The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-04-19
BOWEN ON TRIAL.
DIFFICULTY EXPERIENCED IN Gbl'
TING 4 JURY.
TIE jurors WHO WERE AC-
iCEPTED
ACIING-CoRONrR BOsHrR GIVES HIS
STATEMENT.
m. p,isouer Pleads Not Guilty" and
the Trial j. Commenced An Adjourn
nentIntiI To Day seven Nor" Wit.
nesses for the Commonwealth.

I'm ihe Hastings Court, Yesterday
morning the trial OF James Bowen Tor
the murder of Summerfeld Simcoe IN
the vicinity of Fulton ON the night OF
the 2Gth dav of March. began. The prs
oner reached the courtroom about lVjU
O'clock. where his mother and two SIS
ters awaited him. and az five minutes
pasf n o'clock bee walked into the court
room accompanied hy his counsel, Mi.
G. Y. Meredith and Hon. George y.
Wise.
When the clerk read the charge against
him and asked the usual question. ne
answered with "a firm and steady voice
" Not Guilty.
All the morning was occupied IN Sc
curing q Jury More Than fifty men were
summoned in all, and 1t was moi nntii
23O o'clock that sixteen qualiheo
men could Doe obtained \ great
many had either formed or eX-
pressed opinions, while few others
we're opposed 10 capital punishment.
ont of the number examined the follow
inc were ordered TO take seats in the jury
box ms qualified jurors: Ninslow H.
Pease j b Nelson. H. +. Knowles, Aus
Tin Burwcl. VI. f. Montague, James
NicGraw George G. Wide, Shirley
Wooison. j. G. Teller, r. \ L. Dabney
James T. Ferrier, Joseph Deane. Peter
i Burton. !. r. Anderson, George Giant'
and p. r. Wiiburn
From This number counsel for the de
Tense struck OIL the names Of Winslow
II Peasc. j b. Nelson. Austin Burrell
and Jo-sph pcanc. This was at O clock
in the afternoon The jurors wee sworn
and the examination of the witnesses Tor
the Commonwealth began.
The FIRST witness was DIT. l.. {. Bosher
who was acting coroner al the time oi
q the murder. and who held the inquest
over the body of the murdered man. DI
Bosher testified that ON the nsht OF
March. the 26lh, he was called
10 man who had been
killed i'm Fulton When he
reached the place hc found Symmetrical
Simcoe living in the alley in rear OF
Deuuv.strcct enriue-hOuse. which alley
Is between Denny and Nicholson streets.
The man was lying ON bis back dead.
Tie had wounds an over his face. The
wound the doctor thought caused death
was the one on the left temple, about
TWO hy two inches " lille that wound
could have been inflicted with the fist,
he thought il was done with a KICK,
breaking the skull and pressing upon
the brain. causing hemOrrhage, which
resulted in death.
I-pon cross examination DR. B0sher
testified that while il was his opinion
that the blow on the temple caused
death. il might have been done by some
other wound ON his lace.
MI Meredith asked the witness If a
man found rs the deceased was, lying on
his back with his hands by his side, his
legs stretched i'm fuillcngih and close to-
gether. a. was the case of the deceased
when first found, could hc have died in
sfantlv. would IL not necessarily IN
such case for some time 10 have elapsed
between the blow and the death.
DIR Boshcr replied that he did not
think il necessary lie thought that a
man could have fallen dead in that posi-
lion. As his was very important wit
ness. ne was kept upon tue stand a long
while. and WAS asked numerous ques-
tions by both sides.
The next witness was George SlmcOe,
a fifteen-vear-old son of the murdered
man and the one who struck Bowen
with stone. The witness testified To
this. and denied the statement that ne
fnllowed his father 20 BOwen's store and
Invited others TO help hun IN defending
his father lie also testified that when
he struck Bowen and saw HIM iall he dld
no, run away until he saw that his lwit-
ness father was killed. He gave as a
reason for running of that be was afraid
Bowen would hill him also.
Toon being crOss-cXamincd he stated
thai Susie Bowen, little sister of The
prisoner ran after him latter he had
struck the prisoner with stone IN her
hand 10 strike him also that he did not
pick up the stone until he heard the
prisoner remark that he could whip the
whole Bowen family
Earnest SimcOe. another son OF The de-
ceased. thirteen years OF age, NANNY
c0rrobora,ed what had been SAID 10y his
older brother.
Eek. McDearman, a little boy ten
years old saw the fight between simcoe
and the prisoner He saw the prisoner
knock MIR Simcoe down and kicked him
"all over the face and heard him cry, !
That is enough, jim and saw Simcoe
get up and go down the alley and fall
James Courell young man. testified
that he saw portion of the nght. recog- I
nized Bowen. and saw they were men, /
and left them fighting.
Charles Phillips, lad OF fourteen /
wears OF ave, corroborated in all mate
rial points the statements OF the simcoe /
boys.
The evidence Of william Gathright, j.
c. Gibson, Phillip MARROW, and Jesse
Harding was about the same rs that OF
the other witnesses. After the above
named witnesses were examined the
court sdiourncd until this morning at 10
O clock. when seven other witnesses for
the Commonwealth will be examined.