The Princeton union., 1880-09-30
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.


CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
Remarkable Story from the Lips of
United States Senator Dan Voorhees,.
I remember once defending, at Craw-
fordsville, Ind, a man named Owen, in
dicted for the murder of his wife by
poison. 1t was twenty-odd years ago.
owen was respectable farmer in good
circumstances, and consistent church
member. He had been twice married.
He had several children by his first wife;
his second was childless, circumstance
which peculiarly affected her mind and
temper. She would not permit his
children to reside with her, and COM
PEELED him to find home for them else
where. She had fancy, too, that he
was criminally intimate with the wife Of
one of his tenants. She had frequently
threatened suicide in consequence Of
these troubles.
One night Owen was awakened from
sleep to find her dying. He called in
assistance and sent for physician, but
she was dead before any one arrived.
Her sudden demise excited suspicion,
and three days after her burial this was
communicated to him by q friend, who
further informed him that arrangements
had been made to disinter the body and
investigate it.
Owen was greatly agitated at this in
telligence, and, after a short pause, re-
piled IF this is done, and poison is
found in Kezia's stomach (his deceased
wife's Christian name), I will be accused
OF her murder, convicted, and hanged.
But am as innocent of it as that tree"
pointing one near by.
That night he transferred all his prop
erty to a son, disguised himself, and
fled the country. The body of his wife
was exhumed and an autopsy had. En-
ough strychnine was found in her stom-
ach to kill q mule. There was universal
expression of horror at the discovery,
and large reward was offered for the
arrest of the fugitive. After some months
he was found in Canada, where he was
brought to Charlottesville in irons, and it
was with difficulty that his execution by
mob could be prevented.
Joe Mcdonald (now my colleague in
the Senate), Jim Wilson, once Repre-
sentative in Congress and subsequently
Minister to Venezuela, and myself de-
Tended him. There was formidable
prosecution, Lew Wallace, Judge Greg
ory, and others appearing against him.
1t was proven that ashort time before
Mrs. Ovens death her husband had
purchased strychnine ut drug store
in the neighborhood, telling the druggist
that he wanted it for poisoning rats. But
he asked that it should be charged to
him, a fact upon which we laid great
stress in argument, insisting that had he
entertained criminal design in buying
the drug he would not have put the
damnable evidence of the fact upon
record. A daughter, who was visiting
her fathers house when the poison was
brought home, testified that he handed
it to her stepmother in her presence,
cautioning her to be careful with it. A
brother Of his wife, who was greatly en-
bittered against him, and was witness
for the State, admitted upon cross
examination that Owens treatment of
his sister was invariably considerate and
kind. There was an entire failure to es-
tablish the fact Of his having improper
relations with other women.
This was all we had to base defense
on. The odds were fearful. There was
the remark of the marked agitation of
Owen when first informed of the sus-
picions existing against him, his admis-
sion that if post-mortem examination
showed that poison was the cause of his
wife's death he would be accused of ad-
ministering it and hanged his purchase
OF the poison; his transfer Of his prop
erty and fight, all combined, nearly IL
resistibly led to the conviction of his
guilt. ''Mr. Voorhees, - he said to me,
"however darkly things may appear
against me, I am not guilty." and I
believed him. We fought the case like
tigers upon the reasonable doubt which
we deemed the evidence had not ex-
cluded. and won it.
Such an uproar as followed I never
witnessed. Owen was taken to Wilson'S
private residence, pursued by crowd
crazed by disappointment and thirsting
for his blood. Wilson, Mcdonald and [
stood at the front gate, with pistols in
our hands, and checked the approach of
the mob until Owen could escape from
the rear of the house in conveyance
that had been provided for him. 1t is
the only time in my life that I ever saw
Mcdonald with pistol. He showed an
unmistakable purpose to use it, if nec-
essary. Owen went to Texas, and died
there, I presume, as have never seen
nor heard of him since. His wife had
committed suicide. He knew it. but