The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1874-03-12
THE MIDNIGHT srABBING AFFRAY

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THE MIDNIGHT STABBIEG AFFRAY
In the Hastings Court yesterday the entire
day was spent in hearing the case Of William
Washington, charged with feloniously as.
saultipg, cutting, and stabbing John VIII.
liams with intent to maim, disfgure, and
kill.
A jury composed Of the following gentle.
men Tried the case: Messrs. John W. God.
din, Ashton Starke, W. S. Sublett, john
Temple, John Tyler, e. A. Saunders, |. Il.
Wake, John Wadsworth, William T. Rich
ardson, William II. West, Joel B. Watkins.
aud NJ. d. Whiting.
After the usual preliminaries the exami.
| nation Of witnesses was commenced.
The first witness examined was John Will
liams, II man who was stabbed. He said
| that the stsbbing occarred just after IL
O'Clock, on the night Of the 2lst Of January,
in the alley in rear of Todd's feed.storc,
near Sixth and Clay streets. On leaving a
house in the alley referred to, about II
o'clock, he saw Il man standing there in the
dark. The man said to him: g Hold on, my
| friend. want 10 see you; you have been
slandering my name" Witness replied that
he had not. "Yes you have" said the ae-
| cused; and ripped out an oath. Witness
then called one Of the inmates Of the house
from which he had come out, and asked If
he had ever "said anything against this
man.? The girl replied that he bad not.
At that moment the man stabbed him in the
side, and afterwards in the back. Williams
then threw his arms around the man, having
heard click, which he supposed was occa-
| stoned by the accused cooking pistol. He
cried murder, and held on to the man until
,,t, ,,,nA fe1l l. nb,a
Under a rigid croSS-eXamination the wit
| ness recited again the facts as published in
the Dispatch on the morning Of the occur
| renee. He further stated that he had never
seen the man before; had heard that his
mother had said he had taken the witness
| for another man.
The next witness examined was DR.. Il. ID.
Taliaferro, under whose care the wounded
| man had been placed at the Medical College
1nfrnlary after being removed from the Sc
cond poice-statiou. He described the
wounds as already published.
DR.. j. 3. McCaW, who first attended Will
| liams, said that he had probed the wound,
which was rs dangerous a wound as could
possibly be inflicted. 1t must have been
made from behind, and penetrated the abdo.
men. The knite passed between the intes-
tines and the lining Of the abdomen. If it
had struck the intestines it would very pro-
baby have been fatal.
Martha Jackson next testified, saying that
she lives in the alley where John was cut.
Had known the accused about two years.
Saw him cut Williams. They were standing
In front Of each other. Heard the accused
curse Williams before she got out of the
door to deny that Williams had slandered
him. ...
Mr.. Pryde, the policeman who found the
knife in the alley (Which has already been
described in the local columns of this paper,
described his connection with the case.
MIR. FenSon, the policeman who made the
| arrest, said that while passing along Clay
street about II O'Clock on the night of the
21>t Of January he heard the cry of muir
der, and on going into The alley was told by
| Williams that The accused had stabbed him
| had nearly killed him. Caught hold Of the
accused and said: ''Give me that knife. "
| Accused replied: 81 have got no knife.
| That man drew pistol on me" (reierring to
| WilIiams). AS be arrested both parties Will
| liams fell over against the fence. On get
ting out to Clay street met policeman Pryde
and sent him back TO look for the knife,
which he found. .. w.. ..........
Jane Davis, the mother of the prisoner,
| was next examined by the defence. She
was in Danyille ut the time Of the stabbing.
On her return she went to see Williams, who
described the cutting, and stated that Will
| iams had concluded that bis only chance was
| to close on him, as the click which he heard
he believed to be that Of the cooking Of a
/ pistol; that it would not do to run, as he
might be shot. Having made up bis mind
about this he stepped up to him and throw
| ing lis arms around him held him down.
After he caught hold of him, he says Will
liams was stabbed. She also said that this
| statement was made in the presence Of three
witnesses, at the lnfrmary, where Williams
| WAS then lying wounded.
| These three witnesses were next eNam-
| incd, and made the same statement. Wit.
nesses as to the good character of the ac-
cused were next introduced.
| Mr. FenSon was recalled by mr. Wise, and
said that Jane Davis, the mother Of the &C.
| cused, had met him at the police-station and
asked him not to be hard on her SOD, and il
he was not hard upon him he (the police
| man) wouldn't lose anything by it.
The case was then argued ut length by MIR.
| Young for the defence. and Mr. Wise for the
Commonwealth, and submitted to the jury
at half.past 2 O'Clock.
| After al absence of about twenty minutes
tue jury returned to the courtroom with a
verdict Of guilty, and assessed the punish
mcnt Of the prisoner at two years contlne'
ment IN the penitentiary.