When James Hines left Bloomington, he was soon found to be an embezzler, having taken between $80 and $100 from his employer, H H Bevan Dairy Co. He left behind a wife and three children as well. Months later he was arrested in Ohio on charges of bigamy. No facts are given as to how he was caught out, but Mrs. Hines had also moved to Ohio, to live with her parents. Perhpas it came to her family's attention, and they called the law down on him. The penalty for bigamy in Ohio at that time was a sentence from one to seven years. The Bevan Dairy would have to wait to make a recovery from James Hines.
No trace of the action against Mr. Hines could be found in the old newspapers of Ohio, but in January of 1915 another James Hines was accused of bigamy in Ohio! This case originated in Bellevue, Ohio when James Hines met young Marie Wagner. He wooed and won her and they were married in that place. Weeks later, Marie Wagner received a letter warning her of James Hines from his wife in Cambridge, Ohio, but it was too late for Marie. She took immediate action however, presenting the letter at the sheriff's office and demanding the arrest of James Hines.