From the Skidmore News of Skidmore, Missouri, January 12, 1922, page 1:
Arrested for Robbery of Farmers Store.
Jesse Moulden, Arrested Saturday, Denies Charge — Owns Suit Case Goods Were In.Jesse Moulden, 23 years of age, was arrested Saturday afternoon by Sheriff Steve A. Roach, charged with having robbed the Farmers Mercantile Co. of about $60 worth of merchandise. He was arraigned before Justice of the Peace W. L. Johnson at Maryville Monday and his preliminary trial was set for 10 o’clock this morning.
Moulden says that he was reared in an orphans home. He came here some time last winter or early in the spring, and worked for a time on the W. L. Carpenter farm. For several months he had been out of work and had been staying at the Robbins boarding house. Recently, he had been dismissed by Mr. Robbins and no one knows where he stayed after that, but he left an old suit case in the wood shed at the Robbins place.
Friday, Mr. Robbins discovered a sack containing new merchandise in a box in the wood shed. Later in the day he noticed that the sack had been moved, and upon investigation, found it up overhead. He also found the old suit case filled with goods. C. E. Owens identified the goods as having come from the Farmers store.
When arrested, Moulden stoutly denied having stolen the goods, but admitted that the suit case was his.
The Farmers store has not been broken into. It is supposed that the robber entered the store in the evening and concealed himself until after the store was closed.
F. H. Barrett, C. W. Robbins and C. E. Owens drove to Maryville this morning to be present at the preliminary trial.