Stain and Cromwell Photos
with text from the Dexter Historical Society
David L. Stain, one of several suspects accused of murdering
John Wilson Barron. Stain's son, enraged over his father's refusal to spring
him from a jail in Norridgewock for crimes of his own, swore that the ghost
of Barron had appeared to him and implicated his father along with Oliver
Cromwell in the notorious robbery and murder. The lust for revenge
apparently began shortly after the elder Stain not only refused to send bail
money to his son, but apparently wrote a letter to his son saying, "I am not
surprised, nor do I waste tears that you are in jail where you belong.
Rather than send you money to obtain your freedom, I would send you a rope
so you could hand yourself." The elder Stain was arrested in Massachusetts
(where he lived at the time), and along with his implicated friend Cromwell
were brought to Maine for trial in 1887.
Oliver Cromwell (shown here) was implicated along with David
Stain in the Barron murder. Stain and Cromwell spent thirteen years in jail
before being found innocent of the charges, which were brought about largely
by stories made up by Stain's vindictive son. Cromwell was represented by an
inexperienced public defender named Lewis Barker, who tried to prove that
Barron committed suicide. Both Cromwell and Stain were eventually pardoned
by Governor Powers.
Robbery and Murder notice
John Wilson Barron was murdered during the well-known Dexter
Savings Bank robbery of 1878. Barron was treasurer of the bank and was
working on a holiday when he was killed by a robber or robbers. Although
several notorious crooks of the day were rounded up, arrested, and even
charged, no one was ever convicted of the crime.
J. W. Barron was found handcuffed, gagged, and left to die with a rope around his neck. He died shortly after being discovered, lying against the vault door, unconscious. The gag was a short piece of wood taken from the bail of a water pail, and was secured by a cord passed through a hole in the wood.