The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1878-06-22
CAMDEN'S MURDER TRIAL.
HUNTER's LLBrERS YET ENDEir irORING
TO ESTiBLTSH IN 1LTBL
The Prisoners Life Believed to Depend on the
Proof OF his Whereabouts During Three
Minutes-An Unexpected Line of Defence.


Proof of his Whereabouts During Three
Minutes-An Unexpected Line OF Defence
CAMDEN, June To-day was the eleventh
OF the trial Of Benjamin Hunter for the murder
Of his partner. John NJ. Armstrong. in Camden
on tho 23d of last january. and the interest in
it both in Camden and Philadelphia grows moro
and moro intense. 1t is tho principal topic Of
conversation in Philadelphia At the hotel
tables. in the stores and horse cars. every one
is heard talking about II. The court room in
Camden Is thronged with lawyers from all parts
OF New Jersey and from Philadelphia. Tho
story that Thomas Graham told. and the cor
roboration Of 1t in many minor and in two cs
sentlal points ia said hy the most eminent Grim
inn lawyers in Philadelphia to be in many ro-
spccts the most remarkable testimony ever pro-
duccd in an American court. 1t was believed
to have made case that would insure convic-
tion on the frs, ballot by tho jury None Of the
States witnesses wcro broken down hy cross
examination. Some Of them told their stories
with great reluctance knowing that what they
said might send q man to the Gallows. and all.
excepting Graham were persons Of good repu-
tation.
But the defence are admitted to have come
within three minutes of proving that Hunter
was not in Camdcn when Armstrong was MUIR
dcrcd. They allowed the jury to retire TO their
| room last night with this proof fresh in their
minds. The State had shown that Hunter and
Graham. after killing Armstrong. took the TOT
o'clock fcrryboat from Camden for Philadc-
phla. and reached the slip at 7:12. The States
witness who swor, that he saw Hunter on
this boat was an honest-looklng. although
an extremely dinilent young man. Now
| the defence show by a car conductor.
! Of equally favorable appearance on the
stand, that Hunter got on his car at Jefferson
and Tenth streets lhiladtphia, az I 80 o'clock.
| slip. Could Hunter have gone those two miles
| In seventeen minutes. through the crowded
streets, The Prosecuting Attorney admits
| that Hunter was on the car. hut claims that the
| car conductor WAS in error by enough minutes
To- have made Il possible, for Hunter q have
| first thing this morning the defence called this
| conductor again. He was even more positive
| That il wns 20 o'clock when his car reached
| tho street corner where Hunter got on than he
| Was yesterday.
The testimony Of this man was ier to lc
and clearly gave it. with intcnso carnestncss.
and the Judges lcancdiiorward to catch cvory
| word that he might say. Hunter felt its inn
portancr. and sat upright in his .chair hs
| mouth and heavy jaw us rigid Ms marble, but tis
eyes intensely bright and twitching violently
" Are you sure" cx-sccrctary Robcson said.
that il was not before 1902
II the conductor would swear that 1t was : :25.
or even 7.2I positively. and stick 10 II the de-
fence were confident that the jury would never
y" No sir" replied tho conductor " my car is
due at Masters street at 7;3l. our timc j. a
minute 10 block. When Hunter got on at JEFF
| iersOn street 1t was 30.
The witness was SO positive that Prosecutor
jenkins determined 70 ,cst his memory, The
count oi the murder On the morning after 1t
WAS committed in the PHILADELPHIA Times. The
was the morning after the murder. and in the
Tunes that he read II. Yes he was certain Of It.
| Perfectly sure. To-day. therefore, the Prose:
cutor questioned him further and he admitted
| that he was mistaken. He had since he left the
] paners oi Jan. q and he found that ihS recount
| that h read was on the afternoon oi the next
point about which he had been So positive. IS
| regarded by the state n Of very great impOr-
tancc. for il tend, to show that he may have
been mistaken about ,the precise minute that
| Hunter took his ear. Ii he Is i-takcn even by
two or three minutes, his tr-tlmnny, the state
| have taken the ear and stil have crossed ia the
Camden ferryboat with Graham after the
The defense feel that tits of the utmost i'm
| portan"e e. show where Hunter was tho hour
before hr tool, The car, The conductor said
| that he WAS w that way on bus mess. The
| Prosecutor will se,zc this point. and claim that
| il He must have soon some ono In the hour
prece ling 1850 O'Clock who can clear
up the mystery There was much cOmmOtion
and hustle among Hunters counsel during
| the morning hours. Counsellor THOMPSON
| and Col y ovel hustled In and out constantly.
| while eX-Secretary Ro9esqn occupied the time
| in proving by Philadelphia bankers. mint of-
lcals. real estate operators. aud builders. that
| kind men in the city. Prosecutor JonGins asked
witness. u United States mint onleiAl. who
M he spkHsR knew IN Jo6S IT, oohp prahSe he eaan
| President Of u Philadelphia horse railway COM
pssny M?rtonS rgputRton up TO the ,diisiayGry
| dcphia. The witness did not know Morton.
| but the point Of the Prosecutors question was
At iast the Philadelphia business men were
through. and still the counsel for tho defencc
an important witness. To mi up the timc sew
| eral young men OF unprcpOsscssing appear
| ance were pu, on the stand 10 swear to Graham's
bad character and to prove that ho had talked n
| Philadelphia. before his arrest. Of being in
trouble about the murder Those witnesses.
however. were numerically handled 9y.prose-
| cutOr jenkins. Ono OF them admitted that he
was known as Black-Iack Jim. " and had been
hr hni boen arrested ana was acquainted with
several notorious Philadelphia thieves,
n r ,es Elm hnsy Gyn9 in and ant Evan
tho cx-Secretary OF tho Navy wandered out
intotho witness room: At last he went to Judge
to.morrow' and il was Granted Xii tho eXpia
nation that oX-Secretary llobcson felt At liberty
to give Of the action Of the defence WAS that they
had certain witnesses whom they wished T. put
on the stand before they put Hunter on; These
be used by the defence TO dlsprovothe testimony
OF the Stnte that Hunter Ind amotiye o. Kill! Arm
strong. namely. the oPlaindlag OF ing lie lnsur-
from tho fact that the last witness OF the defence
this morning was real estate appraiser. who
| swore that he had made valuation OF Hunters
real estate and placed it ut $4,000. This tost.
mOny Is intended to show that Hunter was not
| In such desperate need OF money that he was
| willing to kill his partner TO got the insurance
| on that partners life. The Prosecutor. however.
| AYERS that 1t WAS the depreciation Of this real es-
| tate and tho interest and taxes that Hunter had
to pay that kept him short Of money. and he
based his cross examination OF this witness on
this assumption. The witness admitted that the
real estate market was very bad and that taxes
wore very high.
TO break down tho testimony Of the States
| most important wtness-the man who saw
Hunter on the ferryboat with Graham after the
| murder-the ferry pilot was called.
| Could You recognize q man on tho bow OF
your boat in the evening ?" asked ex-Socrotary
Robson.
Would, YOU want to swear mans life away
on such Identification"
=" Well believe Hunter is n guilty man. but l
shouldn't want to convict him on such recogni-
| ton alone"
But" asked Prosecutor jenkins. II you
first saw tho man in the fcrry house. whore il
Is light, and noticed his hat and dress and then
saw him in the bow of the boat you could recog-
ni2e him 2" ~
The pilot thought no might from the dress
Hunter Is said to feel less confident than ne
| did nj first. and he looks worn. The remark