The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1871-01-17

Ough understanding Ol thc case without
the trouble of reading .he mass Of tcstimo-
ny taken, and also show that the verdict of
"Not Guilty" was the only one consistent
with the evidence.
CHARGE OF JUDGE GRAHAM.
The prisoner at the bar, Thomas J.
BOYER, is indicted for the murder of his
father. and mother, brother and sister. If
John p. Boyer and his family were mur-
dered, and that death was not accidental, a
more iiendish act cannot be found in the
annals of crime. 1t is seldom that COM
munly is startled and horrilled by the
wholesale murder Of an entire family by q
son and brother.
1t is therefore proper to caution you that
in the investigation of this case, you he
careful not to permit excitement or indig-
nation at the cnormity of the crime to in
huence your deliberations, for it is your
solemn duty to determine the guilt or inno-
cence of the prisoner from the evidence
! you have heard since you entered the jury
| box, and upon that alone.
! The act of Assembly of 1894, re-enacted
| in 1860, provides: "That all murder which
shall bc premeditated by means of poison
or lying in wait, or any other kind ofwillul,
deliberate and premeditated killing, or
! which shall be committed in the pcrpetra-
| ton or attempt to perpetrate any arson,
rape robbery or burglary, shall be deemed
murder of the first degree"
The theory of the Commonwealth is that
| in this case Chloroform was first used so as
to cause death or total insensibility, and
| that tilt house was set on fire and burnt to
conceal the crime. If death was caused by
Chloroform administered with the intent to
| 1.s1 I. L..
degree, because the act would have been
wilful and deliberate, f0r the intention
must have been premeditated, and for this
reason the law enacts, that all murder
which shall be perpetrated by means OF
poison, shall be deemed murder of the first
| degree. And if death was not caused by
| Chloroform, but insensibility produced and
death was caused by suf1ocation or the
| flames of the burning house, set ON fire by
the prisoner this would be murder of the
| first degree, for the murder would be COM
mitted in the preparation of arson, which
the act of Assembly declares shall be
deemed murder of the first degree.
Thomas j. Boyer the defendant lived in
this town. The father, John p. Boyer,
| lived in the country, on his farm, near
Markeville, small village or 8 miles
from Bloomfield. On Wednesday, the 30th
of November last, he went to his fathers,
as he stated, to help his father cut wood.
On Thursday and Friday, the defendant
stated that he and his father were engaged
| in cutting wood that on Friday evening he
miked the cows for his mother and assisted
her in other domestic duties, and at night
before retiring he filed the oven of the
| cook stove with wood, at his mothers re-
quest, assisted her 10 fill the lamp with coal
| oil, and went to bed about half-past ten
O'Clock that lie thought he heard scream,
! awoke, looked out of windows and discov-
cred that there was fire in the house /; that
| he ran to the head of the stairs, but could
! not get down on account of smoke and fire
coming up the stairway then he ran to the
window in the northeast corner of the
house, raised the window and jumped down
| to the ground; that he fell or jumped
against stump, and was so stunned that
he lay insensible, he does not know how
long; when he recovered he ran to the
south side, thinking to get in at the door,
but could not get in ON account of the fire
that he then ran to the bee-house and
grabbed board or rail and ran TO the win
dow on the southeast corner, broke il in
| and hallOGd several times, he did not know
| how often, but got no answer that he then
went to the pale fence, seized a crock, and
threw it in at the same window, called
again but got no answer, and about that
time some sparks of fire came out of the
same window he then ran to James Lesh's,
his brother-in-law, and aroused him, then
went back again, and the house then APP
peared nearly all on fire Other neighbOrs
were soon aroused by the noise, and ran to
the burning building, but the smoke and
flames were then coming out Of the windows
of the room in the southeast corner Of the
house, which the family occupied rs a
sleeping room, SO as to prevent the pos
sibility Of entering the room. John p.
Boyer, his wife and two children, nine and
eleven years of age were sleeping in this
room, and their bodies were found immedi-
ately under the place where the beds had
been, lying in natural position side by
side, rs if they had perished without a
struggle or attempt to escape.
The theory of the Commonwealth coun-
sci is, as we have said, that the deceased
were killed or rendered insensible by the
use of Chloroform and the house set on fire
by the defendant. In support of this theory
the Commonwealth has proved that = bot
tie Of Chloroform was missing from DR..