The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1884-02-05

| Barrows, though she had no part ia inficting The
injury, SO situated as to become principal in the
commission Of this erime7 1t Is not necessary uu.
der the law that she should be eye ear witness
to the criminal act 1t 1t appears that acted In
concert with oscar Baney that she operated at the
| SANG time for the accomplishment of the end,
| that she was In position to furnish aid and as
slsance, necessary to insure success, she thereby
partie pates in the commission Of the crime, and is
liable as principal.
She only stood by aiding In the commission of
the crime, but she planned and prepared for its 40
oomplishnent she first conceived the idea Of taking
| the life OF Barrows. This young boy who had
scarcely attained his majority easily Influenced.
| This woman knew of the sincere love and devotion
thai he had for her daughter and that he could be
fashioned and formed and moulded to accomplish
Es1 aer criminal design. She imbued him with the
| false theory that Thomas Barrows was making life
| miserable for her and her daughter and that their
| happiness depended upon his destruction. Urged
and goaded on by their influences be goes on that
unfortunate night anu places himself in position
to shoot down Barro as he passes from his house
to his STABLE and as Barrows approaches he dis
| charges four shots of his revolver and fees for
| home The prisoner sees her husband shot, she
sees him fall, and he commenced to drag his
body along to the house wounded aHd bleeding, she
goes not to his assistance, but fees from the front
door OF the house as he enters the rear and travels
nearly two miles over dreary country road. TO
again ind Oscar Blaney and urge upon him the i'm
| work.
They procure for him more cartridges he returns
| with her, finds his revolver which he had
thrown away in his flight, she lights the
lantern which had been dropped by her wounded
4
| destruction Of the life of Thomas Barrows. He
hnds him in the house upon the bed, and while the
wife stands protecting the horse and carriage out
side, Blaney completes the fatal deed.
The crime is aecomp ished. Thomas Barrows,
who returned from Portsmouth that afternoon in
strength and health, is dead, The fatal shot of
these conspirators and assassins has accomplished
| its purpose.
| The darkness of night conceals their crime, the
secret is theirs and they then start forth to crcu-
late the report that Thomas Barrows had commit
| ted suicide.
! Tha a41
upon the suspicious circumstances surrounding the
prisoner; her anxiety to impress the theory of sui
cds upon the coroner and prosecuting officers; the
undue haste 80 bury the body the attempts to
throw suspicion upon Others The confessions of
| the prisoners were discussed, and the weight that
should be attached TO them by the jury He argued
that there was but one reasonable aud rational
| cluslon 10 be found from the testimony
Ihat the prisoner was involved in the deepest
guilt, that it would be reproach upon the admin
lstratlon OF law to hold Oscar B1aney alone response
| pc for this crime, and allow the prisoner who
planned the deed and aided in Its execution, to es
| cape.
That we have witnessed here the most wonderful
| spectacle ever presented in court of JUSTICE
Search the records of every judicial tribunal in
cry country upon the face of the globe and you cam
not tnn It's parallel.
The mother the daughter the wife with hearts
as cold as steel, combined united against the hus
band, who has lived life of devotion to that
wife, to send him down to destruction and death,
In order that this prisoner hal escape the meIted
punishment which the law prescribes
They are willing that he should be offered up as
IL ln6y can escape. N0ll6 the law lust De
enforced against him who fred the shot, we must
with equal nrmness see to it that the person who
procured him to 10 it, who went with him and held
the lantern while he charged the revolver, does
not escape.
The Attorney General proceeded at great length
discussing the nature of tie defence and replyi
to the attacks made upon some Of the States wit
nesses. d argued that the testimony of Oscar
Blaney was entitled to credit that he had nothing
in the future to expect hope for, and induce
ment to tell an untruth
That Detective Wood stood here not only unim-
peached, but corroborated in many particulars BY
Mrs BarroWs and all important points by Sheriff
Getchell and Deputy Sheriff Beachem.
That the feeling exhibited against him BY coun-
sci arises from the fact that he detected their client
in a most brutal and barbarous deed and as hon
estly aided in bringing her to justice. That she
alone had the motive to commit the crime, and the
opportunity, and urged upon the jury the import
anee of declaring their convictions in the case with
out fear
Charge of Judge virgia.
In the trial of every case, especially of cases of
this magnitude under the crimina law, there comes
time-that time in this case is ncx-After the wit
nesses have afforded all the light they can, and
after the last appeal has been made for the accused
as well as in behalf of the public, when nothing can
aid you and me in the careful candid and impair
tal discharge of our respective duties, except the
coolesJ, calmest and most ssdate condition of mind.
