The Hancock Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Ohio) 1857-1870, 1869-04-09

il hat and went to see some friends /
1.-the town. When 1 got back it ws
S, past eleven O'Clock, and Strange, th
q, housemaid told me, had been in be
H. asleep more than an hour. pal
II nv share of the bill, for | iutende
e, starting early, went up stairs, fouI
Y Strange fast asleep, and went to be
/ myself. Next morning l was calle
q 1t five, packed my bag, swallowed
n cup of coffee, and in half an hour va
e on ny way to London On leav1p,
d the inn / told the porter that m
l companion was asleep, and that, a
/, he was only gong by the ten O clocI
d coach to Brighton, they need not cal
him yet. / should not forget to tel
1t you that while | Was dressing in tn
e morning Strange awoke, and that W,
S shook hands over our dispute of tn
!. previous day. As I was closing IN,
carpet bag he asked me to lend hin
. one of my razors; thing which
E had the greatest objection to (fer i
+, [ am particular about anything
, possess, it is about my razors, bu
I having only just made up my differ
e ence with him, I could hardly refuse
him SO small favor. .sIJsg p
; The days 1 am writing OF were
before railways had extended tc
Southampton. Leaving the latter
place at halEpast- five in the morn
ing, it was half-past six in the eve
ming before | got TO town. i weni
to bed, got up the next day, and,
while | was sitting at breakfast with
my wife, our servant told me that
two gentlemen wished 10 speak 10
me. / went down to see them, and,
before / could open my mouth to ask
Y them what ihey wanted, found myself
with handouts on, arrested for tho
murder Of Edward Strange. 100 zsf'
at seems that, finding Strange
did not come down by halEpast niue,
the porter went up TO call him. He
found the door locked, but no keyin
it. After knocking some time, on
the outside, the dCor was broken
open, and pooi&Strange was found
with bis throat cut from ear to ear,
4 and razor in his hand. The key
or the door was Afterwards found 50
the coffee room, under the very
bench on which | had sat 10 drink
my cup OF coffee before starting, , q
81 WAS brought before the lnagis5
trate at Bow street next morning,
and was by him sent down to South
ampton to await the result of the
coroner's inquest upon my partner.
The verdict was willfUl murder, and,
after commitment by the magistrate
to tie sessions, i was put on trial
for my lIfe at Winci,estor.
The trial lasted only few hours.
1t was fully proved. that Strange and
myself had quarrelled and had high
words the night before, and that l
had said I did not care how soon he
died, so that / could recover the
money L had lent him. 4 great deal
was made of the fact that by
Strangc's death | should he entitled
to the insurance upon his lite to the
amount of two thousand pounds, by
which / should be a clear gamer Of
one thousand two hundred. It was
further shown that the razor found
in poor Strange's hand was mine,
and three medical men declared their
conviction that, although that instru
ment was undoubtedly used to kill
the dead man, it must have been
placed in bis hand alter death
Moreover, there were not only evil
dent marks of a struggle about the
bed and bedclothes, but Strange's
throat was cut from right to lett.
which no one could have done unless
be had been a left-handed man,
which Strange was not. Then, again,
The fact of the bedroom door being
locked, and the key hid close to
where / had breakfasted, told fear |
fully against me. 1t was clear that
Strange could not by any possibility
have cut his own throat, and then
locked the door of his room on the
outside. 1t was attempted by my
counsel to throw discredit upon this
part OF the evidence. The learned I
gentleman tried very hard to elicit
something which might even lead
the jury to imagine that the door
had been locked after the murder,
and that some person unknown had
upknowingly let the key drop in the
coffee-roOm- But il was Of no avail
=hatever. 1t was clearly proved
that the key had been inside the door
when l went up to bed, and that it
had never been seen again until 1t
was found in the cotiiee-roOm. My
defence tried hard to make out that
some person likely to commit the
murder might have been in the house
on that day, but all of no USE As
the trial went on, even l, who knew
my innocence, could not help allow
ing to myself that the evidence,
though purely circumstantial, was
very strong against me. The only
points IN my favor were, that, on the
day of the murder / was supposed to
have committed, ] travelled up to
and had not the least ap
pearance OF man who had anything
on his mind. Again, Strange was ,
known to have had on his person a
gold watch, and purse containing
4 few sovereigns and twenty five
pound notes, the numbers OF which
latter were ascertained at the bank at
Southampton, where he had procured
.hem in exchange for bank-post
bill. The watch had been taken, and
was never traced the sovereigns
lad also disappeared; but the bank
notes had been exchanged at the
Bank of England on the day after +;
he murder, and before 1. as fully /,
proved, bad any communication
whatever with any one in London. |
Of this last point my counsel made ,
he most, but it did not help me
much, if anything. Thejury retired, =
md after deliberating abont half an :
lour, returned into court, and de-
Jared, through their foreman, that /,
was guilty Of the willful murder Of
Edward Sta ange. hAs .- /
Gentleman, man who has gone
through that ordeal-who has heard j
he jury pronounce him guilty OF d
capital crime, and heard the judge Z
PASS sentence of death upon him. /
man, say, gentlemen, who has G
rome through that ordeal, and still J
ives to tell the tale, ma, (or am j $
,resumptuoas3) be looked upon as g