The daily gazette., 1883-05-01
THE BEACHAMP TRIAL.
THE DEFENSE CLOSES AND
ARGUMENT BEGINS.
A CONVICTION NOT EXPECTED.
Argument for the State Commenced
The Defense Willing to Submit the Case
without any Discussion.


DENTON, ND, April 3O.-The testin,on
in the Beachamp poisoning case was con-
cluded at / O'Clock to-day. The
defense closed at IL o'clock, after offering
evidence to prove that the prisoner was not
at Ahearn's store on the Saturday evening
before the Saturday on which Beachamp
died; evidence to disprove that the prisoner
gave AheRrn the string with which to mea-
sure the body, and evidence TO DIS
prove the statement of Captain Han
cock, the detective, concerning the re-
mark relative to the cotfee-pot made by the
| prisoner on the day Of the sale. The STATE
attempted TO oner additional expert me2Ical
testimony on the question of Beachamp's
death from poison, but the Court ruled hat
the only question the State could put TO tile
witnesses was the hypothetical question pro-
pounded to the medical experts for the de-
| Tense. Eve1-to this liberal ruling the attor-
neys for the defense took an exception.
By permission of the Court the attorneys
for the defense offered to submit the case
without argument when the State closed
with the rebuttal testimony. The attor-
neys for the State would not agree to this
proposition, however, and the argum ents
began tonight. Charles II. Gibson opened
the case for the State and Marshall Mutculer
will open on the part Of the defense. AS
all the attorneys in the case expect to speak
fully two days may be consumed in talk.
| The jury are apparently resigned to tneir
fate in being obliged to suffer this infiction.
| AoQUITAL PROBABLE.
The drift of opinion favors the prisoner
| aud it is generally supposed that she will be
| acquitted. The evidence is entirely circum-
| stantial and does not form complete chain.
| The attorneys for the defense have shown
by all their medical experts that Martin
| Beachamp did not die OF poison, and that,
il the ante-mortem symptoms as testified to
Oy the witnesses for the State, and the ap
pearance of the body and the condition of
the organs as testified to by the
doctors who made the post-inortem
examination, aud the other Statc's
witnesses, are true, he could not have
died from strychnia poisoning. Not con-
tent with this, they proved by Professor
William E. A Aiken, who testified that he
had been teaching chemistry and toxicology
for period of As years, that the analysis
made by Professor Tonry was unreliable and
insufficient. Tne professor testified that
there were three tests absolutely necessary,
all of which must be used before a
chemist can state positively that he has
found strychnia. He described them as
the crystal test, the color test al 1 the physi-
cal test, or Taste. Professor Tonry neglected
the simple test OF tasting his crNsialine ub
stance. He alsO stated that n al8i SIS
oven mad it been complete, Of visoeia
: handled in tie careless manner in whicl
they were in this case, was entitled to any
, weight i'll IL cast of life and death, as tlIcrt
+ were thousand aud Que WAYS in which tl'
! poison might have gotten III or upon tlit
e parts analysed after death, bs accident ol
. design.
TWO SUSPICIOUS POINTS.
Mrs William F. Liden, sister-in-law o
the prisoner, cleared up a couple OF suspi
cious points in the case. She testified that
q she was the one who told Mrs Beae:r I'M the
prisoner, that it was suspected that a. -
band was poisoned and that she was sus
, pected OF the crime. She fixed the time o
this conversation anterior to any t / the con
J versati0ns between the prisoner agd th'
States witnesses, which had been given il
y evidence by the State in which the prisoue
! spoke of poison and said thai II ia rtiI
! was poisoned she didn't do it," TINS wit
{ ness also stated that she and not the pris
= oner gave the string to Mr. Ahearn witt
y which 10 measure the corpse.
y The jurors are bearing their conflnemen
: very well. To kill time they had themselve
:. weighed in a body The other evening and TIN
II Fairbank g standard registered 2,050 pounds
= They took long walk into the country yes
" terday in company with the bailiffs and cam
IL back looki fresh and much improved
i They attended service, morning and evening
u in body, under the escort of the hailiffs IA
y the NJ. E. Church, in this place, yesterday