The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-12-04
DIR. CR0NIN'S JACK KNIVES
FOUND IN coUeHLlws POSSESSION.
Detective Flynn Didn't Think This Fact Was
of Importance Until the Very Last Mo-
ment-A Terrible Blow For Cough
lin-The Evidence All In.

CHICAGO, Nov. 29.-The friends of ex-
Detective Coughlin look glum tonight.
All through the Cronin case the evidence
has been very strong against him and to-
day the case was clinched by testimony
showing that Coughlin had even robbed
the corpse of the murdered doctor. Barney
Flynn is an old member of the police force
and has been considered trusty and saga
cious. When Coughlin was arrested Flynn
was the man who took him to the lookup.
To-day for the first time Flynn said to
Chief Hubbard that there was little
matter he had forgotten" that might be
worth looking into, duplicating Coughlin;
that on the night of Coughlin's arrest two
pocket knives had been found in his pos
session. One was a two-bladed affair and
the other had four blades and pearl han
die. At Coughlin's request, Flynn locked
them up in the Fidelity safety deposit
vault for safe keeping. Chief Hubbard
visited the deposit vault and secured the
two knives In the afternoon, after the
defense had rested, Judge Longenecker
arose and said:
If the court please, we have some evidence
that came TO our knowledge about 10 o'clock
or a little before 10, which we have not had
time 20 look into. OF course il would be ev1-
dence in chief. probably, but not having come
to our knowledge until this morning, we feel
like asking the court 10 let us introduce the
evidence at this late hour.
The Court-"By how many witnesses do you
expect to put that evidence inp
States AttOrney-"By two, really, and by
one who has had the custody of the articles"
The Court-"Does the states attorney regard
II as Important
The States Attorney-T regard il as an i'm
portant matter. and feel it our duty TO present
The Court Some slight intimation wss
given TO me this morning. and / assume it is
not corrobOrative cumulative, else / shall
not admit it."
Mr.. Forrest-"We object to their re-openinV
the case at the end of the sur-rebuttal."
The States Attorney-"I suppose the court
has right at this time TO let II come in under
its own discretion"
Mr.. Forrest-"If that be true, then we may
never end the case. We may have TO ask for
time TO meet it."
The COurt-''The court is anxious to close
the case, and do not want TO prolong it."
The States Attorney-"So are we, your
honor; but we feel il is our duty TO present this
evidence. not that we think it is absolutely
necessary TO the case, or anything of the kind,
but 1t is an important piece OF evidence and
ought to go into the case. This morning
felt like insisting on having il 20 IN, and IL
ought to have been drawn to our attention
some time ago"
The court then called the states attor-
ney to private consultation, at the close
of which Judge Mcconnell said: "I take
it that the evidence which the state sug-
gests should go into the case. / have con-
sidered whether / ought to admit it, and
have decided to DO so. do not think it
will delay the opening OF the case to the
jury. If | allow it to 90 in, l do not see
that it need interfere with the opening of
the addresses 70 the jury, and if you, Mr..
Forrest, desire time TO answer 1t, 1 viii
give you the time. 1t is single matter
which can be disposed of at any time"
Police Office Bartholomew Flynn was
then called to the stand, and, in response
to questions testified as follows: when
Dan Coughlin was arrested, | was ordered
by Lieut. Elliott to take him TO the Harri-
sOn-st station, which / did. When we
got there l searched him in Capt Bart
rams Office. These two knives which L
have in my hand, ! found in his posses
sion. / took the knives and a revolver
from Coughlin; took them back 10 head
office and then took them down to my
box in headquarters and locked them up.
They were there until the 10Th or 18th of
September, when l took them over to the
Fidelity vault, where they have since re-
mained. Last night l called the stten-
tion of Capt Schuettler TO them at the f.
Chicago-ave. station. | took them 10 him.
/ did not disclose the fact that ! had them
to any one prosecuting the case. Ex-
Capt Bartram knew had the knives, but
up to last evening 1 did not call the atten-
ton OF any one else TO them"
Previous 10 Flynn's testimony B. +.
Carberry, for the state, said that he did
not see Burke in Dunahy's saloon on the
night of May 1. as claimed by the defense.
A number of other witnesses for the de-
fense testified TO the Burke alibi, among
them William Fortune, who was very
drunk and caused the court much amuse-
ment. Flynn closed the evidence, and
Judge Longenecker began his address to
the jury.
CHICAGO, Dec. Judge Wing occupied the
attention OF the court to-day in an argumentfo for
the defense. Before he began. however. Mr..
Forrest introduced some evidence. August
LOwenstein testified that on April q COughlin
bought pair of trousers from him. COughlin
then had with him the two knives which had
been taken from HIM when arrested and which
Conklin had identified as Cronin's knives. The
witness is a brother of ex-Detective Jake
Lowenstein. Coughlin's partner. Jake Lowen-
stein testified that the knives were Coughlin's.
Judge Wing, in his speech, warned the jury
men against convicting unless they were posi-
tive defendants we're guilty. They might feel
that defendants we've guilty, but this would not
suffice; they must know it, A mere prepond-
ance of evidence was not sufficient TO con-
vict. He denounced the evidence given
by Saloonist NiemRn "Mai." sampson and
Milkman Mertes as plainly false. Judge
Wing held that the knives found on Coughlin
were not Cronin's; that IL was prepOsterous
TO presume that if Couehlin had killed Cronin
he would carry about with him these convinc-
ing evidences of his guilt. The judge mem
toned that no conspiracy in camp % had been
proved: that IL was preposterous TO suppose
that a conspiracy could have originated there
on the night of Feb. with forty people pres
ent, many of them DIR. Cronin's best friends.
The preponderance of evidence was ags the
theory that a committee was there appointed
to investigate Cronins conduct. lie ridiculed
the idea that Coughlin had telephoned O'Sul-
liyan postponing the date of the murder, say.
ing men didn't usually telephone such matters.
All the way through Judge Wing argued that
though Cronins murder may have been the
result of conspiracy il had not been proven
that the defendants were connected with il.
Protecting His Wife.
SEYMOUR, Nov. Especial. l-Silas Still