Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-06-02
FIRST EDITION.
THE WEST MURDER TRIAL.


TO BRaIN AT DOVER. To.MoRRow--REv1Ew OF THE
AIIkaED oIRCUMsTAHCEs ONE OF THE MOST
SINGULAR GRIMES OF THE AGE A LEaIoN OF
WITNESSES.
Especially Reported fer the Daily Commercial. j
a.r-l ....3 Dover, DEL, June 2.
Aspecial session of the Court OF Oyer and Ter
miner, for Kent County, will begin here. to-mor-
row. The occasion of ii is the trial of Isaac O.
West for the murder of colored laborer, Henry
Turner, commonly called, "Oooch" Turner,
The alleged crime was committed in Dover on
the evening Of Monday, December 2nd, 1872
The full details Of the extraordinary crime are
still fresh in the memory of many Of how, in
some manner, and for some reason as vet un-
defined, West killed Turner in the dusk Of eve
ming In the Office of the former of how he cut
of the head hands and feet, skinned the body
with pocket knife, and then attempted to burn
the skin white with alcohol, with the intention
II the burning proved successful to replace tho
skin on the body Of how he made several at
tempts to get rid of the remains, and how nm
successful he was in accomplishing this purpose.
After falling in several attempts, in which he
occupied from the time of committing the deed
until the following Wednesday morning. when
an unsuccessful effort was made to destroy the
building with powder and fire, thus to entirely
destroy the body of the murdered man and
then, after depositing the several parts Of the
body which he had cut of, at places along the
railroad, how he left Dover, and how he re-
turned, and gave himself up to the Sheriff.
IL will also be remembered that tie Attorney
General was hastily summoned, to whom West
made O confession, or detailed statement of
when, how and why the deed was committed
Of his incarceration, and of the report OF UoM-
MERCIAL reporter made from an interview with
the prisoner In his cell, on the day following.
We may add that the prisoner is young man,
OF about 80 years, Deawsrean, by birth, and
Is very respectfully connected He ia a man of
more thaa ordinary intelligence, graduate of
Dickinson College, at which place he studied
both law and medicine. His first engagement at
Dover was As an assistant In select sehool, af-
ter which he engaged in the manufacture OF a
peculiar 'gas, for which he claimed extraordi-
nary merits, aud professed to have private re-
cipe. The real purpose of the gas, II seems,
was its inhalation, for its wonderful exhilarating
effects, it being nothing more than nitrous oxide
gas. disguised with q color He was engaged in
the manufacture of this article, when he COM
mitted this deed, which in it's details exceeds
anything ever heretofore recorded in the annals
OF crime in this State.
The case was called for trial at the regular
Fall session of this Court but was then post
poned till now, at the request of Vests counsel
From the time af Vests incarceration, he has
enjoyed moderately good health hass received
the kind oversight OF Sheriff Willisnison, and
the never ceasing attentions OF a most devoted
wife. He appears hopeful Of acquittSl, and yet
il is hard to see what defence sane man could
possibly make. This is one Of the peculiar fea-
fures OF the case-he is impressed with the idea
that he never committed any real crime, and
does not see why he should be punished
Great public interest is manifested in the
trial. and Dover will be crowded during it's con-
tinuance. The friends of West who are numer-
GUS, are in full sympathy with him, and are
hopeful of favorable issue Of the case. The
State has already summoned about thirty wit
nesses. while the defence has about sixty. The
counsel for the defence. Hon, Willard Salisbury
ex-U, $. Senator, will make strenuous effort to
have his client acquitted. It is not positively
known that he will have any associate in the
defence.
The State will be represented by Attorney
Attorney General ]. A. A.