The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-07-04
TIE HENRICO MURDER.
HILLlPs BEFORE THE COUNTY COURT.
DRINKER, DIR. EIRRAR, AND RO-I
AEd PITTS EXAMINED.
NEW DET LOPNEN rs.


of Justices G. D. and T. L. Peasants, W.
II. Ycatman, J. Z. Friend, and J. T. Chill
drey, resumed yesterday the examination
Of James Jeter Phillips, charged with the
murder Of his wife, Mary Emily Phillips,
in February last. The usual crowd Of
spectators was present, and patiently lis
tened through long hours TO the evidence
presented.
The witnesses for the Commonwealth
were called ut about II o'clock, and large
majority Of them being present, were duly
sworn by the clerk. As the evidence has
already been reported in the DiSpn'ch we
give only the statements which are new or
which differ from testimony previously re-
ported.
Joseph Drinkcr testified that on the 18th
Of February, at about o'clock in the az
tcrnoon, he found the body of woman
who seemed to have been murdered. 1t
was lying in the woods near by-road. /
don't know who The woman was.
Mr.. Johnson: The prisoner at tho bar is
before your worships for having wiifully
and fcloniousiy killed and murdered Mary
Emily Phillips. The principle Of the COR
puS deltCl is 50 well established that it
seems unnecessary to discuss it. | there
fore briefly invite your attention to the
question which IS before you: Did the pr-
soner XII Mrs. PhilIipSi The witness de-
scrbes dead body, but who it was he
says he does not know. This evidence is
Of no value, unless it is proved that the
dead body of Mary Emily Phillips was
found. You have no right to describe the
body found on Drinkers farm before you
connect that dead body with the accused.
The charge against the prisoner is definite
in its character, and it must be proved
that the person thus definitely mentioned
was murdered Establish this, and you
can then prove that the body Of Mrs. Phil
lips was found, ard that .Ietcr Phillips
murdered her. / hope that the court will
direct this course 10 be pursued.
! Colonel Young differed with the pris-
oncI's counsel. This was charge Of
homicide; first we ascertain that q murder
was committed, aud then try to discover
who it was that committed the deed. The
corpus deiicti is the fact Of the killing-it
is lie body of the crime. Has homicide
been committed? This is the first qucs-
ton. We then ask, who committed the
decd lie then quoted Roscoe to show
that the fact OF u murder must f1.st be
proven. lie urged, also, that 10 prove the
identify OF the body it was not necessary
that it should be seen. There arc other
means of Identification.
/ Mr. Johnson disclaimcd any intention of
unnecessarily delaying the court, and
ur-cd his point with considerable earnest
ness. lie believed that he was we'll torti-
fled in his position, aud believed it his du-
ty 20 insist upon it. | shall the more car
ncstly insist upon all legal objections be-
cause my client has been most unjustly
and cruelty treated since his arrest. ! de
sire that the trial Shall be cOnductcd upon
well established principles Of law. The
inquiry is not whether homicide has been
committed, but whether a homicide has
been committed upon.Mary Emily Phillips.
The charge IS that my client killed a known
person. First establish that tbs person
was certainly murdered. DON'T 60 through
an examination Of several days only to
learn that this was the body Of another
woman. He thought the question could
be settled in only one way-by common
sense view. In the preliminary cXamina-
tion much evidence had been introduced
which was entirely irrelevant. He begged
that in the very beginning Of this trial care
should be taken TO avoid Il repetition OF
this course. There is no reason for allow
ing the Commonwealth to proceed ndis-
criminately with the evidence.
/ The court decided that the witness
should be allowed to proceed.
Joseph Drinkers examination continued:
The woman looked as if she had been LETT
for dead, but had afterward attempted to
rise. She WAS dressed in 4 purple calico,
with dark grey sacquc, and wore straw
hat trimmed with blue ribbon. | saw no
flowers on the hat. One Of the hands
seemed to have been gnawcd about the
knucElcS. No blood was seen upon the
gnawcd fingers. first thought She was a
young girl, but she aiterward looked older.
Her hair was cut of short. There was a
pistol wound on the head, but the bullet
had not penetrated the skull. Her nose
was mashed, the Shouldcr-bladc broken,
and there were bruises on other parts OF!
the body. She evidently had attempted
20 rise, and, falling TO the ground upon her
face, died where she fell.
/ have had slight acquaintance with
( The accused. | think he was at Mr.. George
! Turner's on the day the body was found.
Cross-examincd The pistol wound was
made by very small bail. The weather
on the day that ! found the. body was
rather cool, and drizzly rain had been
falling. The weather il that month was
generally mild, hut it was pretty cold
winter. The body, in my opinion, had
! laid on the ground two days and nights.
| There were no evidences Of decomposition
about il. There was rain on Monday. /
don't think any rain had fallen upon the
! body.
Mr.. Johnson: Do you know who killed
! that person
Witness: Well, moi exactly.
Mr.. Johnson: Do you know, or do YOU
not
Witness: No, ! don't know.
Questioned by Mr. Young: am pretty
sure that no rain had fallen upon the body !;
the clothes We're not ut all dlscolorcd.
The spot upon which the woman was lying
was almost equally distant from NY house,
Ir. Turner's, and Mr.. Pleasanls's. | no.
ticed slight impression Of boot-hccl
near the head OF the corpse; no other
! tracks were visible. In The road there
were tracks of a buggy and footprints
of a woman, as if She had got out OF
the buggy. The track was that OF light
vehicle, which seemed to have cone
around through the woods from the Darby
town road, returning another way. fol.
lowed the track. but lost II IN an old
field.
Dr.. ". +. Farrar testified | examined
the body found on Drinkers farm. | think
that the shot was fired after the woman
had fallen PROSTATE, and expressed this
opinion TO the coroner's jury. There was