Mexico weekly ledger., 1883-06-21
B~ousCxREy's B1GIMY.
The Verdict Equal to Not Guilty..
Sympathy Catches the Jury
A Beautiful Woman the
Caase of the Trouble.

A Beaut1ful woman the
Cause Of the Trouble.
Last Friday the case, State of Mis-
souri, vs.. Octave Bauscaren, for biga-
my, was tried in the Audrain circuit
court before the following jury; Lo-
gan Mundy, VIM. n. French, E. NJ.
Holloway, Jeptha Lake, John Coil,
j. N. Koseberry, j. r. Gilliland,
]. B. Wells, L. r. Payne.N-A.
Richards, S. T. Hook and G.. N.
Sims. ss''
Forrist & Fry, with Ex-Lieutenant-
Governor Chas. P. johnson for the
defense, and j. Med. Trimble and
Prosecuting-Attorney Buckner ap-
peared for the State.
During the trial of the case, the
court room was packed. The evil
dence was rich, rare and racy. The
richer the evidence got, the thicker
the crowd became and the closer to
the front the bald-heads crowded.
The drawing card was Mrs. Bous-
caren, formerly Mrs. ConnalIin, and
before that MISS Singley, daughter OF
Capt. Singley, oASSt. Louis; she was
the chief witness for the defense. In
spite of troubles apd trials, she is
still a beautiful woman. Her story,
according to her statement on the
stand is, that when II years old, she
lived in st. Louis, and was sedueed
by John Connallin. She then became
his mistress. She followed Connallin,
who was a professed gambler, around
to the various towns, where he had
games. In the meantime she had q
child by Connallin. The child died.
They then went to Kansas to live.
While in Kansas, she persuaded John
Connallin to take her to Kansas CITY
and marry her. He did so. She had
another child soon after this. She
testifies that they had much trouble,
that they often separated, that for
some time she was with Maggie
Mitchell's opera company, that be
beat and abused her and told her she
not his wife and that the mar
riage at Kansas City was a fraud and
that her children were not his. In
the course of time they went te
Kansas City to live. There she met
B~ouscaren, a lawyer. She told him
her troubles and trials. They be.
come attached, in fact stuck on
each other, came to Mexico and
got married. They left Mexico and
lived in various points in the East
until Bouscaren was arrested and
brought to this city for trial. She
claims that she had come to the con-
clusion that she was not Connalin's
wife; he had told her so very often,
and she told Bouscaren that there was
no obstacle to their marriage.
The States testimony was very diff
ferent. John Connalin in his testi-
mony denied that he had seduced
Miss Singley, and in fact gave her a
very bad character. He said they
were man and wife and showed the
record of the marriage. He said he
had never struck her or said she was
not his wife, and that Bouscaren
knew they were married for he board
ed at the same hotel in Kansas City
with them-ate at the same table and
heard his children call him papa and
her mama. Letters introduced in
court, written by Bouscaren to Mrs.
Connalin before and after he married
her, clearly showed that he knew she
C%onnalin's wife when he brought
her to Mexico and married her. They
are now living together as man and
wife. Ccnnalin has procured q di-
vorce in the meantime. If Bousca-
rem has not been again married to her
since Connalin got his divorce, we
should not think she was even now
his legal wife.
The evidence was very conflicting,
but we never saw q clearer case in
the world proven than that Bouscaren
knew the woman was Connalin's wife
when he married her. The punish
ment for such an offense ranges from
$500 fine to five years in the pen.
The jury could not possibly find him
not guilty, so they brought in the
penalty. They were out only
ten minutes. They would have les
him off with S1.00 if they could. The
woman in the case excited much sym
She had her little girl with
her and did not spare her tears by
any means. Several of the jurymen
the Ease we're brought to tears
her fine acting and that of her at
torneys. The women appeared in the
Of one who had been treated
very badly. So she had. She had
also acted very badly. The jury SEEM
to consider that by Furnishing
they would bring new
trouble on the woman now living with
him. They were in a quandary. They
found a verdict of guilty but the pun
ishment makes it equal to an acquit-
tal. All ends are satisfied, the whole
combination will be no more heard OF
in this part of the country, and the
case will be off the docket.
The lawyers on both sides did good
and faithful work. The defense
knew they had a hard case before
them. The State knew they had the
sympathy of the public and the bust