The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-11-19

L EODA I MOKNlNG,
which II was supported was knocked from un-
der. Further, this aIibi is incredible when we
| consider that the accused at sunset was seen
walking down Franklin street, at one end of
the town, in company with his wife,, and
| three-quarters Of an hour after is found sit.
| ting down at Miles PhiIlips's When an dlibi
| Is thus improbable, and the testimony Of the
witness brought forward To establish IL Is
! impeached and his collateral statements afe
over thrown, Is it worth q moments conside-
ration
Colonel Young then briefly reviewed the
evidence introduced to prove the whereabouts
Of the accused from Monday morning 1Sthl
until Thursday the esth of February. What If
he did 90 down the country during that time ?
Do not Messrs. George W.. Turner, Temple
man, and McWhirt, all say that they saw him
| in Richmond in the middle of the week. What
boots 1t to prove that he was here at one time
and there at another time when nothing is in
troduced to initiate against the well-founded
belief that the woman was killed on the night
Of that Sunday on which he was last seen
with her. The clothes found on the corpse
were so clean that the witnesses agreed that
they conld not have been worn by a person
moving about for week. Yet she had on the
very same apparel-to garment-that she
wore when she left her home in Essex. If she
had washed the clothes she must have got to
her trunk. How. did she get at it when, If she
left the prisoner, it was still in his possession
Is it not strange, too, that she should have
put on the very same clothes again. Every
thing points TO that Sunday night, and it is
from that night that the defence endearors to
draw our attention.
Shall this prisoner now wrap himself in re-
serve and say, Prove that Ikilled her "
Shall he refuse to give any account of this
woman, with whom he was last seen? He
must give an explanation consistent with his
IN Il fo0 in q hnf
we can be satisfied that he is not guilty Of the
murder of his wife. We demand that he shall
tell us what he did with her. Starkie Il, page
:OS) holds that even where the evidence In
case is inconcluaiye, the mere absence Of any
explanation on the part of the accused adds
great weight 10 the probability of his guilt.
The Attorney for the Commonwealth con-
cluded the opening speech with ;n apology Tor
the length Of time consumed. but added that
the great number Of facts and points involved
were sufficient excuse for the length Of the
argument.
SPEECH OF MR.. GUIGoN.
After n short intermission, Mr.. Guigon
opened the argument for the defence. He con-
graduated the court and jury that this tedious
trial was drawing TO close. On behalf OF
himself and his associates, he stated that tney
did not deem 1t necessary TO follow the attoT-
nev for the Commonwealth in labored argr-
ment.
proceeding TO The consideration OF the case,
accused had been satisfactorily established.
Nor did the counsel for the accused wish 10
assume that it was not the prisoners Wlle
who was found dead on Drinkers farm NOR
do we deny that the accused has been gnllty
of prevarication. We are prepared to adnl
that he concealed for two years the mar
| riage so unhappily contracted. He was n
| mere boy when he was married. from
Il feeling of gratitude he returned 10 Is,
sex to visit the family who had
so kindly administered to his wants while sick
| ut their house. The deceased was ten years
his senior, had either beauty nor money, nor
anything TO attract the prisoner, but Ill boyish
folly he married her out of mere gratltuoe.
He was ashamed Of the match, and by preVar1-
cation and falsehood concealed from his family
and friends that he had married dowerless
woman, who had nothing to recommend her
| TO them.
But We do hold that this man did not kill
his wife. Circumstantial evidence does not
mean doubt or belief, but 4 chain OF crcum-
stances which cannot be broken, and not one
link must be missing. If there be any gap In
the testimony, the cause of the Commonwealth
is dead, so far as the accused is concerned.
My learned friend who preceded me
demanded explanation, and has repeated
again and again the call. This is 4 call
which he has no right to make. he
has had the boodhounds of the prosecu-
tion to track this boy from his cradle TO the
date of his arrest He has dragged into court
the divine in his gown, the bullet headed de-
tective, the constable who cheated his partner
ont of his share Of the reward, women from
the brothel whose trade is shown by their IA
miliarity of the undergarments OF lnuecent |
women, and negroes whose part it was TO tes-
tfy in regard TO thn baggage of the accused.
With all this efficient cohort of aids ne mas
been unable TO prove that the prisoner killed
this woman. He has only proven that there
are many inexplicable facts in this most re-
markable of cases. This we admit, and there
are many things which tend TO throw suspi-
cion upon the accused, but you cannot convict
upon suspicion. but must be satisfied beyond q
,tnsontLts doubt The veil falls upon the
18th of February. and the Common
wealth has failed 10 lift it one inch. BY
their own witnesses they have proved tnal
the deed could not have been committed on
the 18th. DIR. Farrar, uesPiie what others
NAV have said, has established, in the OPT
MON Of every candid mind, that the woman
could not have been dead for more than TWO
or three days. Il. r. Peasants and Mr.. Tur-
ner agree i'll the same opinion. All the VIII
uesses agree that much rain could not have
fallen upon the body. 1t could not therefore
have been there eleven days, MS from the l7th
10 the 25th there were frequent ana neaSy
rains, as has been shown BY Mr.. Barksdale, the
almanac, and several witnesses. no reasonable
man can believe that if the body had been
there SO long the clothes would nave oeen
clean and so neatly arranged:
If. then, she was killed on Monday or Tues
day, she must have been alive from the 18th
10 the 18th of February. Where was she du-
ring this time? We call upon the Common
| wealth to account for her, rs we have shown
| that she was not with our client. we nave
account ted for him, and he was alone-let the
Commonwealth account for her.
The speech of Mr.. Guigon was concluded 1T
| a late hour We are obliged TO omit large
portion of it on account Of the amount OF
space already occupied by the report OF the
| trial Tomorrow we propose TO report the
speeches made to-day by the counsel for the
| accused.