The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1886-05-13
The cluverius Case.
A Ew7TRIAL REFUsED-MoTIoN FOR A REHEAR-
ING CONTINUED.


The Supreme Court of Appeals in Richmond,
on Thursday, rendered decision in the case of
7. j. Cluverlus, convicted in the Hastings
Court of that city of the murder, on March Is,
1885, of Fannie Lillian Madison. The case is
VIGOROUSLY known .as the reservoir murder
mystery. The judgment of the lower court is
fully sustained. The opinion was delivered by
Judge Il. L. Fauntleroy, the court standing four
to one in favor of sustaining the Judgment of
the lower court Judge Hinton dissented, be-
ing in favor of a new trial.
On Saturday, March H. 1885, the dead body of
Miss Madison was found floating In the old city
reservoir. A few days later, I. j. Cluverius, a
young lawyer, cousin of the betrayed and
murdered girl, was arrested at the home of his
widowed aunt, i'll King and Queen county. One
chain of circumstances after another was forged
in the case until the young man was, after a
protracted and one of the most exciting trials
ever held in Richmond, convicted of the muir
der of Miss Madison. From the moment of the
arrest of Cluverius he has never broken down
or manifested any fear.
The decision is regarded as very able one
and covers one hundred pages of legal cap
The counsel for the prisoner had nine bills of
exceptions. The most important of these were
objections and the admission of the note
written by the dead girl to the prisoner the
day of her death. In this she said: 81 will be
there as as possible, so do wait for me''
and the decoy letter written by the deceased
known as the Curtis letter. Judge Fauntleroy
dWelt on this last point at some length and
argued that as that letter was the beginning of
the chain of events that finally eliminated in
the tragedy that it was in every way admissible;
that the letter was written by the murdered
woman, and by her mailed to the prisoner and
by him remailed to her. 1t was part and parcel
OF the combination of circumstances that led
up to the last fatal visit on the 18th of March.
As to the admission OF the note written fse by the
the court says: s"This note was considered as
proof positive that Cluverius, and he alone,
knew that Lillian Madison was registered at
| the American Hotel under the assumed name
| of +. l.. Merton, the same name under which
| uary When visited by the accused The proof
| that the note was written by the dead girl and
| addressed to the prisoner was enlarged upon,
| and the action of the court in admitting the
| torn note WIS fully sustained. The ninth bill
of exception was that the court erred in not
! ordering another trial on the ground OF the
after-discovereu testimony of pr. Garlick; DR..
| Garlick had been q teacher of Miss Madison,
vas Of opinion that the gn nv to
Miss Madison. He admitted that the note it
self was. The court held that the defense had
| had ample time in which to produce testimony.
| but if the testimony had been introduced IL
| would have made no difference in the verdict.
| Judge FauntlerOy theL went into a resume OF
| the case to show that the testimony being very
| nearly conclusive as to the prisoners guilt;
| that all the facts and circumstances pointing
| to him as the perpetrator of the bloody deed, it
was necessary to show motive on the
part of the accused, and to, note his
ius knew that if it was discovered that
he had ruined his cousin. that all of his
of his choice would probably refuse to marry
him ; that his aunt would disinherit him, and
that his success in society and in his profession
| would be utterly ruined, and here was to be
found the motive that impelled him to lure the
girl from her pleasant home in Bath county to
| Richmond. where he could at one fell blow rid
himself of what was an incubus, and which
threatened to shroud in darkness all Of his
future life. The opinion closed by sustaining
lower
| Every bill of exception was dismissed, and the
action of the Hastings Court affirmed in toto
Judge Hinton dissented entirely both in mt the
| that the corpus deficit had not been proven !;
| that the admission of the Curtis letter was en-
tirely wrong and that from the introduction of
that letter had sprung other matters in relation
to the trial which influenced him in dissenting
and that he would write out his opinion and
have it entered on record. The action of the
| court was made known to Cluyerius in jail
shortly after it was announced. He was per,
after pause, added: "I had hoped for some-
thing better.''
1 On Friday, counsel for 7. j. Cluverius sub
Initted motion to the Court of Appeals for q
| rehearing of his case. A hearing of this motion
| was continued until September 10, when the
court meets at Staunton. The motion is q
mere formality, and unless one of the four
judges who concurred in the opinion rendered
| Thursday expresses desire to reopen the case,
| it will not be granted. The course adopted by
| the doomed mans counsel is not usual in MUIR
der cases. 1t seems to be understood that it il
merely to delay the execution y. Of the Judgment
Cluverius will not be executed until the latter
part OF this year. Cluverius is kept in close
confinement and guard is placed in the cell
! with him. He slept soundly the night after the
decision, and ate breakfast with appetite next
morning. He remarked to the jailer. who was
| supervising the white washing OF the walls of
| the hall of the prisoner, that white was very
trying to the eyes, and that blue would be less
| Objectionable. The officer at promised
that his wishes in this respect should be re-
garded.