1t is only on the surface of the placid, tranquil
lake. that can seq, unbroken, the mirrored like
ness of the clouds and sun, and the trees which
skirt its shores; let it be rufied by the slightest
breath and the image becomes distorted and broken
Only when you retain your equanmity, and keep
your minds free from bias, pr ejudice or sympathy
yon recall the exact image of case you are to
dscide-ts law and its details of facts and thus be
enabled to form a correct judgment based upon the
entire case.
The duties involved in every stage of such case
are ardious and responsible. 1t is emiDeDtly prop
or that the responsibility should be felt and fully
appreciate, in order that determination should
be reached according to the best powers of our
minds. But while the dutits ard1ous snd
painful, the law divided the responsibility and COM
pels all investigating the crime and trying the ac
cusee to share it, Each have unpleasant duties in
the premises; but they duties which the safety
and welfare Of the community require should be
discharged uly and fairly to be sure, but firmly,
faithfully and fearlessly.
Those who gather up the evidence have an un-
pleasant duty TO discharge but this duty left
undlscbarged crime would go unpunished 1t is
unpleasant dnty because the officers know that the
public will censure them if they do not zealously
perform it, and many even if they perform it with
the utmost faithfalness.
Even the duty of being witness in such case,
testifying to material acts is light burden; but
the interests of the public require It to be done with
the utmost faithfulness, and his duly ends here.
he is not responsible for the facts he did not make
them and cannot be held responsible for their ef-
fects.
The duty of The prosecuting officers is arduous,
but when they have laid before the Court and jury
every known material fact, and addressed to them
arguments TO assist in arriving at truthful result
their duty for the time is at an end.
And most painful responsibility rests the
counsel for the prisoner, lest from fault on
their part their client may be endangered. Still
after they have done what their best Judgment de-
mands, their duty and responsibility fully dis
charged.
And duties of the Court are quite as arduous and
painful in seeing that all of the humane provisions
OF the law are faithfully obseryed, and if it
that, TO pass the hnal sentence demanded by law
for the protection of society.
And the duty of the jury is of the same charac-
ter, but it is simple duty it is to find the truth
upon the law and evidence, and return verdict de-
ciaring the truth, for that is the meaning of the
word. All it requires is careful attention. candid
mind and an honest purpose. If you are not con
vinced of the death of the accused you will say not
guilty and the prisoner is discharged; and if you
are now convinced you say guilty, and of what de-
gree, and your duty is completed. You have moth
ing to da with the sentence, the Court Will attend
to that.
There are other preliminary considerations to
which we may allude. Ours is government of
laws which emanate from the people. The Consti-
ion has divided the powers of the government
into distinct departments, and no person belonging
to one of these shall exercise any of the powers b.
longing to the others, except in few instances
which We need not menrion.
The legislature mst es laws defining crimes and
hxirg penalty for them; with this courts have
nothing to do, and hence not responsible for the
laws which are made. And whatever may be the
views of any of us in relation TO the puns hment
liked by the legislature 1t is not for to consider
1t here bnt to carry it into effect and administer it,
You have taken special oath to find verdict ac-
cording to che law and the evidence. Yours is a
double guaranty TO the prisoner that Justice shall
be administered and the guilty brought to punish
ment. The law says that man who disregards the
saeredness of anothcr's life and wickcdly destroys
1t, may be legally condemned to die, and has no
right TO demand the government shall regard his
life sacred. These duties we must discharge at
all hazards, whether painful agreeable. Neither
mani 9od, nor honor nor the restraints of
science, nor the solemn mandates of the law allow
US to decline or hesitate in their performance.
murderer never shows any mercy to his victim;
the law is mercifu and patient. He must be indct-
ed, be furnished with a copy of the Indictment
nave witnesses summoned and paid by the State
have counsel for his defence, and long course of
legal procedure iaust be gone through with before
verdict can be brought in.
This indictment charges the murder of Thomas
Barrows by the hands of Oscar e. Blaney and Mary
e. Barrows, They are charged as jointly commit
ting the crime In feionies, all who present at
the act and aid in its commission are
principals The division OF principals into
those of the first and second degree is, whoever
does an act of killing is principal of the first de-
gree. Whoever is present, lending his countenance
and encouragement or otherwise aiding while an
other does the act, is principal of the second de-
gree. The punishment in both cases is the same
To char-e person principal, a strict actual i'm
mediate presence and the time and place of the
mission of the crime is not necessary; need he
be eye witness to the act. 1t is the expectation
of aid and the belief that his associate is near and
ready to render it, which makes the latter princi
pal 1t then is sufficient to hold party as princi
pal to show by the proper amount of testimony that
he acted with another in pursuance of common de-
sign and situated to furDishead to his as
socate to insure success in the accomplishment of