Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-09
roUxD GUILTY OF arAxsLAUaHTEn


The Jury Render Verdict of VOlun-
tary Granddaughter, and the Prisoner
Sentenced to Five Years in the Peni- /
tentiary-Hfstory of the Crime.
The case of Jerry Hagens, charged with /
the murder of William Dunn, was called |
for trial in the Superior Court yesterday. /
The bar enclosure and court room were I
filed with spectators, and the gallery was |
crowded. The prisOner-an old negro /
whose decrepit torn bent with toll, and |
whose hair and beard, bleacbed and /
vbitened. told the story Of advancing |
years. aroused the sympathy Of the spec /
tatOrs as he stood in the dock leaning
against the railing for support. The crime
with which he was charged was the muir
der of a young negro. William Dunn on
the Biscuit Hill tract. about five miles
from the city on the Louisville road, on
February %. The details Of the tragedy
we've reported in the MORNING News
shortly after it occurred.
Dunn had long been intimate with Eliza
Hagens, daughter OF the prisoner, three
children, the oldest. a lad of ten years, be-
ing the result OF the intimacy. His
daughters waywardness had been thorn
in Hagens' side for long time, but he OBJ
stinatelv refused to allow her TO marry
been in his own house, and he had never
made violent objection to them. A mar
riage license, issued by the Ordinary on
October %, 1881, authorizing the marriage
Of VIM. Dunn and Eliza Hagens, attested
the fact that Dunn had meant to do the
right thing. But in this he had been con-
stantly opposed and successfully thWarted
by the sterE parent, with whom he
was continually quarreling and often
Ffrb4 a nfohf of Tbn ord nf
February he went to the prisoners house,
and while there became involved in
quarrel growing out of the usual cause.
Shouts for help attracted the atten-
ton of some of the neighbOrs, who
hurried to the place and found Dunn
on the ground about thirty feet from the
door of the prisoners house. When a light
was procured it was found that he had
fointesI, his bloody olnthing indicating
that he had received a dangerous wound.
He was taken back into the prisoners
house. and a slight cut in the breast was
all that was then seen, and. as he shortly
after rallied he was lett to the care and
nursing of Hagens and his daughter. He
remained there for a week, nothing being
heard from him save that he was i'll with
pneumonia. On the 4th of March he died,
and Hagens, successfully disarming sus-
piciOn by spreading the report that the
cause of the death of his victim was pneu-
mOnia, concealed the crime until Coroner
Sheftall was notified of the affair.
On the 9th Of March, While the funeral
ceremony was being performed over the re-
mains of the murdered man the Coroner
reached the scene, and, hating the fune-
raj, made up a jury of inquest from the
crowd and began an investigation into
the cause of the death of the dead man.
The result of the investigation was the
finding of nine knife cuts on different
parts of the body, showing that death had
resulted from some other cause than
pneumonia. With the exception of one
wound in the breast all the cuts were il
the back, ranging from the shoulders to
the hips.
Hagen was brought before the jury and
i'm his statement virtually admitted the
crime. ''NO one was there" he said
''when the fuss began. l went to show
some men the right road. When | re-
turned | heard Bill quarreling. | went
into the house and took a seat, and sad,
to Bill What is the matterY He replied
''NOne of your business L said, 1t is
my business, for this is my home. ! do
not want any fuss here Bill said, You
fling your house up into my face. What
i'm the - is your hOusep At that time
he took up a chair to strike my daughter.
l caught him around the waist
and called for help. Bill said, 'Pll
kill Liza if she Will come out of the
house: turn me loose / said, i will not
until you get calm held him until the
crowd of men came, and then let nm
loose. Some time afterwards he and /
went to the door. He asked me to let him
loose: that he wanted to get his watch
and go home. | said, i will turn you
loose if you will go home.' When he got
into the room he took up box and flung
it at my daughter and struck her in the
side. At that time | got into passion.
l got hold of Bill and pushed him out of
the door. He cut at me with knife, and
said, You old - -, l will kill you
before day. l do not know what did,
but | cut him.
The knife with which the wounds
were said to have been inflicted
was found to correspond to the
size of the wounds, and the jury
rendered a verdict charging Hagens with
murder. He was arrested and lodged in
jail where he remained until brought out
yesterday for trial. The panel of jurors
was called and the following jury OBJ
tanned: Isaac Ferguson, Nicholas Marin,
Josiah T. Clark, James Balm, Theodore
ROber, Eugene F. PoulnOt, John 7. BOu-
han, James O'Keefe, Robert II. Lewis,
HOustOun H. Thomas, Thomas f. Thomson
and j. Marion Burrell.
The State was represented by Solicitor
General W. G. Charlton and the prisoner
by James Ii. Lewis, Esq, and Henry Nc
Alpin, Esq. Three witnesses were sworn
by the State, Coroner B. f. Sheftall, and
Robert Brown and Lee Davis, who came
to the wounded mans assistance, in
response to his shouts for help as he lay
outside of Hagens' door.
The State, through its witnesses, proved
that the prisoner was the malicious
author of the wounds, and that death
resulted from them. No witnesses were
sworn for the defense. The prisoners
statement was taken. in which he adj
mitted that he killed Dunn, but that he
did it in the heat of passion. The case
was summed up by the Solicitor General
on the part of the State and by J. H, Lewis,
ESQ, for the defense.
The jury was charged by Judge Adams,
and retired at $50 O'Clock. After having
been out 10 minutes, they returned a YER
dict of voluntary manslaughter.
The Judge, in passing sentence upon
the prisoner, remarked that he was
clearly guilty of the crime of which he
had been convicted upon a fair and
impartial trial, yet his advanced age en-
titled him to the mercy of the court. He
therefore sentenced him to five years i'll the
penitentiary. Upon being asked if he had
anything to say, the prisoner stood up in
the dock and talked for several minutes,
admitting that he stabbed his victim, but
that he did not maliciously, but in pas
sion.
At the conclusion of the case the cOun-
sci for defense gave notice of motion for
a new trial, which will be argued at an
early day.