Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1884-08-09
ClRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE,

! ClRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
1t was Jas. Harmon's last day on
earth. He had been tried by twelve
men, and the circumstantial evil
: dence of his being the perpetrator
, of the murder OF Richard Mann
was 20 strong and complete, woven
as 1t deity WAS by the States At
torney, that the jury had brought
: in verdict of guilty and sentence
had followed and now on the next
day he was to pay the penalty of
the crime with his life.
From the day of his arrest he
, proclaimed his innocence, and had
repeated again and again that such
was the fact, but would not tell
where he had been on the night OF
the murder. He and the dead man
had been very intimate friends up
to about week before the murder,
and then had quarreled-the cause
no one knew-and had evinced as
strong hatred for each other as they
had friendship before. And then
when the body of Richard Mann
was found in the road quite num-
ber OF stabs, each OF which OF itself
would have been fatal. and the
knife with which the bloody deed
was done discovered to be the prop
erty of Harmon, there was no one
that doubted he had slain his former
friend.
/ Tenderly they picked him up and
bore him to the cottage where his
widowed mother lived, and little
by little it began to be recollected
that in the early evening Harmon
quarreling, and putting this and
that together, it was decided TO ar
rest Harmon, and this Was at once
done. When taken In custody he
had drawn back and 1Bquired the
reason, and, on being told, had re-
piled: my God gentlemen, / am
innocent;" but, upon being ques-
toned as 10 where he was on that
night, had suddenly grown silent,
and would only say II am inno-
cent? am innocent ]" And SD the
trial had begun, run its course, and
ended by the prisoner being con-
demned to die.
Among the spectators at the trial
was the aged mother OF the murder.
ed man, who came every day, sit
ting through the whole trial and
never taking her gaze from the face
of the prisoner, and when sentence
had been pronounced she uttered
| shrek and sank to the floor in a
| fainting condition. When they car
ried her home she sunk rapidly,
and two days later had passed away
| to join her murdered son.
Time rolled on, and at last came
the day before the execution.
| There had been very little done
| In the case, rs every one appeared
to think it so strong against Har-
mon, and it caused great deal of
surprise when on this day an order
was received staying the execution
on the ground OF some newly dis
covered and very important evil
denee which gave the shadow OF Il
doubt of the guilt OF the prisoner,
and a respite was granted for Il
month.
1t then leaked ont that the States
Attorney had accidentally made the |
discovery which caused him to ask |
for the postponement, for he who |
had convicted the prisoner was the
one who desired TO save him.
This action of the Attorney caus-
ell great excitement, and the case
began to attract universal attention
at this unusual proceeding. The
only thing known was that time
had been asked and granted, so
that the facts could be gathered to.
gether, and produced in such way |
as to prove the innocence OF Har-
mon. The prisoner, when told OF
his good fortune, only looked up in
a sort OF dazed way, and said, as he
had said all along, 81 am innocent,
lam innocent,n and turned away
trembling with a scared look on his
face as though he would rather die
than not; and there was something
very mysterious In his actions,
which were strange indeed, to say
the least.
When the month was nearly over
the counsel for the prisoner gave
notice that he was ready to reopen
the case, and the room where the
Court was held was packed to suf-
location. People came from miles
around and fought and struggled to
secure entrance, and when there
could no more enter many stood
outside waiting with eager curiOs-
ity to know what would transpire.
Order being restored, the counsel
for the condemned stated he desired
to produce a witness who could tes-
tify as to where the prisoner had
been on the night OF the murder,
and that the fact OF there being
such a witness had been found out
by the States Attorney, and then
turning around, he called out
MARY Tyson will please take the
stand" AS he said this the prison
er looked up with wild stare, and
then his head sunk on his breast.
In answer to the request of counsel,
Mary told her story in low voice,
but every word could be distinctly
heard She said:
On the night OF the murder she
had been returning from visit,
and while crossing through grove
had heard voices, and before she
could turn had come upon the
prisoner and n lady who were lock-
ed in passionate embrace, and be-
fore they saw her, they were SO en-
crossed with themselves, she turned
and fled. She hadn't gone many
feet before she was seized from be-
hind by some one, and hand was
clapped over her mouth-as she
turned she saw man who was IA
stranger to her. He had a knife in
his hand, and raising it, told her
that unless she swore an oath never
To tell what she had just seen he
would kill her. She took the oath,
and the stranger disappeared.
Hurrying home almost frighten-
ed TO death, she found there tel
egram calling her to- her father. who
was very sick IN England, and tell
ing her to come To- him ut once.
This sho did, AMI reaching England
had found her father very low, and
after inccssant watching aHd caring
for him he died. When the affairs
were settled up she returned TO her
home, and for the first time learned
OF the murder and oi the refusal
OF the prisoner to state where he
was on thai fatal night. She had
communicated her story to The
States Attorney, and hence she was
summoned to give her evidence.
The name OF the lady she refused
IN We hIHf iir.0tl hqiuu sfarnlv conn |