The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1878-07-06
THE RYAN-EVANs MURDER.
Ryan's Statement Traversed--A fair
,Trial, an Impartial Jury and Just

we devoted liberal portion of our
space in last issue to the statement of
Thomas Ryan, convicted of the MUIR
der of John Evans, because the pris-
:oner exhibited much anxiety to place
before the public his version of the
tragic affair which sent John Evans
to the grave and his slayer to a fell
on's cell but having accorded Ryan
this privilege, We feel that it is due to
the court before which he was tried,
the jury which found him guilty and
the witnesses who testified in the
case, to say that his trial was fair
and impartial, the evidence clear and
convincing, and the verdict fully
warranted by the law and the facts.
Never was a crime more clearly and
individually proven, and it is seldom
that murder is committed with less
proyocation OF the time of the occur
rence-or then aud there" as the
lawyers say-than existed when
Thomas Ryan shot John Evans in
Wiese's barrOom.
Ryan's narrative is in the main
borne out by the testimony elected
at the trial up to the point of his entry
into Wiese's saloon, but from thence
on, he wanders from the facts and
draws upon his imagination to create
suppositious state of circumstances
which would justify the perpetrator
of a crime in reality indefensible aud
unprovoked.
The evidence of Miss Wiese COM
ports precisely with all the known
circumstances attending the killing,
and is corroborated in every particu-
lar by the dying declara.ipns made
by Evans to Constable st. Martin in
Donaldsonville and to three different
persons in the Charity Hospital in
in New Orleans. She did not say
that she saw John Evans standing
in the door, bnt that he was sitting
at table near the door; was there
when Ryan came in, and remained in
the same place while Ryan several
times went ont and returned that
Ryan twice or thrice invited Exams
to drink ard the latter as often de-
clined in polite manner; that Ryan
cursed Evans, and while the latter
was III the act Of rising and turning
towards the front door, evidently
to depart aud avoid further difficulty,
the murderer fired the fatal shot.
Being asked on cross examination
how she knew that Evans intended
going out, Miss Wiese said that he
had turned his right foot towards the
| front door. The character and loca-
ton or Evans wound attest the cor
rectness of Miss Wiese's evidence,
which, as before stated, tallies per-
fectl5 with the ante mortem declara-
tions of Evans.
DR.. Boards certificate of the
autopsy held by him at the dead
house of the Charity Hospital in New
Orleans, just after the death OF
Evans, and corroborated by his ver-
bal testimony on the trial of Ryan,
shows that there was found on the
body of deceased :" a gunshot wound
Of the tliorax, about one-half an inch
below the clayical [cellar bone], rang
ing do,Uaavdfds and backwards" Ev-
ans was a tall man, while Ryan is OF
exceptionally low stature, and it is
evident that if Evans had been adj
vancing in an upright position in the
manner described by Ryan, the ball
/ from the latter's revolver must have
| taken an atpWard instead of down
ward course in the body of his vic
tim.
Mr.. SummeFyille displayed no ami
| mostly towards Ryan-on the con-
trary, he declared that they were on
friendly terms and there is no rea-
son to doubt his statement that Ryan
endeavoled to harrow a pistol from
him for the aYowed purpose of shoot
ing Evans. He had not the manner
of a willing witness eager to testify
against the accused, but rather of one
/ who reluctantly established a DANA
ging fact, guided only by his sworn
obligation to give truthful evidence.
1t should be noted that he did mt
say positively that the circumstance
1 IL.