Morning journal and courier., 1888-01-13
oN TRIAL FoR HIs L1FR.

Jury Obtained = Engineer K0%eFsRl Testimony Taken Scenes in she | Court Room.
 The work of untangling the mystery which urrounded the death of Station Agent | Jharles Ives Way last May was begun in the | superior court yesterday morning.
 As the City Hall bell struck 10 o'clock | Judge Torrance, with commendable prompt ness, emerged from the ante-room and took lis seat on the bench. Peter Coffee, the Alleged murderer of the unfortunate young station agent, walked from the prisoners pen with firm step and seated himself be- side his counsel, ex-Judge Blydenburgh and Seymour 0. Loomis. His wife who has shown devotion for her husband, seated herself at his side and the tedious work of empaneling the jury was at once begun.
 The arrest of Coffee and the history of the crime is still fresh in the mind of the pub lie, It was on the night of May last that the mangled body of Station Agent Way was found on the railroad track. A freight train had passed over his body. According to the States theory Way was killed at his post in the station and four men carried him to the track and placed the head of the corpse (after rolling the body full on the back and folding the arms across it's chest carefully on the south rail to be run over. Two months after the homicide Coffee was arrested on a bench warrant and was soon after indicted by the grand jury for murder in the first de- gree. New York reporter aided the State in making out its case. Way, several years before his death, had eloped with Brooklyn girl temp 1rarily living in Madison, but she was taken away from him by her parents on the same day of their marriage, and he was allowed fn aftarwQrda He more or less intimate with Coffee, and had trouble with other Stony Creek quarrymen. On the night of the murder he was known to have @ considerable sum of money in his pos session, which was stolen. There are some who believe Way threw himself on the track to end his existence that had been miserable, but this is not thought probable.
 The first candidate for position on the jury was Levi Doolittle, of Cheshire. The first juror obtained was William P. Hall, of Guilford. The following panel was obtained at 2:30: William F. Hall, John w. Baker, Samuel J. Griswold, Guilford; Charles c. Whitney, Meriden; Edward L. Clark, Ed ward W. Russell, Stiles J. Treat, Orange; Frederick Beecher, Seymour; CreightonTodd, Hamden; Horace Austin, Homer R. Johnson, Wallingford; A. L. Howard, New Haven. These gentlemen were challenged and ex- cused: Joseph Andrews of Cheshire, Wal lace A Miles of Meriden, Amos A. Futile, NOEtu naVGu9 h. A. mauSAo1u, NOILu haven, Edward A. Lum of Seymour, Frederick M. Upson of Wolcott, Charles H. Frisbie of Stony Creek, George T. Benton of Branford, William H. Hummer of Derby, Theodore B. Terry of Ansonia, Luzon Powell of Derby SiIas Benham, Merritt O. Potter of Hamden, Philaader U. Hall of Wallingford, Aaron w. Sweetland of New Haven, W. J. North rop, New Haven; Benjamin W: Stone, New Haven; Daniel s. Glenny, New Haven; Johr Macheleidt, New Haven; NJ. F. Bristol, New Haven; Rollin W. Hine, West Haven; Charles s. Shaw, New Haven.
 It was 2:30 p. m. when the jury was SC | lected. Clerk Anketell then swore the jury | and read the indictment against Coffee fol | murder in the second degree. The indict- ment alleged that Coffee smothered Way tC death with 8 piece of cloth. There wert \ three other counts against the prisoner, nont | of which alleges any specific manner of as ' sault. The witnesses in the case were nexl ! sworn. They numbered half hundred ol more and occupied all the available seating
 capacity in the court room It looked as i | Stony Creek had been evacuated and tn, citizens had taken possession of the cour | room. One of the witnesses present wal Willis Way, brother of the murdered man ! and another was Conductor Mason, on whost | testimony hangs much which it is though will aid Coffee.
 Sylvanus Butler, the civil engineer, was | | with several maps and great knowledge O \ the lay of the land in the vicinity of tn, \ track where the body was discovered. MT Blydenburgh objected to the map and tn explanation of it by MT. Butler, but th'
 court allowed it, explaining that the maj ! should be received not as evidence, but as I matter of convenience. When MT. Blyden I burgh began cross-examining Mir. Butle
 there was a dense throng of humanity in tn
 court room. The gallery was packed and oi
 the floor of the room every available spo
 was occupied.
 After MT. Butler had submitted and ex plained his maps he was excused, after hay
 ing been subjected to rough handling. by Al
 torney Blydenburgh.
 Frederick c. Eager, engineer of the trail l which ran over the body of Way, was tn
 next witness for the State. He said that h.
 had been in the employ of the Shore Lin
 division of the Consolidated road for si: | years; was acquainted with Charles I. Wa,
 and had known of him for some time: ther
 were fifteen cars attached to the train whicl ran over the body of Way. After discover ing that there was a body on the track 1T front of his engine he blew the whistle for brakes several times | The body lay with it's heat \ on the left and the feet across the right hans
 rail- It was lying directly across the track He had looked steadily at the body for fou or five seconds. Did not notice any bruise \ or marks on the face, which was closely out lined by the strong light shed by the engine headlight The train ran about 175 feet be yond the spot where the body was struck | After the train stopped he told the brake \ men, who had asked him what was the mat \ ter, that they had run over man. The trail | was then backed down to the spot where tn dead body of Way was. The train was du \ at Stony Creek at I0:31 D. m., but it did no \ arrive until 10:34.
 Counsel Blydenburgh for the defense the had his inning, and subjected the engineer t
 a rigid cross-examination. He would be \ come nettled at times, and then answer th \ ex-judge pertinently.
 The train, he said, was running at the usua speed, about twenty-five miles an hour, whel N the body was struck The train was on down grade and might have been going some | what faster. He was positive that the tim the body was struck was 8 few seconds 0 10:34. His engine, which was No. 32, wa | described st length, and the position the wit
 ness occupied in the cab.
 He did nothing immediately when he discov cred the body, but it only took 8 second \ whistle for brakes and put on the air. H could not tell how his fireman was occupies | in the cab at the time. There was no inter I val between the time he first saw the bod
 and when the engine had passed over it. H \ saw the object just as they struck the switch | but did not recognize it as a body until h
 had passed half the distance intervening. H couldn't tell the exact position of the arms
 but they had the appearance of being folde across the breast. It would have been a impossibility to have stopped the train bs
 fore passing over the body. Running 2
 miles an hour with the appliances the had the train could not be stoppe
 within threeaor four train lengths. He wa not positive that he reversed his engine bt fore putting on the brakes. He had thre
 brakemen on the train, but he did not kno
 whether the brakes were all put on or no He recognized the fact that the train wer
 some distance after passing over the body
 The next stop was made at Guilford, but D
 difficulty was experienced in stopping George Kane was conductor of the train. H
 had no direct orders to stop at Guilford, bu
 the train was slowed up.
 At this juncture in the trial 0 p. m
 Judge Torrance adjourned court until te
 o'clock this morning, when Conductor Kan will probably testify.
 There will be several witnesses examine
 to-day, and it is thought probable that som ting evidence will be given. It wa
 learned late yesterday afternoon that thre
 witnesses whom the State did not expect t
 secure would be on hand when needed \ Whether their testimony will have mucl