Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1858-02-27

relied on by the Commonwealth to establish
the prisoners guit.-lst. That Mrs. Clsrks
the prisoner Mrs. Twggs purchased poison
Sd. That they waited Upon Mrs. Clark during
her illness, and 10 addition, o letter written
by him while In prison, dated August 29,
1857, addressed to Andrew j. Thompson, In
PhGnixville. Letter read pro ut.
The following is the letter referred to by
the Judge:
Letter read as follows
"DAsvILLp, Montour county, August 20. 81.
"Dear Andrew =
II hope that this will fnd
you & Yours all we'll
al now will reveal to you what will liberate
me at the tryiel by you dowing it for me
Having the confidence in yoo that you will
dow it for the d let no one be the wiser or
it, Although l little deserve your aid -
Dear Brother yousee that it is testified That
pnrched Poison SO ifyou would Be 80 kind
as to Buy the following amount it would
save my life & Unable mo to Reward ten fold
Tor the said trouble & expence this is TO Buy
me three ounces Of Arsnic & eight grains Of
strychnine get p ounces by itself. Get it as
soon as this Comes To hand ard bring it up
with you on Mkt friday the 4th and stcpe at
Bloomsbnrg & get Mr.. Robert Il. Clark to
come up with you be ismy council dow not
let him knew that youhave il but you Can
give 1t TO me when he is with you Without
notice Il the Sheriff will not be in And l will
pay yonr expenses Look etat Dear Brother
yoarself & your good understanding will tell
you that When Will have the same quanti-
ty Of Poison to show in Court that the Will
have to liheraie me am sorrsy that could
acquent you Of this before But you knew that
II Is very few that l can trust with one word
10 pieace OF A letter Dear Andey by Dowing
so you Will Saive life & Credit & | will we'll
Reward you and you will be running No risk
whatever watch that you get Honest waight
have certain reasons for Urgen you TO come
on friday or Saturday mkt The 4th or ifyou
dow not get here on some Of the 2 days | will
take that as A Token that you will not do
IT.. But have confedance in you that you
Will Attend to it for me G saive my life And
l will be your humble servant AS ] remain
yours in the Bonds of Peace law & order
eter yours affecticnately
William j. Clark"
"Let no one see this letter."
This letter as you perceive, requests Mr..
thompson to procure poison and deliver it to
him, the same quantity Of arsenic and strych.
nine tha: it appears he purchased in Danville.
The weight this letter should have as tending
to fix guilt upon the Defendant, is sor you.
1t is certainly fact worthy of your conside-
ration. Mr.. Thompson did not comply with
his request, and it was highly proper he
should not. After the time elapsed when
ne desired Thompson to come TO Danville, to
wit about the Sth or 10th Of September be
broke Jail, bat was retaken. The circum.
stances under which the attempt was made.
have been fully detailed to you by the Sheriff.
such an attempt as this, is considered in law
as circumstance from which guilt may be
inferred, standing alone, it is circumstance
insufficient TO justify conviction, but well
worthy of Consideration oy you, when the
attempt is unexplained by the prisoner. The
attempt TO escape is some indication of fear,
bat this fear may not be the result Of conscious
guilt. A variety OF causes may operate on the
miud o! one accused OF, and imprisoned for q
high crime, who is conscious of his innocence,
to attempt avoiding public trial. and tho
chance OF conviction. There may be great
excitement in the public mind against him, il
while he may have knowledge, and fear that
the truth may not be elected, either from
corruption in the Commonwealth witnesses,
or failure on his part to procure tho mecca
sary testimony to establish his innocence
may operate on his mind, and lead TO an
effort to escape. In this case, no evidence
has been offered by the prisoner explanatory
OF the attempt made By him to escape, md
consequently it is o circumstance which you
should take into consideration, with the other
facts and circumstances in tho cause, in de-
teImining bis guilt or innocence. Having
thus as briefly as i could detailed the evi-
dence introduced By the Commonwealth, upon
which she claims the conviction Of the pris.
orer at the bar, it is proper to examine the
testimony relied upon by the Defendant, tc
establish his innocence.
The sickness Of Mrs. Clark is alleged co,
te have been 10 consequence OF poison -ad
ministered to her, but that she was attacked
in the city Of Philadelphia, to which thc
Court have already referred The wtnesse,
who have been examined on the subject o
the manner in which the prisoner and hi:
wife lived, speak Of no jawing-unhappy dis
cords or matrimonial str!es. There is mo-
shown to have existed between them, any
others than such feelings and affections, al
should always attend the matrimonial con
| nection.
1t is also in evidence that when Mrs. Clarl
was sick, Clark asked Doctor Siming.on L
uttSuh NpNu uis hou OSeu o.St
some time before the Doctors services wert
required. These facts should lead you t
examine oil the evidence with care, and 10
quire whether bis conduct towards his wife
| when she was in health and when upon he
| bed OF death, are consistent with the charg
made against him by the Commonwealth
After he left Philadelphia, aud came to Dan
vile, lie boarded with Mrs. Barninger-an'
| expressed his anxiety TO get her here, an,
talked much aboat il. This was sometm
before Mrs. Clark's sickness and death.
The fact that Mrs. Twiggs and tho prisone
attended upon Mrs. Clark during her las
illness. is not sufficient of itself to Justify hi
conviction. Mrs. Twiggs was living 10 th
same house, and it was not improper fer be
to administer to her comfort in her Affections
and it was not only proper that her husband
should be with her, bat it WIS his duty to b
with her, TO solace and aGsrd her such relic
and consolation, as was in his power. Thei
attendance upon her in her sickness d
afford them an opportunity of administering
pioson, if such hellish purpose had entere
their mind.
There is also evidence by Thompson Fes
ter that the prisoner and Samuel McClintoc'
came to where be was, and the prisoner in
formed that witness that there was q repor
that hi. wife WAS poisoned, aud wished hir
to go along with him TO SEQ Doctor Shining
ton. Clark stated that he wanted to get tn
Doctor to get .he body of the woman el
amined to prove that it was not so. Thi