Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1869-04-05
TIE TWITCHELL MURDER.

Il
ing the so-called confession of Twitchell, pub.
lished in Saturdays STAR, noswithstaad. .ng
the following additional facts corroboratiug II: /:
On Saturday morning Mrs. Camilla f.
Twitchell left the city, under circumstances
which would appesr to lend the countenance
OF truth to ,he arraienment Of her by her hus.
band for the murder OF Mrs. Hill. About
week ago she visited the condemned man in
versation with the Rev. Mr.. Bringhurst in the
course of which che inquired especially il
Ywitchell bad made any statement about the
crime. Mr.. Bringhurst replied that he had. She
then inquired II he had made a confession, to
which she again received al Affirmative reply.
mrs. Twitchell then ing uired If her husband
had made any statement concerning herself n
connection with the murder, to which she
likewise received an Affirmative rcyponse
"ies," said Mr.. Bringhurst, she has told me
all ABOUT It." rhen," exclaimed Mrs. Twitch-
face Of the earthi" She then directed her in.
QuiIIes to the day Of the execution, as king if
Twicheli intended to make any statement on
the scaffold. She was assured Sy Mr.. Bring
hurst that he intended to do %. This brought
out the inquiry as TO whether any newspaper
reporters would be present. and when told
such would be the case, she exclaimed THAT
would be bad!" Since the day on which this
conversation occurred, Mrs. TwitchelI has not
been near the cell Of her husband.
The reason why Twitchells confession is dis
believed are summed up by the Sunday
Despatch, which, after stating the above facts,
Yet very few people will believe this tale.
which is told by man with the rope around
his neck, and which, If believed by the
Governor, will save him from the gaiiows.
In the first place it cOntradicts all that TwIt-
chell had previously said. He professed and
of the murder till ne was told OF il by the ser.
want girl. He and his wife had gone to bed at
half-past seven, and were asleep when the
horrid deed was committed. Now he says that
this was a deliberate falsehood to save his
wife. When We compare 1t with the facts es-
tablished by direct evidence 10 contradict 1t,
George Twitchell. in b 10 written conf.s sion,
declares that his wife SAID, Il have had a quar-.
rel with mother, and killed her." There is no
evidence that the murder was committed in the
course ofa sudden quarrel. On the contrary,
rounding fass ana py ,ne oy Opinions ns 'u5 Of
medical experts, that Mrs. Hill was
murdered while lying on the sofa,
There is evidence which has never been re. re.
butted. that Mrs. Twitchell did not strike the
blow, bat that Mr.. Twitchell did. The blood
stains on bis clothes have n eaningihey were not
merely stains. but, almost as plaialy as written
words, uttered the fearful charge, Thou art
the man. Twlichell declares that he helped
hrs wife to throw the corpse out Of the windo W.
That accounts for the blood. Yes, it does ac-
count for the crimson sme.rs; but how did the
coat and the shirt and the collar and cuffs get
those sprinkled spO,s. Dr. Lewis declared that
the sprinkled spots could only be accounted for
by the spurt from an artery suddenly opened by
blow from weapon. These spots could not
have been received by smears from coas ulated
blood. IL Tw.tchell merely helped TO throw
the body ont OF the window, it Is not likely that
his face would be marked with the blood so as
to REQUIRE him to wash 1t OFF at the hydrant
Yet this he slys he did. While he was found
afterwards with these blood stains on his
clothes, not q spot Of blood was found on the
personal apparel Of Mrs. Twitchell.
All these contradictions prevent us from
mi-sed as worthless, unless the prisoner can
produce cOrroborative testimony. 81 now
make these disclosures" says George : Twit.
chell, .'that l may have peace with God
This may be his reason but there cause to
believe that he is not ignorant that il his con-
fession Is telieved. he will not only make his
peace with God, put with the Law.
In regard to this confession" the Phila-
delpbia Telegraph remarks:
After carefully examining the so.called ..con-
fessiop,' we have come TO the conclusion that
Twitchell has not spoken the truth, and that
instead of the tale now told being a real state
ment Of facts, Ii is q thorough fabrication. In
truth, we think that George 5. Twitchell has
added another lie TO his list of crimes and one
too, BY which he hopes to escape the impending z
death sentence. Let us look for a moment at
the position Of the parties. TwItchell has been
convicted and has been sentenced TO death on
next Thursday. All efforts To obtain a pardon
from the Governor have failed. His case has,
by q species Of legal Jugglery, been brought
before the Supreme Court Of the United
States, and the judges are now deliberating
on their action IN the matter. There is no
possible hope for Twitchell except In the action
Of the Supreme Court of the United States
To influence the minds Of the press is now the
great point. Meanwhile Mrs. Twitchell has
been ried and acquitted. The law OF the land
prevents apv one being more than once put in
jeopardy of life or limb. She therefore is safe
Nothing can again cause her to stand in the
criminal dock for the crime OF numbering her
mother. Then what is a more natural thing
TO be done by the prisoner than to make coa-
lesson which will make the wife the murderer
and he the accessory after the fact! she can
not he injured save In reputation, and her trIaI
has done all that injury possible. She has
nothing 10 lose, and ne every thing to gain, and
therefore II 10 not only likely that he would
make confeS SION accusing her Of the murder,
but we contemplated even more than this
We expect she will corroberAte the confess
sion.