Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1862-03-28
By II. II. Smith. Esq. We present only
,omc Of tho leading points.

HOmc OF inc tesohab
A pcrson l. presumed TO DO innocent
until |, is otherwise proved.
IL would be shown that the defendant
Was young man Of industrious habits,
sustained good character, and had uni.
formly treated the deceased with kindness.
II had not been shown that there was
4 sufficient motive to prompt the commits
sion Of such crime by the prisoner; the
objection TO the marriage being simply
that tho daughter was too young to be
married, and she did not wish to lose her
company. The amicablc relations exist
ing between prisoner and deceased were
shown from the fact that she had but q
isw days previous to her dccease sold Pris'
oper a piece Of land within !? rods OF hef
own door.
The innocence Of prisoner was shown in
his conduct before, and at the eoroners
inquest and. after he was arrested, IN ms
reluctance TO waive an examination before
n justice.
The prcof I. insufficient, to prove homi.
cidal strangulaiion.
There was no disturbance To awake the
boy in bod with the prisoner. or the chill.
drcn in bed with the mother. There were
no marks OF violence ON the person OF the
deceased or on the prisoner.
The evidence is insufficient 10 prove tho
marks of hands. or fingers, or prints OF
nails on the neck Of deceased sufficient to
produce death by siransula,ion,
Respecting the paper that was found in
the sittins.rcom on the morning OF the
finding Of the body. IL the prisoner had
wri,,cn i, he would mos, likely have sign.
ci the name Of the deceased to It, and it
would have contained \ permission for
Abby to marry the prisoner, for that was
the though, which lie nearest his heart.
This writing. on examination by Abby
herself. on the morning of her mothers
death, was declared to be her mothers.
She was a most oompc,on, Judge.
There are strong circums'an,ial proofs
tia, /, was a case of suicidal s'rangula-
ton.
The circumstance. Of deceased were EN-.
harrusscd. She was in debt; the times
were hard. and she had several small chill.
drrn. She was also in bad health.
The body when found was in natural
position. A. If asleep. The hair was
smooth the eyes were prominent, and face
bloa,ed. indicstinga voluntary and lingcr.
inc death. There were no oon,ortions Of
the limb, or features The bed clothes
were undi.turbed, and the two children
in bel with her were unawakcned.
The lcf, arm and hand which held the
scarf were very rigid, showing ,ha, the
grasp on the scarf must have been made
before death. Fingers of the LEFT hand
firmly claspcl around the scarf. All the
other limbs timber, showing tina, riSor
mo,iiJ had no, commcnccd.
The following witnesses Tor The dsfsnee
~ere esllcd and -wor
pr. ". c To~ls. DR.. Simsn Fitch. Hen.
~ Gilman. Elyira Gilman. y. l. O.soOd
Mr.. Clara walker. George Z. Booth.
I DR.. To~ls called.
7 Reside 81 fryeburg "a. rrcseni ~ the
examination al body u Mrs. S~an: hr-,
saw the tody Monday forenoon: ! Examined
the neck; va. rr-.eni and assisted ai the
pat miriem examination. ~e found .otns
SPOT. about the mech t tho lsrynI. SIMILAR
/ TO tho.s ds.crih~d ~ Dr. Brown. saw 81
crescent .haI-d marks; I laid nv hand up
on the throat VI deceased: could cover oil
;he mark. On the meek with nv fingers FL
crp, the one near the 'pins. ! brought my
haul M clO.~ q the throat m order that
nv ihams on one siie and fingers on ,hs
other might cO,er the marks . eIaminei
her arms the lelI one Va. quite rig,d. 'he
right avn vas examined upJn the pillow
the hand nearly oren: the isi, arm va esIei
81 p.srly . right angle: Nl.o took hold o'
the risb, arm: The rigidi'y OF the lsIt arm
VAS greater than iha, oi the right the lel'
hand ~as clipped ~ closed naturally: tie
thumb, I thins. Asout.ids Of The hngcf.
the .rarf "a. IN the hand: I introduced IN J
fncrr into the band ard founi eOnsiderabI,
RESISTANCE
Cr.-. Misunderstanding a. nv recol.
lsriion ahout half an iGch Of the scarf ~a'
through ,he lrit hand should say that
the hand might have been ten inches IRON
The chin
T. l.. Ossoo1. callci
.iw tie b,ty Of Mr., swan. some~hrr.
h.iwesn and . O'Clock Monday morning
examined the nccS 80 no marks such
a. could be made with the finger nails.
CrO.. eIam,ncd-~hen Examined a.,
neck IN the morning, the body Was, ! think
inclinins ~ the left.
AFTERNOON.
I Clara Walker.
"a. present NJ Mrs Ssan's house on
th, morning when the body was found
arrived there between q and :: ni came 70
the house, Jaw . nunber Of pcr.pu. there;
vent into the bedroom and found Mrs. Swan
lying upon her right eide: the left hand ~a'
holding one end Of the scarf. reached ,hO
house after Mr. Richardson moved the scarf
the right arm was extended nearly s,rsish,
upon the pillow did not take hold Of tbs
arm. I'll = o'cl,ck.P NJ: the lett arm a, ,ha,
time Was rigid: r,cd particularly O. asc~r
tain II IL VA. 81: DID not succeed In h~nd,n.
IL: th. fingers were nearly closed: the hand
APPEARED to lie IN = natural position: The
bed clothes were quite smoothly spread over
the body, and c.me ~ across her shoulders:
! examined her right arm: could easily move
10. the right arm was easily bcpt: | assisted
in moving the bed clothes: the lower limbs
A - IL a