The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1881-10-08
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE
ER,S STORY.

lE.# ER'S STORY.
"Ineyarrr.., ... .3 rict a man on circumstantial
evidence d. .-... uror-never! never"
The sn distinguished criminal law
yer of n sriv .pl.s 7ears' active practice, and
whose fa-.s .-.a7a.1 far beyond the limits of
his owns lc
We hao = en- sing a recent cause celebre
in which ar.. circumstantial evidence
q man ha,i a.a- . cted of an atrOciOus muir
der. altho. = IN those most familiar with
the circu- stances III the case entertained the
grayest dc sEse .r... he Justice of his cOnvc-
tion and 1a e.& ,s.. swung off into eternity
protesting mis- sae innocence with his latest
breath. an, ..I4.s % On God to send his soul
straightwa s. Es' was not telling the truth
As most IT ..g ..a..V were lawyers, the con-
versation r. r.get,v .-. Oh drifted into discus
sion of the G.. ing from convicting ac-
cused pers ,r.. s.... OuthS were closed upon
purely circ ues. idence, in the absence of
anv direct :,.1 u -. proof of guilt, and case
affer case ~. cited which, after conviction
and eXecut .t-. .r~ innocence of the sup
posed culp,t- t..| clearly demonstrated.
Most of the ...r... t. 1T agreed with the dis
tinguished .~ sr cry positive expression
of opinion 1 ao d. while the majority
of the laWy. with that earnestneSS
for which Il ya ted when advocating
their own 81 af .. ion, that justice could
never mscal ~. judges guard against
the possibil ordicts by refusing to
permit a co t when every link in
the chain ..r......... al evidence has been
established nh ion and the whole chain
been made S. ymplete as to leave no
room for any .-s..sf-. pothesiS of innocence.
"The first e-- ever tried ;" said one
of them. "w r..... n fiction, as you will
admit, and remarkable as any OF
the eases yo ur. .d to where innocent
men have b -u r.v convicted upon cir
cumstantial .... ,ught to have been re-
ported as ar he trustworthness of
the direct an, mony of eye-witnesses
who tell wha to be the truth"
He then re 4 points of what was
certainly am .--. .e and dramatic trial,
and which fair offset to some of
the memorial ~ found IN every work
on circumstal a. ...,.,. The narrative pro-
duced so str 'ession upon nay own
mind that su .-. ith his consent, put
it into the fol .- having first carefully
compared it @ of testimony taken
upon the tria .t lee 1t can be relied upon
as absolutely .nI,., the exception that [
have used fct us . for reasons which will
readily be a.r-o.J-s len it is known that
most of the .a..- lu drama are still living.
One winter -EoIia4 ta. 1t eight o'clock, in the
early davs of .s nar ne quiet town of -,
while patroll to pick up stragglers
from the cam ou ,irts of the town. Cor
poral julius -1o and killed by one of
three men O. ,..l.. er who were in COM
panv and on 5ue enmity with the SOL
diers. The rested, committed to
prison and b | at the next term of
the court. ,'.-a s were gamblers and
desneradoes aur, ..-.n--. to have more than
once had their hands stained with blood. The
third. whom [ shall call Short though bearing
an unenviabe reputation, was regarded as one
unlikely to slay fellow-man except under COM
pulsorv circumstances. On account of the char
acter of the men and the trouble they had already
brought upon the quiet, law abiding citizens the
sentiment of the whole community was strongly
against them.
In order to clearly understand the force of the
testimony given upon the trial, and the subse-
quent result it is important to bear in mind the
physical peculiarities dress, and general appear
ance of each of the three prisoners.
Short was small man of not more than five
feet six inches in height, slender, weighing
scarcely 13O pounds with bright, tiery-red hair
and side whiskers and, at the time of the muir
der. wore white felt hat and an old lightblue
army OvercOat.
Ryan was fully six feet in height of robust
frame, with black hair and mustache, dressed in
dark clothes, and wore dark Derby hat
Grey was heavy, broad -shouldered man of
medium height, weighing fully $50 pounds, with
a full black beard reaching nearly to his waist.
But as the evidence subsequently showed that he
had not fired the first shot, it is unnecessary to
describe his appearance more minHtely.
Certainly it is difficult to imagine two men
more unlike than Short and Ryan, or less liable
to be mistaken for each other even by strangers,
much less by their acquaintance. There is no
possibility here for case of mistaken identity.
Short and Ryan were tried together with their
consent-Grey having asked for and obtained a
separate trial-and each was defended by separate
counsel.
After the preliminary proof relating to the
post-mortem examination, the cause of death and
Identification of the deceased as the person named
in the Indictment the Commonwealth called as
it's first witness woman, Mary Brown. She
bore a bad reputation, but nobody questioned
1 10 toll rolro &c