one would have dared to suspect her of any knowledge of her husband's crime--even those who felt him guilty.

All the time her husband was in jail Mrs. hart had been terrified by the fear that he would make a confession which would reveal her part in the case.

His death relieved her of that awful suspense. She had years of comparative happiness afterward unless she was tortured with the remorse for her part in the affair. If she was she never told her husband's lawyer about it. When she died she was honored by all the townspeople as a gallant woman who suffered for her husband.

And so, thanks to Mr. Montgomery, this strange crime is a mystery no longer, but it must take its place as one of the most romantic of New England mystery stories. And people will have different opinions as to the morality of Mrs. Hart's position an d whether she was justified in demanding that her husband sacrifice his life to keep her reputation intact.

The above article was contributed by Richard Meservey of Cary, Illinois



Above article printed with the permission of Fred Meserve from the Stories section of his web page. 12/3/1999