The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-11-03
JANITOR TITUS CONVICTED.
A Murder Case Which Has Excited
Unusual Interest

A Murder Case Which Has Excited
Unusual Interest
The trial of Janitor James j. Titus for the
murder Of Tillie Smith has resulted in q
verdict Of murder in the first degrees against
the accused. The story Of the crime
is as follows: Tillie Smith, girl of
eighteen, was servant in the Gen.
teuary Collegiate Institute at Hack
e.stown, N. j. On the night of April
last she attended an entertainment in
the town, where she made the a.
quaintance of Charles L. Munich, O young
travelling salesman of Port Jervis, who es-
corted her home. They arrived in front Of
the seminary building just in time to see the
lights extinguished and hear the bolts click
in the front door as it was locked for the
night The young man looked at his watch
and saw that it was 1910 o'clock.
There, remarked the girl, Il am locked
out, but the janitor has promised to let me in
by the laundry door,"
A few moments later the two separated.
the young man returning to his hotel and the
girl going toward the rear of tue seminary
building That was the last seen of her alive.
The next morning her body was found in the
grounds. She had been assaulted aud MUIR
derei.
Munich was arrested for the crime, but
proved his innocence and was liberated.
Then suspicion turned toward the janitor,
James j. Titus. His strange indifference
after the murder strengthened that suspicion.
The girl was assaulted and Strangled. The
marks of mans hand were on her throat
When found her Jacket was half off, and
har0 01n 5Gar of nd nfh hal
cles known to have been in her possession
were missing. The back of her dress was
covered with dry dust and wood fb:eS, show
ing that the crime had been committed in
q dry place, under cover as the ground was
wet outside. The distance from where
she parted from Munich to the basement
door where she expected to gain admittance
was 4l6 feet, all within the seminary grounds.
Titus was alone in the basement that night.
He had told Of taking liberties with the
girl, and on that articular evening told a
student named Meade that she had gone out
and lie had promised to let her in after hours,
and he invited Meade to come down and they
would "have racket" These and many
other circumstances pointed to Titus as the
murderer, and he was indicted and locked W
in the county Jail at Belvidere, N. J.
His trial began September 2S and ended, ,as
stated, in verdict of guilty. Such verdict
WIS 4NOU UudU Guo pcOplc
thought the prisoner innocent, but the ev::-
dence was entirely circumstantial and it was
feared that the prosecution could not make
out q case. The murder excited much inter-
est throughout the country, and the metro
politan rapers contained long accounts of the
progress Of the trial.
When the foreman Of the jury rendered
the verdict he sobbed as he finished speak
ing, and he turned away his face and wired
his eyes with his handkerchief. His break
down unnerved some Of the other jurors un-
til the tears stood in their eyes. The pris-
oner turned pale and grasped the back of a
chair for support lie seemed dazed, bewil-
dored, and the muscles of his jaws twitched
ncrvously.
A motion for q new trial will be argued
before the Now Jersey Supreme Court some
time in November. In the meantime it acts
aS stay Of proceedings and Titus will not
lro sentenced until it is settled.