Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1870-12-07

scores Of persons tramped in and out. Blood
on the door, blood on the floor blood ev-
crywhere. The only wonder is. that there
was not more oft. There was beud thrown
upon the door in spatters; DO you suppose
| that that woman, when she had her hands
pierced through and through.-d, You sup
pose those hands were still were they not
| being flung about in the agitation of an aw-
full defence? What difficulty for accounting
for every drop of blood any where there The
testimony shows that that woman's hands
were pierced through and through, -thtt the
assassin's knife cut them in all directions.
Why, it was perfectly natural that blood
should flow. She was defending herself by
quitting up her hands, there was no other
way to defend herself. MIR. Latlin's hand,
were not cut one particle. II he was in that
struggle how was he defending himself? BY
the same weapons which instinct taught
| Mrs. IioSwcll to defend herself? Her
hands were cut, MIR. Lafin's were not.
But theysay this wrapper is in the way.
| DO you remember, gentlemen, that wrapper
was not buttoncd? Now l ask you, in the
rush of defence, in the frenzied fight for
| life, would it have been close around her
body? Not at all. ltwould have been half
off, and when he seized her person elsewhere
ard lost his hold and then seized her by the
wrapper after hlving inflicted those terrible
|
Brother Pilsbury shows yon the wristbands
| of this wrapper, as if his wrists and wo-
mans wrists were alike. Perhaps brother
| Pillsbury cannot take his wrists from the
| sleeves without tuning them outward, but
| that woman could.
Now what became of John B. Latin during
this struggle? The counsel say that after his
| jugular vein had been severed, the external
caroted artery cut off, that he stanched the
| L. Ill 4 al.
| his head bent down, opened the door of that
bedroom, passed out and along to his own door,
which he opened, and other cases OF exercise.
| [ do not ask the testimony Of experts, ask
merely the testimony of the common sense OF
mankind-Did you ever hear OF n man with
| his iugular vein severed, the caroted vein cut,
going through SO much exercise rs that!
| They put too much work upon him. How
did the blood come against the door? Why
was the bolt bloody? Do you suppose Hos
well was entirely free from blood that night?
| Do you suppose that after his knife had been
driven into his wife's head and through her
hands that his hands were clean, in fierce
| struggle like that? No, gentlemen, that blow
was struck upon that door sill, as that inno-
cent man was starting from the house. That
carpet he had with him. The blow through
| the breast, Dr. Brickett undertakes to tell
you, would have produced no great constltu.
tionai effect. Granted, gentlemen, that it
would not kill man, but blow from knife
driven home through the breast bone, 10 say
! that it would have no effect upon him is fall
lacious. Under the influence of that terrible
blow he wandered about THAT yard with that
carpet still clutched with instinctiveness under
| his arm, until the murderer had nearly I'm
| ished his victim in the house, when he turns
to follow the man he was bent on numbering.
| Why was this gush of blood upon his door
and how came it there? Can "a man who has
| had his iuRuar vein cut turn his head letting
The blood squirt here and there TO suit the CON
venience of the counsel for defence? Gentle
men, you are to take the cle,,r facts of this
case. You are not tu 20 away over the world
and hunt up possibilities you are not TO con
Germ yourselves with those things that are
hunted up, when the plain facts OF the case,
submitted to the Judgment of any honest
man, shows that they are the mere vagarles
OF the Imagination OF counsel.
! When Mr.. Latin was first seen, he was
staggering about; then it was that he was
| found in that doorway, weak of knee, faint
and sick at heart. and there on his own thresh'
| hold, he died. Counsel tell you il the prison
er was guilty, he would not have followed this
man into the presence of witnesses. lie dld
not calculate on the presence Of witnesses. 1t
| is only the All-Seeing Eye of God that had
marked that lnurd r, and had raised the
| means of detection there. That boy was IN
the shop, and there by accident. 1t was his
cries that brought all the rest. Bat t1ey say
| he made 10 resistance. | should have pre-
| ferred that he made no resistance, anu upon
the ground that away down in the pottom OF
| his heart he had some human feeling lett, ana
that The consciousness of this terrible deco
came over him with such force that he coaia
make no resistance. l should have preferred
out of humanity to him to have stated 50 II
had been in his defence. But did he do noth-
| ing that evinces consciousness OF IL! we
cannot have the beneiis OF his own testimony
convenient frenzy saved him from exam
nation on these points. MIR. Orcuttte tells you
that when he got TO him, he saw him thrust
both hands into his pockets, and he tells you
the rest of that scene. Mr.. Kendall arrested
him, and said, ''have you weapons 7" 81 have
none" said Hoswell. No weapons cooked
revolver in his pocket and bloody knife on ms
person, and vet he had no weapons. why
did he say that? 1t is the frs instinct OF a
man after he finds himself in the custody OF
the law, TO make excuses to get out OF IT,
Oftimes they are frivolous, oftimes they are
transparent and utterly worthless, but his m
stinct leads him to do it. Further than that
you hearGbhis expressions. lie says: =" nat
would you have done it you had found man
in bed with your wife," Gentlemen, that
| SltKlSS tflal has leu " tiitI bihh A"'N'
policeman in the city of Lawrence | have no
doubt he became familiar with such scenes,
and trials and defences like that. II was right
| in his mind and when he arrived at the jail,
outstanding his frenzy, he knew enough
to call for counsel at once.
Now, gentlemen, / do not intend to waste
your time by going over all the little eircum-
stances attached to this case, to prove one
theory or'another. l care not what theory IS
set up, only ask you to look at the facts and
draw your own differences. Make your own
| theory, for know that no man can examine
those facts and make up any theory when WIN
not show this prisoner to be guilty OF wiiitul
murder. Now let me tell You the story as
understand it, and then let me take the facts
in the case as understand them, and then let
me take the undisputed facts of this prisoners
own story.
That prisoner went down from the city OF
Augusta fora purpose. His counsel indig-
nantly repudiate the idea that the man could
have gone down there expecting to find any
thing wrong; but he went down armed to the
. -, in, OF and "A knItp