, 1862-01-17

Tie hearing If testimony III the case Of the
People rs. Peter Murray, indicted for the mur-
t'rr of John O'Ncii, On the 2Ath of December
last, commenced yesterday in the Circuit
Court, His Honor Judge Manicure presiding;
Carlos Haven, ESQ, for the People, John Ma
SOD, Esq, for the defence. The morning Was
occupied in the examination Of Witnesses for !
tlsI prosecution, summary Of whose evidence
VIC append.
The testimony Of Pascal Whitney did not
iu HE direct examination differ very materially
from that giEcn before the Coroners Jury on
the a4th ult. He guyc adetailcd history Of the
manner in which be found the body On the
morning Of the 24th, Its posture, the disposal
Of the oyercoat beneath its head, the location
Of the cap Of the deceased, and condition of
the ground in the vicinity. From the spot
where the corpse lay there were tracks lead
ing towards Indiana avenue, rs though two
persons had passed that way, or one had tray
crscd TIC space tWice. The body was covered !
with snow that seemed to hare drifted on it. and |
lay with itsfcatures composed andarnls extend /
cd By its side, as though placed III that posi-
ton by some kindly disposed friend. The ex-
act vicinity Of tho point Of its discovery may
be described as On Buena Vista street, between
Michigan and Indiana avenues, a little north of
the nc,gghborhood Of both the Orphan Asylum
and the Mosely sehool-Housc.
DR.. J. r. GORE, County Physician was next
examined. He testified to having made the
post sno1tem upon the body Of 0'Neil, and de-
scribed the size, location and depth of the
wound upon the left breast The knife found
on the earth near the remains and supposed
to be the property Of the prisoner, was intro
duced. The Doctor was OF the opinion that 4
cut Of the character described might be in6ict-
ed with its smaller blade.
During the cross-cxamination, Mr.. Mason
asked, as the knife with which the wound WAS
alleged to have been made, was in court, that
experiments be made by DR.. Gore, in presence
Of the Jury, upon the coat Of the deceased to
demonstrate that cut Of the character Of the
ono upon 0'Ncil's body could be pro-
dnced in the cloth or that it could
not. The court ruled that there could
exist no good reason why such cx-
pcriments should not be made by the
witness or any member Of the jury. The jury
4lauL all CAdul1lAt4NA u LIZ EAtI41EAt AAA Liz
rents in it, but thinking that it being in
loose and fabby state, all experiments upon
its substance with the knife would prove un-
satisfactory, no such Illustrations we're at
tempted. The blood-stained garments Of
0'Nel were introduced, aud the direction of
the wound made by tho death~dealing instru-
! nlcnt traced through the five thickncsscs Of
cloth, constituting the coat, vest and sh irts,
This Was done with the object Of 1Icciding
whether the knife could have made the cut,
taking into consideration the length Of its
blade.
| MR. GEORGE DRESSER, in his testimony,
stated that he saw the body, before it lad been
moved, on The morning Of the 23d Of Decem-
| bcr. He also found knife in the vicinity on
| the 28th ult, three days subsequent to the
| murder. He was passing By the place in 4
wagon, and the snow being melted, he saw it
upon the ground, about three rods south
| westward from the spot where he had formerly
seen the body, jumped out and picked it up.
| He gave it to Justice MilIken, who handed it
to Coroner James. He Identified the knife in
court as the one he had found, from peculiar
marks. It is 4 large sized, common, two,
b1aded jack-knife.
PETER WAGNER certified to the appearance at
his place, No. GIG State street, of Murray,
/ 0'Keil, and another soldier, Late On the night
Of the 22d, and demanding whisky, half gal.
Ion Of which he sold them. They drank, and
carried the remainder Of the liquor away witt
them, ono 1emaining short time until the ar
rival Of pl ltrol guard who took him in charge
He saw O'Nel after lis death and could moi
identify him as one Of the three, bat coult
identify Murray and Mooney. Enough wa:
brought cut 10 show that O'Ncil was the cthfrt
man.
The crosE examination of this witness show
| cd thai the picket guard taking out the men
had muakets with bayonets, and that Nurra,
drank five cents worth OF the whiskey befor
leaving. The picket, it seeins, also DRINK 4
the same place, after Murray, O'Neil, an,
Mooney had departed towards camp DouElas
Ine three meu Werc evtcr " hen they went IT
TO the saloon, and apparently on good terms
The testimony Of Benja1Hin Burnish, who
was at Nagner's saloon on the OCCASION re-
. fcrrcd to when tic whisky was bought, cor
roborated that Of the previous witness. HI
placed the time of the occurrence at between
l2 and O'Clock at night
: HuGH MooSE1, Of Capt Swans company
, Fntyseyenth Regiment, knew the defcndan
and belonged to the same company. He sal
s Murray O. Neil and himself left Camp Douglas
{ by getting through the fence 1ittl
; after eleven O'Clock on the Sunday nigh
l preceding the murder. They trie
r to get liquor at one grocery and found
I closed, and then went to Wagners and obtair
c ed some. They met the picket. Murray tol
: them he was on recruiting service. ONE
| went out but finally returned to the saloo
: and left his bottle. They then started fo
camp, and he followed behind O'Nci1 an
] | Murray. Presently he SAW ONcn fall. Wen
up to him. Saw that he Has stabbed an
bleeding. Murry told him to put his Goa
l under the wounded mans head which he die
+ Mooney then went out and knocked ut thre
, or four doors Of neighboring people to get a
c sistanee, but all were asleep. He then starte
c 10 follow Murray to camp, and overlook lin
Murray said that O'Neil was dead.
t When the witness made this statement,
had surprising ettaacctt upon the prisoncr. {
became greatly excited, got upon his feet, ar
shaking bis list menacingly at Mooney, vi
Il stood facing him, said, <'Now, Mooney II
= know that is falsel''
IL The witness continued, seemingly payir
Is but little attention to his late comrade. Mu
Is ray, after their arrival in camp, told witnc
d to keep quiet about the death Of O'Neil. T
received the coat he had left under the dc:
man from the prisoner. There was no quar-
L. between deceased and the prisoner. It II
:. after o'clock in the morning when they :
y. rived in camp.
- On the ross-examination, the witness q
~ -, mitted that he had told one Joseph Rock I'll
" lie and Murray had left O'Neil at Wagne
place, and had seen nothing Of him sub:
~ quently. This statement he said was an Il
- truth. He told Col. Tucker the same thing
- AFTERNOON SESSION.
~ The Court met promptly at two o'clock, q
~ The jury were called
~ JAMES TRACT, a member Of Capt swa,
ne company, 57th regiment, testified that HI
cd ray, Mooney and 0'Neil left camp together
ve get some whisky, and that Murray upon
60 into scrape- Murray appeared very deiecte
cf. and the Wituess invited him to take some e
er- fee with him. He told the witness that hsd
IN O'Rea had some .cords; that 0'Men struck h
~ aad he had "c7okcxT' lin. {Witness explain
'eo the work e71oke MS meaning to kill, as he Z
;hc derstood it, The witness then vent In to
vite Mooney to take some coffee, but could r
- rouse him. The witness further stated ii
els he first made the acquaintance Of Mur1