Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1885-05-27

uau cOrreSpOnded with the deceased the
year after leaving school.
| Harry Curtis, a brother of the last wit
| ness, was sworn. He knew Lillian. He be
came acquainted with her at school. Ht
had never corresponded with her. He lef
Richmond ON March gath last to go to St
Louis, but was taken sick and stopped il
Baltimore. He came back to Richmond
with Mr.. Wren. He went to detective of
| flee and saw Mr.. Meredith, of counsel fol
the prosecution, who told him that he wa;
not much like Cluverius. Witness did moi
| ask for an explanation, but subsequently
heard his own name connected by reports
| with the murder of Miss Madison. He had
| heard that it was reported in King and
Queen and King William counties that he
was the murderer of Miss Madison. He was
not at tie American Hotel on March 18th
On the night of that day he was visiting q
young lady. He had never made the de
ceased a present. His picture found in Lii.
lian's trunk was given to her by his sister
He did not know that Lillian had his picture
until recently.
j. Dodson, clerk at the American Hotel
| testified that he saw the body of deceased al
t.o almsnouSe. He saw deceased at the
hotel on March 18th. He turned over to De.
tective Wren piece of paper. The paper
was here exhibited to the witness and identi.
fed. Witness said it was originally a letter.
Having some suspicious, he had opened and
read it, and then torn it up and thrown the
pieces into the waste basket. The letter
was brought down into the office by hotel
waiter and handed to negro boy. who was
waiting for it. The boy brought it back
soon after, and it remained there some time
before he opened it. The defense objected
successfully to every question propounded
to this witness and to all his answers.
Henry Hunt, colored office boy at the
American Hotel, testified that on the morn
ing of the 18th of March, Mr.. Dodson had
given him note to take to room 81. He
did so and found the young lady eating
breakfast He handed her the note and re-
ceived an answer, which he delivered to the
messenger in waiting. The messenger soon
returned and said he could not find the man,
and left the note with Mr. DodsOn. He saw
the occupant of room 21 leave the hotel dur
ing the day. The witness was told to stand
aside until the hotel register could be sent
for the purpose of ascertaining the name of
the occupant of room 21.
W. II. Madison, the fathe of Lillian, was
sworn. He said he thought he could recog-
nize his daughters writing. After looking
at the name IF. L. Merton, Roanoke City, -
on the Exchange Hotel register, he said he
had 10 doubt Of its being his daughters
writing. He next examined the register of
the American Hotel, where the same name
appeared, and said all but the letter ''1T'
seemed to be in his daughters writing. The
note mentioned in Dodson's and Hunts
testimony was shown the witness, and he
said he had no doubt that his daughter
wrote it. The Curtis letter was then close
ly examined oy the witness, who finally
said he did not believe it was in his daugh-
ter's handwriting
Henry Hunt was recalled, and the Amer
can Hotel register was produced, when it
was ascertained that ''F. L. Merton oc-
cupied room 21. Hunt said the occupant
Of room y left the hotel about five minutes
after he handed her the note. That was
about 11.30 A. NJ. She wore a black dress.
black hat and red shawl. He had identi-
fed the body at the almshouse as that of
the same person who occupied room 81 at
the hotel. Upon crosS-eXamination he said
he saw the clothing at the almshouse, with
the exception of the shawl. He had been
shown the watch key at the almshouse.
Heie the prosecution said this made the
witness a witness for the defense. Mr.
Meredith claimed the right to cross ques-
tion the witness, and moved the court to
stop his evidence at this point.
Judge Crump, for the defense, insisted
on his right to ascertain from this cross-ex-
animation what was seen by the witness at
the almshouse belonging to the deceased
besides the clothing. The court sustained
Judge Crump, but the prosecution insisted
upon arguing the case, and the jury " as
sent out.
Counsel on both sides presented their
views on the subject, and at 2 o'clock the
court took recess until 4 o'clock, the de-
cision of the question being reserved u
that hour.
At 4 O'Clock the court re-convGned. The
colored witness Hunt, in reply to questions
by the defense, said he testified before the
coroner's jury. He was then shown a
watch-key; thought he had seen a similar
KEY on the bureau i'll room 81. He did not
testify before the coroner that he had seen
the key; he was asked something about
the key after he had signed his testimony
The evidence taken before the coroner was
here shown, with statement that the wit
ness had said that he did see the key on
the bureau. The witness denied that such
a statement was made by him. Before
signing his testimony he said he thought
he saw something that looked like key.
E. Cuthbert was then sworn. He said
he was correspondent of the New York
Herald. He saw the prisoner in the city
jail about the 29th of March. He conversed
with him and asked for a statement about
the charges against him. The prisoner
declined to say anything about them, but
said he had not seen Miss Madison since
last September at her home in King Viii
liam county. Witness's desire, besides
having an interview, was to see if Mr..
Archer, of the Exchange Hotel, could iden-
tity the prisoner. Mr.. Archer, Mr.. Bur-
ton, of the Dispatch, and Detective Wren
went with witness to the jail, but only
himself and Mr.. Archer We're in the room
with the prisoner. Witness asked the
prisoner if he was not in Franklin street
with Miss Madison on the 18th of March,
and he answered, "How could | have been
there when 1 did not see hel?"
George Wright testified that he was con-
ductor on the Chesapeake and Ohio Rail
road. He had as passenger on his train,
March 18th, the woman whose body was
found in the reservoir. In n conversation
with her she gave witness her name as
Lillian Madison. She said she expected
some ladies to meet her at Richmond that
night, or at the American Hotel the next
morning On cross-examination the wit
ness stated that the lady had said, in speak
ing about the train running fast, that she
wished it would run off the track and kill
her.
William Martin testified that he was on
Belle Isle on March 18th. About noon he
met a gentleman on the foot-bridge leading
to the isle. He could not swear to the
identity of the man On the bridge with the
prisoner. The lady was dressed in black
and wore a red shawl. Witness passed
very close to the couple, in fact brushing
against the man. He heard the lady say,
in response to some remark made by her
companion, "Why cousin Tommie." The
prisoner resembled the man he had seen.
Several weeks had elapsed before he re-
called the incident, and then it was due to
having heard that some persons from Belle
Isle had gone to the Jail to see the prisoner,
also to his having read published accounts
of the affair
- lsaacs was sworn. tie testified that
on March 13 he was employed at Belle Isle
as puddler. On that day he saw lady
and gentleman on the island. Witness felt
confident that the prisoner was the man he
saw. He noticed the lady particularly, and
thought that in her condition she ought to