The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-07-26


number of cascs.1 / think there is no
sort of question but that there is in tho
prisoner q hereditary taint of insanity.
Whether It would have ever shown
itself except it had been called out by
MS sisters death and long lawsuit J
doubt. AS to the effect upon Buford
or Q rejection by n young lady cannot
say, because none ever rejected me.
lShppressed applause. The long
continuance Of his lawsuit was calcu.
lated to overthrow mind constituted
as Buford's was. Tho testimony de-
vclopcd some tendency on the part of
the Butords towards suicidal mania.
The prisoners expression that he "did
not shoot Elliott in the head because
nc thought it weak" his smiling after
the decd, kissing his gun and waving
his hand over the form Of the deceased,
and many other remarks and acts
show arrangement, as also his letter
, , TO his niece. His sleeplcssncss in tho
absence of any physical suffering is the
highest evidence of tho presence of
mental trouble. No proof has been
given to show that he had expressed
any enmity towards Judge Elliott. /
doubt very mucS if at tho time he
Killed Elliott whetl cr Buford had any
control Of himself. AS to whether he
was IN such stat, of mind as not to
Know tho nature and quality of the
act, cannot say. There is no proof
to cnable me to say whether he did or
not. doubt very much if he had INV
control over himself when he com
mittcd the deed. l don't think the
testimony is sufficient to show me that
ne had notsuch power, but the act
taken with the circumstances convince
me that nc had not. Can not say a
man who deliberately kills another for
revenge is necessarily insane. In this
case Butord had no special motive for
Killing Elliott in preference to other
members OF the court. DO not think
MS motive was revenge. No one can
weigh motives except from testimony,
ana then One may be greatly mistaken.
l do not know that Butord had any
motive; from the evidence fail to
discover one. l am satisfied he had
none, and cannot conceive of any i'm
the case. Had he shot Cofcr could
sec his motive; but none for shooting
Elliott. Witness was informed thaf
Elliott did deliver the final opinion.
Even in that case cannot conceive his
motive In answer to question
whether he believed any man sane, the
witness quoted Haslam's opinion that
there was not u sane man, but that
God might possibly be. In my opin-
ION there are sane men, and l think
you (Mr. MonttorD sane. CLaughtcr.1
Go not say every man who commits u
homicide wi ithout an apparent motive,
or upon an inadequate motive, is in
sane. The marriage Of near relatives,
as rule, produces insanity or i'm
becility Of the offspring. This is the
rule, and not the exception. l should
say III case where . sister of the faith
CT and sisters of the mother, two BROTH
crs and two sisters being insane, was
strong evidence of the existence of
hereditary insanity. The dividing
line between sanity and insanity is 4
very narrow one, and in many cases
lmpercoptiblc. Dcmcntia is not ncccs-
sarily the tomb Of insanity.
HOW DUFoRD TOOK IT.
a correspondent wrote during the
trial:
The prisoner sits listlossly apart
from his counsel, and never consults |
them. lie urged ut tho beginning that |
the case bo brought to trial, rs lc |
Wantcd 1t settled rs soon as possible. |
He looked red eyed, haggard and
W 'rn, ond, both in manner and CONVEX
satlon, lmprcsscs me, as he has ever
done, since the day Of the killing, as |
utterly indifferent to tho result. There |
is no defiance, but utter Indifference,
coupled with a weary wish to be done |
with it. He sleeps but lite at night,
tho other prisoners and the taller in
forming me that he is up atall hours of
the night, pacing the narrow confines
OF his cell and muttcring to himself tho
story of his wrongs, chief of which is
the old refrain Of his "sistcr's robbery
and assassination" Last night one Of
his. tcllow-prisoncrs heard Buford
weeping bitterly. Upon being qucs-
toned by the jailcr as to tho cause, he
said he had been dreaming about poor
Mary, and could not drive away the
apparition called up in the dream. He
eats light breakfast and dinner, but
never takes any supper. During the
testimony to-day his eyes have fro
qucntly filled with tears when the great
suit and his sisters death were tho
topics of testimony, and all audible
sigh escaped on more than one occasion.
In tho week that he has bccn here he
has smiled but once. Yesterday when
lilS Diotncf, Gcn. ADc BufOru, tcsti
fled that he knew Tom was crazy be-
cause he thought himself q better race
horse man than tho witness, the pris-
oncr could not reprcss al ironical
smile. There were others in the samc
fix. u.
ABLE ARGUMENTS
were made on both sides. The most
eloquent effort was that of Col. Brcck-
enridge who closed lengthy speech
with the following pcroration:
1t had been two hundred years since
q judge had been killed before. The
State calls on you in this case to make |
such an example as will last for two
hundred years to come. / want tho |
law to protect the servants of tho law.
want tho jurors to see to it that the
law is ample to protect my servants
and your servants, I want mn INTEL