The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-02-15

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the purpose when it excludes disbelief:
that is, actual, and not technical disbelief;
for he who is to- pass upon the question is
not at liberty to disbelieve as a juror, what
he believes as man. It is enough that
his conscience is clear" And hence,
gentlemen, the legal test is, "the sufficien-
cy of the evidence to satisfy the judgment
and conscience of the jury asEa2 GOO
1t is to be observed and borne in mind,
or the other hand, that the facts from
which conclusions of guilt are sought to
be drawn, should be satisfactorily proven,
and, In criminal case, to warrant a con-
viction, should be sufficient to exclude
every other rational supposition, suggested
or supported by any evidence, but the
supposition that the accused is guiltv.-
Such is the view which the law takes of
circumstantial evidence; such the rules
and caution which it suggests TO guide a
jury In passing upon it, and deducing i'm
portant conclusions from it. And, accor-
Glngly, you, gentlemen, regarding this
rule and caution, must judge of the truth
of the facts and circumstances from which
conclusions are sought to be drawn; de-
termine, if you fud them to be true,
whether there is any reasonable explana-
ton ; and what concl lusions, if true, and
unexplained and unaccounted for, they
reasonably support. You must thus think,
scrutlnlze, and reason, at every step In the
Investigation for your verdict, at last,
must be your judgment formed upon the
law and the evidence and the test estab-
lished by the law, as we have seen, is, the
suficiency Of the evidence to satisfy your
Judgment and conscience. r a5s-
We reeur now to the inquiry, are these
prisoners the guilty men ?-and does the
evidence prove it beyond a reasonable
doubt -a5a srs.-.a-E .-ss.r1s tara-1 .
The allegation, or theory, of the COM
monwealth is, that these prisoners, who it
appears had been in the Western peniten-
! tiary for some time prior to the 18th Of
May, when their term of Imprisonment
expired, and who had been companions
before and have been since, while In the
Penitentiary, obtained information from a
certain Philip Fulgert, also convict
taken from Cambria county Ia 1861, and
whose wife before his marriage had lived
with Polly Paul, of the lonely and seclu-
ded residence and OF the circumstances of
Polly Paul and that it was there, in the
| Penitentiary, plotted and agreed that when
the prisoners should be released. they
would rob her though they should have
to commit murder In doing it, and appro-
pirate portion of the money they might
| obtain for the purpose OF procuring par
| don for Fugers, ami releasing him from
prison That they were released on the
18th of May; aud that on the 18th of
May, John B. HouseI, one OF the prison
ers, was In the neighborhood of Summer
| hill, Cambria county, a few miles from
the residence of the deceased moving
from one place TO another, inquirinS for
some widow, and acting in "a noticeably
singular manner,-endeavorin as the
counsel of the Commonwealth surmise
! and allege, preparatory to the execution of
the alleged criminal purpose, toTexplore
the neIghborhood, and find the residence
! Of the deceased: That a few days after
wards, or about the 2Sth or Goth of Nav,
t-the prisoners went together to the house
of Mrs. Miller in Allegheny city, where
they remalnedj as boarders, until Monday
the 9th of June, when they both left to-
gether, carrying with them a tin box con-
tanning their instruments as cuppers and
leechers, which they professed to be, and
a large black oil cloth sack: That on
Tuesday, the 9th of June, the. day before
the murder, Howser again made his ap-
pearance in Cambria county, at the house
occupied by Susan Preall on the road from
Summerhill to or past Isaac PaupS, carry
ing a tin box similar to that produced here
belonging to the prisoners, aud inquired
if they wanted any cupping or leeching
done, and afterwards went on towards
Isaac PauPs, about three-fourths of u mile
from Polly PauPs, where he made partic-
ular inquiries about Polly Paul, whether
she was alone, and whether she was alone
at that time, and whether there was any
man about her house, and whether he
would have to pass the saw-mill to go
there and, after inquiring whether they
had any cupping, leeching, or tooth-draw
ing to do, went back the road he came.
towards Summerhill:7 Thar on Friday or
Saturday after the murder, or On the 9th
or 10th of June, the prisoners returned
together, as they haG left, to Mrs. Miller's
in Allegheny city when Howser's feet
were sore and swollen, and disappearance
and conduct that of a detected and dis
tressed man; that In conversation heard
between them afterwards In Mrs. Miller's
house, in which they disputed, Houser
asked Buser to get the money they had
and give him his share, stating that he
wanted to leave him and go to his father;
to which Buser replied that if he would
get the money then, it might get them
both into troable !: That they had but
little money when they left Allegheny
scity, and claimed to have money, although