The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1888-05-18
THE VERDICT.
w. P. MCKEE CONVICTED,
AND SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS
AT HARD LABOR

In the Columbus, Ohio, Peniten'
tiary-The Finale ofa Very
Unfortunate Case.
When court opened yesterday
morning quite number of people
interested in the Mckee trial filled
the court room. They were there 10
listen to arguments from learned
and able lawyers employed by the
defendant and the government,
They were there to witness the final
disposition of a case peculiarl y sad
and unfortunate in its character.
and the spirit of sympathy was
everywhere manifest The Defend
ant was in court and in the same
seat that he had occupied during
the trial of the day before, and he
bore himself in the same
self-reliant manner that has charaC
terized his demeanor since the un-
fortunate circumstances occurred
that resulted in his conviction by d
a jury of his countrymen yesterday
The CRIME for which Mckee was
condemnt d yesterday is alleged to
have been the robbery OF the pest
office in this city on the morning of
the 29th of December, 1887 The
circu Instances of that affair have
already been detailed in ihese col
umns, and a repetition Of the same
would be unnecessary. When
brought to Asheville flom Norris
town Mckee was carried before u.
S. Commissioner Summey. A pre-
liminary examination was waived
on that occasion, and the accused
Young man remanded to Jail for
several weeks. Bond was secured
in the sum of one thousand dollars
and the prisoner set at liberty.
From that day to yesterday he has
been left to go and come of his own
free will, without restraint or sur
veiIance, and greatly to his credit it
must be said he has never made
any attempt to flee from his bond.
Everything that skill, wisdom and
legal ability could do has been done
to save Mckee from the doom that
was pronounced upon him yester-
day afternoon.
The evidence adduced upon the
TIA! was all of a purely circum-
stantial nature, save the alleged ad-
missions of the defendant to the
Tennessee officers upon the night
of his arrest. No witness positive
ly testified that the defendant en-
tered the postoffice or stole the
! money; witness swore that the
money found upon McKee's per
son was the identical money that
had been placed in the safe. But
the facts that the amount OF money
found on his person cOrrespOnded
in denomination and amount with
that money; that he was seen at
Salisbury on the train coming this
way the day before the robbery,
and again the next morning on the
train going to Morristown, and his
alleged admissions to the officers;
his registering under an assumed
name at the Cain House on the 9th
| of December. and the Introduction
of no testimony to rehut the charg-
es of the Government, all served to
fix in the minds of the jury the
guilt of the defendant
Argument in the case began
about ten o'clock yesterday morn
ing, by Capt. NJ. E. Garter for the
defence. His speech was an able
and mastery one. He charged the
Government with the burden of the
proof; dwelt at length on the merits
and dement's of circumstanti;ll evi-
dence; denied that his client had
committed theft when he used the
decoy 81 bill He said that to CO i
vict his client the chain Of evidence
must be ofsolid steel; the Govern
ment had only furnished ropes of
sand. He went for chiefs Of police
and detectives in general, and said
that their testimony was not good
unless supported by other testimony;
they were supposed to work in or
der to get other jobs, and every case
they convicted added another brass
button to their blue coats. The
Captain then dweit on the robbery,
denying IN toto his clients guilt or
completely; said that it had gone
into the newspapers that Captain
| Weaver had said he lost $500, and
then finally admitted that the
amount missing was only $685.
The amount did not correspond; ex-
planned McKee's fright when arrest
ed, and in fact made forcible and
strong appeal to the jury in every
I issue of the testimony involving his
clients liberty and character.
Assistant district attorney Bason
replied to Capt. Carter on behalf Of
of the Government.
He went on at length to review
the testimony offered by the wits
nesses for the prosecution, be-
ginning with Captain Weaver
he said he could not see how jury
could do otherwise than convict
Mckee on either count in the bill
of indictment; he told the jury thai
if they had seen the defendant enter
; the postofice and open the safe anC
take the money thew co1ld not be
more absolutely certain of his gull
than the evidence offered showed
he arrayed his construction of thu
testimony in strong colors, and said
f that the chain of evidence waI
strong and unbroken. He was alb
solutely certain of the defendant't
guilt; had he not made acknowl'
edgement of his embezzlement IL
the first instance? Had he actec