Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1888-02-09
NO. 21OO
possible, an alibi.

possible, an alibi.
Counsel Clymer, for the defense7
pointed out that the evidence was but
circumstantial; that nothing had been
proven conclusively, and that in his
mind, some Of the witnesses for the
prosecution were if not perjurers,
strongly biased against the prisoner.
'Jedge" Coombs he denounced as s'the
man to whom the prosecution always
turned when they wanted anything
sworn to.} Mr.. Clymer picked minor
flaws in the Prosecutors statement of
the case, such as that the steps from
the woods to the place of the murder
had not been proved to be Dunham's.
and that the wagon had not been seen
harnessed and ready for flight by the
Dilkes when they passed the house
shortly before the murder He took
the ground that there would also have
been blood on the coat found under
the haystack, If the shirt worn by the
prisoner was covered with blood. rs
it likely" he asked, ''that the cloth.
| AH5 AOohu "OdAd IdNc DGGu DuflGU
where anyone could find it if the
murderer had really wished to conceal
them The real murderer had placed
the clothes there in order to throw
suspicion on Dunham Mrs. Dilks did
not hear the report of the gun, yet she
was near the scene of the murder.
The prosecution says she is deaf, yet
the way her attention was attracted to
Mrs. HANDLE was by hearing the corn
stalks rustic.
Mr.. Clymer allowed the murderer
five minutes for the completion of the
crime, five minutes to conceal his
clothes and ten minutes to ransack the
house and harness his horse, conclud
ing from this that it would have been
impossible for Dunham to have con
suIned this amount of time and reach
the place five miles distant, at the
hour he did. Mr.. Clymer spoke in all
| for four hours.
He was Immediately followed at
o'clock by Prosecutor Hendrickson.
Mr.. Hendrickson is the prosecuting
attorney of Burlington county, and is
the counsel who convicted Barclay
Peak He attributed the blood on the
/ shirt to the fact that the sleeves were
longer than the sleeves of the coat, and
that the blood came from the stained
water in which he washed his hands.
Your verdict should be murder in
the first degree he said. 1T is hard
to conceive murder more brutal and
outrageous"
The jury preferred to receive the
Judges charge after supper, the court
adjourned, and all Woodbury. fastened
home to a hurried meal and then
rushed back again. The new Court
House lit in the lower halls with
colored lights, looked more like
theatre than a home of justice, and
the crowd which filed the Court room
chatted as pleasantly as if they were
| waiting for II humorous lecture illus
trated with stereopticon views. When
the jury had filed in and the prisoner
had been seated, Judge Reed read his
charge from manuscript. In the
charge the Judge said:
The principal circumstances in this
case are as follows: A broken gun
pr wen to be that of George Durham
vas found near the body. This gun
stood in an open shed, and it was
possible for another person to have
received this gun and perpetrated the
act. But the evidence does not alone
depend upon the ownership of the
gun, The clothes found under the
corn husks were clearly proved to be
Georges, the blood upon them was
said to be human blood on the testi-
there any doubt but that George wore
these clothes. No chain is stronger
than in it's weakest link. The weak
link here is that it has not been
proven that the clothes were worn by
him. The blood on the shirt he put en-
Tuesday tsorning was said by DR..
Formal to be human blood. No rea-
son for its appearance there has been
given by the defendant. When he
was washing it was it simply for clean
illness or was it to obliterate the evil
dence of his guilt?
The Judge then compared the evil
dence of the defence in their efforts to
prove an alibi. In conclusion he said
If YOU find the least reasonable
doubt of the defendant not being pres
ent at the time of the murder or if you
doubt of his participation in it your
verdict must be acquittal. If you find
it was doue without premeditation it
is murder in the second degree We
do not make the law, we are only its
Instruments and it is our duty to see
it is properly carried out.
As the Judge read his charge the
head and shoulders of the defendant
sank lower and lower into the arms
and back of his easy chair His body
seemed to shrink visibly and his face
grew sharp and pinched. Occasionally
he shook himself nervously and moved
his head as if his collar choked him and
again he would wet his lips with his