Litchfield enquirer., 1833-06-13
THE AVERY TRIAL.


 Ifon m other account. we should be pre- ,vanted from publishing the trial because of its
 erceeding great length. But there are other
 obiections. e.en more weighty than this. A
 large portion of the testimony, (that of the
 physicians) which appears to he necessary to
 perfect understanding of the case, is wholly
 unfit for the public eye. We give below an
 extract from the opening address of the cOun-
 sel on both sides, by which it will be seen
 what are the grounds taken for and against
 the prisoner.
 Mir. Peafce, one of the CaunseI on the part
 of inc state. opened the case,, and aifer rec
 marking on the nature of the oftence' gave
 brief outline of the prominent facts which they should attempt to establish.
 sSThe deceased," he said, Miss Maria
 Cornell. was found dead on the morning of Friday, the 2Ist of December, about the hour of nine. When discovered, she was hanging at stake near a stack of hay on the premi- ses of Mir. John Durfee. three quarters of mile from the compact part of the village of Fall River. At five o'clock the previous even- ing, she had left her home in health and spir- its. At the time she was found, there were various circumstances connected with the cord and its adjustment on the neck, which subsequently, led to the supposition that the act was nOt the act of the deceased that It could not have been committed without some aid or assistance that from the very position of the cord and the manner in which 1t was fastened, she could not have adjusted it her. self; that her death must have been prOdn- ced by sufocation and strauglng; and that some person must have carried her to the stake and must there have bound her. We shall show that when found, her cloak was fast to her person that her hands were in- side her cloak; that one arm was hanging loosely at her side, and the other bent up against her breast; and that there were bruis- es about the body which must have been made by hands other than her own. We shall show from the condition and situation of her hair that violence must have been us- cd by @Vcaihcr ard by the situation of her comb that she must have struggled with some one else. If we prove these facts, l think we shall satisfy you that her death was the result of violence, and that it could not nave oeen produced Sy her own act.
 Expecting to establish this point, and look ing to it as the starting place. the material question is, by whom was the act committed If, having established the point alluded to, we can, shcw previous intimacy of long stand ing between the deceased and-'the prisoner, and such an one as 10 induce the prisoner to commit this act or some act similar to 1t, then without further investigation, we furnish a probable cause to show that the prisoner IS the man. But we do not stop here. am warranted in snying that the present IS as strong a case ofcircumstantiale evidence and presump- tive proof as was ever submitted t0 the con- sideration of Jury. live can shew that the prisoner, with this previous inducefnent, can < kn Iinf m Q might have done this act, then we have addi- tioDal reason for saying that there was proba- hle cause to show that he did it. If 1t turns out, land so it will turn out) that on the goth of Dec. last, a cold and wintry day, so cold that the body of the deceased when fodnd Exsbss ssfa aud nsht5Si sh iSfpaFfng his intention to his neighbors or his family. left home and was absent whole night, aad that the req sons which he subsequently assigned for his absence were not the real causes, but such as were inconsistent with the nature of things, and in themselves palpably absurd,-if we trace him from Bristol at two o'clock on the goth of December, down 10 the place where John McCurry lives, thence to Howland's Ferry or the Stone Bridge,-thence past Lawton's house-thence 40 or 50 rods above on the road to Fall River-thence over wall and out of the main road to the village SD call- ed.-thence to secluded place near the Stack yard,--if we can trace him back again and land him at Jeremiah Gifford's house about the hour of ten the same evening,-and it, in addition to this, we can give evidence of vio- Ience. arising from the screams which were heard, we submit very strong case to show that her death was produced by violence, and that such violence was committed by the prisoner. IG moreover. we prove, by cor between the deceased and the prisoner, that the time and place where they met had been previously arranged. and if we there leave them together, we place before you such a strong tissue of circumstances. as in our opinion, will bring you to the conciu- sion that the prisoner must have been the au- thor of the deed.
 MT. Randolph, one of the counsel for the prisoner, after few preliminary remarks, 'tated the ground they should take.
 "Her guilt" said he. ''and her sorrows are now at an end. and whatever she had been in life, she must now be an object of pity to all ofus. Shewas once member ofthe church 1 of Ephraim K. Avery, at Lowell ;--whence, after having been tried and convicted on accu- 1 sations oflying and fornication. she was OK. l pelled. We shall prove that, under the hope of forgiveness, she made confession of her conduct in relation to both these charges to MT. Avery and others-and that her charac- ter being 60 well known, and her confession having been therefore refused, she avowed her