Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-04-29
The Rochester Murder Trial,

The theory of the prosecution in the trial
of Marvin Ira Stout for the murder of Charles
W. Littles is as follows, and the evidence SO
far has gone to show that it is substantially
the correct theory
Stout had a father, who was a frequent in
mate of the State Prison, and spent some
years of his own early life there. The mem
bers of the Stout family, for various crimes,
from larceny to arson, were very much scatter
ed, till at last they became conferred in Roch-
ester, where the deceased Charles W. Littles
became a member Of it by marrying Stout's
sister Sarah. Littles vas young, of fair abil-
ity, engaged in studying law. The marriage
was unhappy, the parties quarrelled, sepera-
ted came together separated again, and again
became reconciled. There was enough regard
between the husband and wife to incite mu.
tual jealousy, and enough of mutual hate to
drive each to an abandonment Of moral habits
and one, at least, to gross RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Stout took hisssiSter's part, and is said to
have had criminal intercourse with her. On
the afternoon of the day previous to the night
of the murder, he conversed with her long on
the subject. 1t is charged that a plan was
laid to get Littles to a secluded place, for the
purpose of killing him. Previously to this,
the jealousy of Little had been famed to an
enormous degree-he becomes furious in his
rage toward some person whom be had been
led to suppose had encroached upon his con-
iugal rights. He was informed that Mrs.
Littles was to meet a man that night, and
Stout was to go with Titles, and they went
to watch together.
It was on the night Of the 18th of Decem-
Der last, as the indictment charges, that Stout
made a deadly assault upon Littles. He as
cended the bank from the lane to the grass
plot first, and struck Littles as he came up,
with a powerful and heavy weapon, as the
blows upon the head of deceased showed.
After killing Littles, he was drawn by Stout
and his sister, also indicted, to the bank of the
river, to be thrown. down. The fence pro-
iected over the bank, and misled them, as it
would almost anyone, and they fell over the
bank together, a distance of twenty five feet
or more, upon a pinicle of sand and loose
earth, and then rolled perhaps one hundred
OR one hundred and fifty feet further to a
stone. The body was, dragged to the river, as
the evidence will show, and thrown in. Had
it been put in o few feet above4e or below where
it was, it would have gone over the Lower
Falls, and perhaps never been seen again by
mortal eye. Fortunately, the body was
thrown into an eddy, from which the current
of the river did not drift it away.
Stout and his sister each broke an arm in
falling over the bank and were bruised and
otherwise injured. The evidence as to the
time of the murder is quite conclusive, as will
be shown by the watch worn by Littles. It
was stopped at twenty or twenty two minutes
before nine O'Clock, and must have been stop
ped by the conclusion when the body fell
from the bank, or by the the water when it
was thrown into the river-but probably by
the first named cause After going through
this terrible seene--Aaving had such q fall.
and put the body into the food below the
great cataract, this brother and sister started
homeward. They reached home about ten
in a crippled condition The body
found in the morning lodged in the eddy.
Stout and Sarah said they had fallen in