The New York herald., 1877-02-17
Circumstantial Evidence.

The evidence that convicted Oschwald and
Ryan, and sent both of them to miserable
deaths, was purely circumstantial. No person
saw the crime committed One witness saw
two men leave Mr.. Bedell's house on the
night of the murder, and recognized the ac-
cused as these persons; but they were
strangers to him, were only seen by him for
moment, and he might have been mis-
taken as to the identity. Others testified to
having seen the prisoners in q saloon and
elsewhere, and to the fact that they carried
black bag, which the men who left the Be-
dell house were said to have had in their
possession but every one knows what
treacherous tricks memory will sometimes
play even shortly after an occurrence
sought to be recalled with accuracy. The
dead men, standing on the verge of
the grave, accused some Of those who
had given evidence against them of wilful
misrepresentation. This charge may be
unfounded, and yet the excitement OF CIV
ing testimony in case of murder, the sug-
gestions or remarks of others, the desire to
bring somebody to punishment for "a cruel
some of the witnesses and have caused
them to unwittingly color their statements.
At all events the evidence was, as we have
said, circumstantial, and it has frequently
been shown how unreliable apparently con-
vincing proof of this character may be.
Not many years ago an Italian was muir
dered in Hatton Garden, London. A fell
low countryman of the victim was arrested
for the crime. The police worked up the
case against the accused with On energy
rarely witnessed outside the men who feel
bound to convict somebody in such cases.
The evidence was circumstantlal, but it was
dovetailed and jointed and made to fit so
nicely by the efforts of the police that the
jury returned a vlrdict of guilty and the
accused was sentenced to die on the gallows
Mr.. Negretti, we'll known and wealthy
Italian manufacturer in London, knew the
prisoner, conversed with him and became
satisfied of his innocence. After great exer-
ton MI. Negretti got on the track of the real
assassin, traced him to provincial town,
followed him, and by the force of persuasion
induced him to confess the crime. The man
accompanied Mr.: Negretti to London and
gave himself up to justice only just in time
to save an innocent man from the gallows.
We published the letter which appeared
in yesterdays HERALD in relation to the
New Jersey case because the evidence
against Ryan and Oschwald was circum-
stantial and because doubt is felt as to their
guilt. We at first hesitated to do so in the
suspicion that it might be trick Of friends
of the two condemned men to stop the
execution of the sentence, for we could
scarcely believe it to be cruel hoax but
rs it was too late to be of any use should
such be its design we concluded to give it
to the public for what it was worth. Should
the confession" stated to have been found
in Ryans CELL and of which we have only q
brief telegraphic summary, prove authentic
and contain anything that would lead to a
belief in his actual completely in the crime,
it would be great relief to many who arc
harassed by the fear that justice was not
done in the case, fortified as it was on the
trial only by circumstantial evidence.