The Lake Charles echo. [volume] (Lake Charles, Parish of Calcasieu, La.) 1876-1898, 1885-08-08
THE eTRPaEENs nrTJwDER.


l
1 After session extending into ID,
! third week, the District Court for thu
F parish Of Cameron adjourned las
! Tuesday. Some eight or ten civil
! cases were disposed of and as many
more continued over to the Decembei
term. The criminal docket was
small one, and al cases we're contin
! ned except those Of j. w. Red
! mond as principal and A. r. Baker al
accessory before the fact, for the
killing of Justice Cicero Stephens in
that parish some months ago, the par.
ticnlars of which was published in the
RoHo at the time.
The assassination of Stephens in
the night time, in front of his own
home, and for no known cause, seems
to have terrorized the whole commu-
nifty in whichstbe bloody tragedy suEas
committed Even the witnesses, on
whose testimony conviction WAS after
wards obtained, felt it necessary to
leave,the parish before divulging any
knowledge of the terrible crime
However, Immediately after the
assassination, suspicion named j. w.
Redmond as the assassin, but aside
from his expressed hatred for Steph I
ems little was known, except by those
who would not tell anything until be-
yond the reach of danger, as they
feared the friends of the accused.
Redmond remained in the neighbor-
hood after the killing, attended the
funeral of his victim and seemed to
give himself no undue concern, not
withstanding he WAS aware that sus-
pieion rested on him as being the one
that committed the crime, and when
occasion offered would mildly pro-
claim his innocence. He visited Mrs.
Stephens, at her request, and quietly
and positively assured the almost dis
traeted lady of his perfect ignorance
OF anything whatever concerning the
killing of her husband.
Notwithstanding his protestations
of innocence, sufficient evidence was
gathered to warrant the arrest of Red
man, and some two weeks after the |
crime was committed he WAS arrested,
together with A. ?. Baker, who, at
the time, was thought to have had a
hand in the bloody work. They were
brought to Lake Charles for safe
keeping, there being no Jail in Cameron
parish, and placed in our parish jail,
where Redmond remained up to the
time of the meeting of the conrt,
Baker having been released upon bond
a short while after his arrest.
Redmond was put on trial with lit
tic difficulty, the jury being made up
from the regular yenirc and bystand-
els. The evidence was taken and the
ease submitted to the jury the first
day of the trial, and the verdict,
equity without capita punishment"
was reached after apparently much
deliberation. The evidence against
Redmond was principally his confes-
sion made TO Mr. F. G. PevetO soon
after the murder of Stephens, in which
he described the way the killing was
done and his manner of leaving and
returning TO the house where he was
stopping.
This confession was cOrrOborated
by evidence which showed that Red
mond had borrowed horse and gun
on the night of the killing, and the
gun, when returned TO the owner,
showed plainly that it had been used
also his expressed preference of the
killing Of Stephens to half dozen 9th
ers, and his presence in the neighbor-
hood at the time, worked against and
served TO convict him.
Several bills of exceptions were re-
served by his counsel and An appeal
taken TO the Supreme Cont, return
able at Shreveport in October next.
The most important OF these excep-
tons was the overriding by the Court
of a motion for continuance, on the
ground of the absence of material
witness, the Court holding that due
diligence had not been used by the |
defense to procure the presence of this
witness. /
This is, we believe, the first murder
case tried in Cameron since its organi-
cation as a parish, and the people will
no doubt recall with some degree of
satisfaction the fact that Redmond's
residence among them was Of recent
date. Though Redmond was quiet
aud industrious up 10 Ihe time Of the
present trouble, his life it appears,
previous to settling in Cameron, seems
tolhave been varied and desperate
one, and some half dozen counties
in Texas woald gladly lay hands on
him for crimes committed in that Stale
prior to his coming to Louisiana,
where in all probability be will re-
main the balance Of bis life.