The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-28 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENIN(3I-1

THE B 1? DELL MURDER MYSTERY.
The New York papers ter m with the details of
the trial of Mrs. Cunningham, on the charge of
being a principal in the extraordinary murder of
Dr. Burdell, the particulirs of which have already
been pablished in our columns, and have excited
world-wide interest.
The standing of the murdered man in the commu-
nity, and that of the accused parties ; the quiet but
public character of the street in which the murder
was committed ; the my-tery attending the crime ;
the siroumstauces which, from the tesiimonyelicited
before the coroner's jury, seemed to them a well-
founded suspicion against the inmates of the house
as the perpetrators of the crime ; and, following
that verdict and the indictment, the fact that some
of the most important witnesses were found to be
of a charActer far beyond reproach, together with a
re-action in public opinion, to a certain extent, as
regards the guilt of the accused, have all tended to
increase the mystery that surroun ed the crime.
The trial, which took place in New York, lasted
six days, and terminated on Saturday, May 9.
On the last day of the trial the excitement arose
to the highs st pitch of intensity. After the clos-
ing speeches of counsel on both sides, the judge de-
livered his charge, and preserved throughout this
remarkable effort the utmost impartiality. After lay-
ing down the law with remarkable clearness of lan-
guage and logical force the judge anslysed the evi-
dence inthe following manner :—lt would seem to
be indisputable that it was arranged in the early
part of the 3d of January, that Helen Cunning-
ham, the daughter of the prisoner, should go with
Dr. Beecher the next day, at 11 o'clock, to Sara-
toga Springs, to school. As soon as this arrange-
ment was made the family commenced preparations
for that event. Taking the testimony of the in-
mates of the house, except that of Hannah Contan,
it would appear that all the members of the family,
the prisoner, Eckel, the two daughters, and Snod-
grass, were engaged till 11 o'clock in these prepara-
tions, when they severally retired to rest, the pri-
soner and her two daughters occupying the same
bed, according to their statement, in the third
story front room ; that they so occupied it until
morning, the prisoner sleeping in the middle be-
tween the two daughters ; that they arose
the next morning, and all took breakfast together
as usual, except Mr. Eckel, who was called away
by a note from Mr.. Ely, as be proved.; that after
breakfast they all returned to the apartment to-
gether, this third story front room, where they were
when lannah, the cook, •annotruced to them the
death of the doctor. In this connection it is pro-
per to consider the theory of the case announced
on the part of the prosecution. They rely upon
the threatiby the prisoner towards the deceased,
and the biter feeling of ill-will which she so fre-
quently manifested toward him ; that having been
married to him she was desirous of getting speedy
possession of a part of his property, which was the
Inducement to the commission of this crime ; that
these motives which are alleged actuated tier to per-
petrate this crime, are adequate.m tives therefore.
They also allege that she did it ; and that on the day
the deed was committed she ascertained that the
only boarder in the house, except Mr. Eckel, Mr.
Ullman, was not to be at home until a late In our
that evening ; that she had prepared in the antic
room a firetu be lighted at any moment fur the pur-
pose of destroying the evidence of her guilt ; that
!he deed must have been committed by some one in
the house, and that she was the only person in the
house that day who had any adequate motive for
committing the crime, and that necessarily it must
have been done by her. That at about midnight an
offensive smelt was perceived in Bond-s reef by se-
veral per-on 4, and teat the same was caused by the
burning of clothes, d7c , in a grate of the front attic
room, and that such burning took place, they say is
evident from the testimony of Dr. Parrnly. In this
connection you will bear in mind the statement of
Dr. Smith and his son—the fact that Dr. Smith
had that very afnernoon been burning in his
stove pieces of wo )llen and pieces of leather. Whe-
ther or not this offensive odour may not have been
created from that source it is for you to say. You
will remember the testimony of Dr. Main that he
experienced the same offensive odour about one
o'clock that morning, and also the testimony of Mr.
Baldwin, who, wit his friends, noticed the same
smell about the same hour. Then you have the tes-
timony of Mr. Ullmann' who came into the house
about 12 o'clock, and who experienced no smell, and
the testimony of all the inmates of the house who
concur in stating that they experienced nothing of
that kind. Then, gentlemen, there is a theory which
has been laid before you that it was impossible,
from experiments which have been tried, that this
matter could have been burned in that room with-
out its fermenting the whole house, and creating.
an odour which must have existed for some hours—
from 12 to 2 o'clock. Then, gentlemen, another evi-
dence, -which would have been a very striking one
in this case, particularly where a strong, st..ut, ac-
tive, healthy man, as this deceased was testified to
be by Dr. Francis, in the prime of life, was mur-
dered under circumstances that this man was, by a
female, whether such a rencounter cold have taken
place, and such a result have been produced by the
prisoner at the bar without leaving on her person
some marketer evidence of such rencounter. You
remember the testimony of the physician in refe-
rence to indentations or marks remaining much
longer upon the female than on the male, and the
reasons that were glven for est .blishing that fact. As
no marks were proven—the one alluded to under
the shawl I believe was not made out by testimony
at all. Now, upon the theory of the prosecution,
they not having proved that any clothes in the house
were defiled or sn &Del, it must be apparent, from
the testimony of the physician and the evidences in
the room which we have ourselves seen, that the
persons who did inflict these injuries must neces-
sarily have been, to a considerable extent, covered
with blood. I say that the prosecution, not having
had it in their power to show any evidences of gar-
ments in or about the house thus defiled or stained,
unless you shall find the theory that this fire in the
room in the attic was prepared, having it ready for
burning these clothes, and that this room was used
for a purpose like that on that night, is sustained,
it follows that, there being no appearance of any
stains or of any blood upon any of the garments of
the prisoner, or of any in her house at the time,
you are bound to consider that there were none.
Now, gentlemen, another evidence—and a striking,
if not controlling one, of the guilt of the person
charged withimurder—is, finding upon theiaccused
weapons with which eitherthe deed was perpetrated,
or with which it might have been perpetrated, or
in any places, if not upon the person of the accused,
over which the accuse d had exclusive control or
possession—as, for instance, the case put by one
of the counsel, of a person shot by a pistol-bail.
A pistol was found in the possession of the ac-
cused with which it was possible the ball had been
shot from ; and when the dissection took place, the
ball found in the body of the deceased would not fit
the pistol ; therefore, that presumption which, in an
ordinary case, if the ballhad fitted the pistol, would
have been regarded as conclusive, failed entirely
because the two did not agree. The judge proceeded
to argue that, from the nature of the wounds, and
the position in which -Dr. Burdell sat when the
fatal attack was made upon him, it was unlikely
that a female like the prisoner would possess the
amount of strength necessary to accomplish the
murder. Then, he continued, there is another
the ory in the case—that those wounds were, for the
number of them, of a peculiarly mortal character ;
that they were nearly every one of them fatal or
mortal Mows, and that they must have been in-
flicted by a person having an anatomical knowledge
of the human system. There is no proof on the
subject that the prisoner has or has not such ana-
tomical knowledge ; and if you are satisfied that
these blows were inflicted by a person having ana-
tomical knowledge, to have brought it home to the
prisoner it would have been necessary for the pro-
secution to show that she had such anatomical
knowledge. I have not felt it necessary to discuss
the various theories in reference to whether persons
might have got in from the back part of the house
or the front, or to call attention to the various sug-
gestions madein reference to this subject. Gentlemen
—you must look at this case with reference to the
prisoner at the bar, whether the hypothesis is sus-
tained so as to exclude the idea that his death could
have been caused by any other person than herself.
My duty is now ended, and you have to retire to
your room, calmly to decide on the fate of this
unhappy woman at the bar. Meet your duty like
men feeling your deep responsibilities and the
solemniti. sof your oaths. Toy our decision I now
commit the fate of t is unfortunate woman, and the
future of herself and her family. While you deal
justly by her, it is your privilege also to deal nier-
cifully ; for, as I have hefore'remarked, if you have
any reasonable do elet of her guilt, that doubt is to
be cast into the ,cale in her favour, and entitles
her to your verdict of acquittal. If, on the con-
trary, on a reviow of the whole case, you deem the
charge contained in the indictment proven, it is
yn ur duty to yeeur country and your God to say so,
though it be with anguish of heart, and may cause
deep shame arid sorrow to others. But if in this
final reviewvag you are not satisfied of her guilt,
pronounce a verdict of acquittal, and let the accused
go free.

