The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-06-04
SPEECH OF DISTRICT A11ORNEYWm. 3. MANN,

Delivered at the Close OF the Argument
In the Trial of GOttleib Williams, for
isS7. A % A-A'A~ 'AAeA' DA''''" AO'
May it please the Court-Gentlemen of the
jury In presenting to you the regular, unbroken
chain of facts and circumstances which in this
case has been wrought out with almost mathe-
maucal precision, | can say to you frankly
that feel could safely leave it to your careful
consideration and calm, honest decision, without
Dwigh)I has fully and fairly argued the case,
and summed 1t up on the part of the Common
wealth. His arguments are, as yet unan-
sweIeS, se ga and MS appeals to your right reason
counterlcting influence. The counsel for the
prisoner in their addresses to you have been,
as it were, answering speech made by myself
in opening the case, in which stated to the
jury ,whet,, would be able to prove,
and 1 call your attention to the fact
tlEno.,,otiyy. that they :, have pointed out no
proved. When at the beginning of this case |
stated to you, gentlemen, what the Common
wealth was enabled to prove, was actuated by
motives of the utmost candor and sincerity and
conscientiously discharged my duty. Aud now,
when we have almost closed this remarkable
trial, we find that but one single instance has
been mentioned by the counsel for the prisoner
wherein that which alleged in the beginning
has not been supported by the evidence. Of the
great mass of facts enumerated in my opening,
but one solitary item remains improved But,
bear in mind, gentlemen, that when the witness
who was able to prove that single item was pro-
duced by me and placed upon the stand, and
stated my offer, the evidence was objected to by
the counsel for the prisoner, and ruled out by
the Court Now, it is very rare indeed may
say extremely rare-that at the close of an in
vestigation like this, an opening speech can
pass the ordeal of thorough criticism without
more than one imperfectlon being detected in it.
The proper and legitimate inference is, that the
officers of the law who were engaged in the
preparation of this case have faithfully, con-
scientlously, and completely discharged the
duties devolving upon them.
/ have said, gentlemen, that 1 might safely
commit this case to your care without any com
ment whatever on my part, but custom abso.
lutely requires, il duty does not demand, that
should conclude the argument on the part of
the Commonwealth. And here let me say, gen.
tlemen, that of all the extraordinary and mar
vellous cases which have occurred in this COM
munity of late years, no one, in my opinion,
has been so remarkable as this one. 1t was
case where, in all human probability, if the Off
GERS of the law had not interfered, If the detec-
tive officers had not made thorough eXamina-
ton, and followed out in all their surroundings
the apparently trivial min utle of facts as they
were presented, the victim of this terrible
tragedy would have been left to moulder away
IN her last resting place, with none to vindicate
her memory from the foul and unjust aspersion
of self-murder; the evidences of guilt would
never have been obtained either to disclose the
assassin or even to establish the crime. In
former years Eliza Miller would have been
buried at the crossroads, stake driven down
upon her grave, and the passerby, as he pointed
to the spot, would have exclaimed, There lies
suicide!" The counsel for the prisoner ask
you to believe and decide this to have been a
case OF self-murder;, they ask you to tear away
the halloWed mould beneath which she now
reposes, and consign her to the crossroads and
the stake. They ask you to say
"She should in ground unsanctified have lodged
Till the last trumpet; tor charitable prayers,
Shards, hints, and pebbles should be thrown
on her."
II tberefore devolves unon mo oontIapon
not only to vindicate the outraged law, but to
defend the memory of the voiceless dead.
1t is true that the Coroner's jury were about
to render verdict of suicide, when Chief Detec-
tive Franklin came upon the ground, and, COM
pretending the whole subject at glance, said
There must be mistake here; this is no sui
eide, it is murder" The cap is then taken
from the woman's head, and the wounds, which
have been described to you here were found
upon her skull. Then on that Wednesday night
further investigation is made, and franklin
orders the arrest of Gottleib Williams, and he is
accordingly sought for on Thursday. son, but
these detectives cannot find him." you are told;
"why boast of these detectives-Why boast of
the zeal of the Chief, amounting" we are told,
ITO madness Why boast of the instnctn (supe-
rior to human reason) displayed by Taggert
and Smith in all their Investigations" "Why
boast of all this, when they cannot find this
man who is known to everybody, who is seen in
his daily walks-you cannot find him on We'd
nesday, and yet you boast of your detectives,
and the perfection of their system.n Why, gem
tlemen, the facts here speak for themselves. 1t
is clear 9aoeo that the reason they could
not find the prisoner was, because on Wednes-
day he went to a lone place, a place unire-
quented by men, and there drank his laudanum
to take his life away, and remained there in a
state of stupor all day on Thursday, and the
next morning left his hiding-place, went to his
barbershop, and was arrested Just after he
left it. / answer the counsel for the prisoner
The detectives could not discover the prisoner
on Thursday because they knew not of the
lone place in which this man could 90 and
sleep all day long = this hiding.place this
covert where the prisoner slept from Wednes-
day night until Friday morning. This Is the
only reproach,. gentlemen. save one that
against the detective officers, or 20 which
they did give utterance- that they failed to find
this man on Thursday. Yet while the prisoner
was snugly slowed away in an unsupported
locality, these officials patiently sought for him
in the streets, through the market-place, in the
tavern, and in every place to which he had been
in the habit of going, and no Gottleib Williams
was to be found. The other reproach they cast
upon these detectives was that they did not per-
NIT anybody TO see the prisoner Immediately
after his arrest. Gentlemen, they were busily
ferreting out criminals they were carefully
examining, investigating, and inquiring into
details, as their duty imperatively required of
them to do. They did not send after the prI-
soner's brother and his counsel, and ask them
to come and interfere with their investigation,
and explain how Gottleib Williams could be con-
victed or acquitted of the crime with which he
was charged. You can imagine, gentlemen, how
much assistance the officers would have derived
from the presence OF counsel. The Constitution
OF the State allows the prisoner counsel at his
trial; II does not authorize the counsel to thrust
himself in the way when the officers are eXa-
mining the clothes of a prisoner, or inquiring
into the state OF his mind, the character of his
declarations, and using their best efforts to dis
cover evidence that will lead them to the TRUTH
and further the ends of public justice. In all
human DrObabilitV If the nri6Oner had been