The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-01-02

Now, gentlemen, let us look az II. Let us
examine IL calmly with sense OF the respousi-
bility that rests upon us all, and OF our account
ability when we walk out OF this court house.
There has been so much said by the learned
gentlemen that has been scattered over the case,
that is not in the case, that propose TO take
our bearings again to see how lar we have been
drifting away from the real point OF inquiry,
and ii is these tgne fdtui which have been
creeping around the case.
Let us understand one another. The last
sentence which iell iro n the lips OF Mr.. Mana
re.echoed the first sentence of his predecessor.
1t began with circumstaniial evidence, aud II has
enoed in circumstantial evidence. That is the
scarecrow that is set up here to ahrlght tDls
Jury. [ say scarecroW deliberately, AMI OF
course respectfully. / want to say what are
the principles that govern cases OF this sort 1t
all crimes were committed openly, or II crlml.
nails would be go oblging to confess their
crimes, there would be fewer cases of circum
stantial evidence. But so long as they VIII
commit them in quiet, then so long there must
be cIrcumstantial cases OF murder. Gentlemen,
the moment you begin to under estimate cir
cpmstaptal evidence you are giving liberty to
nurderers. 1t is necessary and lawful TO aci
upon circumstantial evidence, and the Court
Will so instruct you.
There are about eleven or twelve clses col
lated together as evidence of unjust convict. .Ons
and they have for years formed the stock in
trade of lawyers 10 defending criminals Ito
alarm weak juries." But like the scarecrow
IN the play, we now knowitis nothing but rags.
The whole thing is well understood in the pro-
lession. Circumstantal evidence, with direct
evidence, must be scrutlnized, aud when you do
that, you can not fail TO notice the strong links
in this particular case. Let us commence at
the beginning, and take the actor in this bloody
drama. The first thing we have Is the ringing
Of the bell. 1t alarms the inmates OF the house.
The door of the kitchen is open, and the
bell is at the kitchen, SO that there is
no difficulty about the transmis-
sion of sound. The bell was rung six
times without a pause between each ringing,
NJ IA Ito n,,in md
beard in the next house in the cellar, through
walls, so violently was 1t rung, and yet in this
house, with an open kitchen door, in the silence
of the night, it was not heard, we are asked to
suppose. But they say Mr.. and Mrs. 7 Twitchell
we're asleep. That Is u suggestion OF counsel,
and not the evidence. You are sworn to try
according to the evidence, and not by what the
lawyer may say. There Is at last an answer to
the ringing. Mark the mani He comes to the
door, aud it is a significant question he asked
where can mother be W 1t might be proper
question for the servant to ask, but for him,
inside the house, is one OF the footprints OF
crime. The only object was to start the girl on
a search to find body apparently murdered.
The girl says, ''Well see.n 1t is important to
see where mother is. 1t is an assertion Of
counsel that he went to her room to look, but it
is no part of the evidence, and will be kicked
out OF the Cose with great deal OF other mater
introduced in the same way. But he goes up
stars, passing the kitchen door open and a
current of al passing and a candle on the table,
not being attracted by these things. He
marches to the door and comes bacE again
without looking into that open kitchen! And
yet he is IN search for somebody. He sees it
open and yet makes no search. How was it
possible for him, an innocent man, to face
that current of air In that long entry,
without going to ascertain what it meant
He goes up stairs. WHAT he does we do
not know. He is called, aud answers with
"what ?" but he don't come down, and she to
down fat and then he takes the longest way
dOwn-by the front instead of tue back stairs.
When he came he asked no questions of the
servant girl; does not inquire the object of the
call, al hough they had started to lind where
n other wasn The girl tells him Mrs. Hill is
lying there, and after he is told that Mrs. Hill
is there. he inquiries, My God, what is thisP'
Then she IS carried III; but he makes no exam-
Dalion OF her body 10 ascertain where and how
she is injured; but you have a Call for water
| and doctor. He commenced the sopping of
| the head, thing of no value TO the living or
| the dead, but it gave him time-somethlng to
| do. He possesses our human nature, and when
his mother in.law is killed, he would naturally
| desire to know how and when it was done.
He made no request for an examination, and
| when the examination is made he does not ask
| the result Unless he possessed the guilty
| knowledge which the Commonwealth allege
| he did, would he not have inquired? He is tolC
that he or his wife committed that murder, and
he is silent. At the station house he is asked /
| be needed counsel, and he says Mott is
| fatality" He did not know then that there
| were hye member of the bar who could wast
|
there any evidence that he denied the mdr Ter
| To MIR. Montgomery he said, "Do you believe
did this p and that is all he said. Nay, more,
| the admission at the station house was q sur
| render to the force of the case, There is
fatality about IL; there is no need OF counsel.
| And there is fatality about crime, and th
man, when confronted With his own acts
| yielded to the force Of his own act. Next, yoC
have this mans bloody clothing, the blood OF
the two knobs of the door, the blood in his bed
and the blood IN the towel and the other artE
| cles.
First, he Is the only man in the house; second
| mis- conduct is inconsistent with innocence
next, his clothes are covered with blood; next
he made no allegation that anybody else CON
mitted the deed. That was an afterthought
| but that night he made no suoh allegation, anC
he gave an untrue account by saying that thu
body fell out the window, and finally that b
submits to fate, for the facts are against him
These circumstances demand CONVICTION. l
the defense does not meet this 1t has failed.
is no defense to show that there is a possollit.
that other causes could have produced thes
results. 1t is question OF fairness aud rea
sonableness. The most eXtravagant things ar
| possible. but the jury must not fall int
his mistake. The defense asks you TO sa
that because 1t is possible with the finger
TO flirt blood over shirt bosom, thetetore
1t is poss bic that George :. Twltchell got tn
blood on his shirt in that way; The jury
not TO take guesses, and yet that Is all th
defense has presented. Did a third person
enter that house and commit that murder?
is said that the object OF the murder was pluI
der. That was not the motive. There Is ev
dence that Mrs. Hill carried money on he
| person. No one heard OF the money until Mr.
Twitchell, one OF these defendants, stated to NJ
Morrell, aud il can be understood why en-
should start such story. 1t was her purpos
TO give reason for murder bJ third perso
nom the outside, and therefore 1t is Mr.
Twitchell who started this story. The Common
wealth did make search OF these premises an
had TO go TO the other side for PERMISSION.