Luring the delivery of the charge the most pro-
found t.ii-;_ince was observed throughout tthe vast as-
behibly :, at its c:ose there was an attempted maul-
lestatiou of approval, which, however, was quickly
represt ied by the officers.
Mr. Bartelf, au officer of the court, was then
sworn and put in charge of the jury, who at seven
retired. At this time Mrs. Cunningham
Was re. iting her head upon a chair in front of her,
hear cia v.:1,4tff,3 were still seated at her side, fanning

themselves beneath their thick brown veils to par-
tially escape the effects of the heated and unhealthy
atmosphere which pervaded the room.
In half an hour the jury returned to their seats.
In a moment the audience became involuntarily
silent, and Mr. Vandervoort (the clerk) said,—
Gentlemen of the j ury, have you considered your
verdict ?
Foreman—We have.

Mr. Bartolf approached Mrs. Cunningham and
directed her to aris3. She did so, evincing in the
act a seeming unconsciousnes, of what was transpir-
ing about her ; she stood still and motionless until
her eyes, without expression, turned towards the
jury. .

- Mr. Vandervoort—Jurors, look upon the pri-
soner; prisoner, look upon the jurors. How say
you, gentlemen, do you find Emma Augusta Cun-
ningham, otherwise called Burdell, guilty or not
guilty ?

- The Foreman (in a subdued tone)—Not guilty.
The words had hardly been announced before
there was an attempt to applaud the verdict, but
the prompt action of the officers checked the in-
appropriate expression of feeling.
Mrs. Cunningham stood for a moment entirely
unconscious, but the buzz of satisfaction that broke
the silence startled her, and she sank into her chair
in a state of partial swoon. Judge Dean and Mr.
Clinton supported here and gave her the assurance
that it was " all right" which was the first con-
sciousness of her acquittal. A few brief moments
passed, when she had sufficiently recovered to be
conducted with her daughters from the court-room
to the Marine Court chamber, when she received
the congratulations of her friends and the jury.
An hour later, she and her daughters, accompanied
by Isaac J. Oliver, were rolling in a carriage
towards the house, No. 31, Bond-street, where
they will remain for the present.