Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1889-05-10
lie is GUILTY,
The Jury Says Irving Latimer Murder
ed His Mother
Pleas Of the Counsel.


the next morning the attorneys made their
pleas.
Prosecutor Parkinson opened with plea
for careful thought by the Jury aud mod
est disclaimer OF his own ability TO meet
the requirements. This defendant is a
wonderful man, he said "ln Detroit he
heard of his widowed mothers death. In a
moment the lightning would wing 10 him
the particulars oil that lone mothers death.
lie whose heart should be plunged in sor.
row has not the word of sorrow, but a will
full lie ever upon his lip. Taken 10 the
scene of the nights crime. he passes twice
the room where lies bis 81 ughtered
mother, and never expresses "a Ges re TO see
her in death. Til nix yourselves of your
murdered other with but door be ween
you. Think OF leaving that no sc 10 play
cards, To amuse yourself when you know
you are suspected of the murder of that
mother The death alone is enough TO melt
"A heart of stone; aud then the suspicion Of
being the perpetrator OF this, worse than
barb lrous, crime would crush, break an
innocent son. The hardened thug. II, ined
10 a life of crime, could not pass through
this struggle, as has this man This prisl n
er had gone through a course Of mental
preparation which has prepared every fiber
in his body for tue ordeal. lie had nervei
and steeled himself % the consequences.
! see before me Il consequence-an unnat
ural, cold, brutal demednor, which must
have its full and ade luate cause behind il.
and interences in the case unless you APP
preciate you are dealing not alone with
a remarkable accusation, but with a re
mark9tie, most unusual character. a shout
OF rejoicing would have gone up from this
court could he have been shown innocent
This whole populace would with one grand
acclaim have sent up a no anna could this
man have thrown the light of truth upon
his actions and shown himself an innocent
man.
TOD ,l,t 4
a reason. He had premeditated and planned.
His motive was not robbery. 1t was GER
tainy not necessary to kill her before she
could lift her gray mead % say, Take what
l have But there was no effort 10 rob.
Nothing but "A few trinketS and a watch are
missing. just such things as a murderer
would tlke 10 ende ivor 10 create a suspicion
of burglary. Did You ever hear of Il robbery
where doors and windows were not broken
openi'
Then Latimer's financial status was
traversed, the impending financial ruin
fully detailed and the recElessness OF lis
business man cement related The evl-
depce shows that day OF reckoning was
near at hand. The son was almost "a bank
rupt. In few days the mas6 must be lorn
from his mother eyes and sine would know
that the son she had trusted had dissiputed
the money Tn was TO support her ia her
declining years.
Then came neat Illustration of the force
of circumstantial evidence,
"Place three points at random on "a
black board. said Mr.. Parkinson. and
they have in themselves no significance.
Join them by three lines, a distinctive geo
metrical figure, "a triangle, exists There
Is no connection between the three points;
they are the basis of the figure. Beside
the circumstances that are linked here, can
you believe the uncorroborated testimony of
man who has lied time and again, who
admits that he is a liar, who has been
n " wit b1G fp
in his hands asks you TO believe him.
Bind these facts together and what Is the
figure that stands, a consistent whole, on
the blackboard of your mind! There Is the
plan of the murder and the plan of the
alibi
''Ths prisoner owned revolver Of the
calibre that fired the fatal shot That isn't
all. He owned il secretly. But one man
knew of it, and he by accident And Lati-
mer was veXed when kimball knew of il,
and begged him to keep il quiet. Do bust
ness men run and tell aunts, city officials,
sheriffs, clerks and errand boys when they
have 10 leave the city on business He
wanted 10 let people know that he was
going TO Detroit on business. What reason
was there of going through the perform
ance of receiving "A telephone mess ge from
Detroit! You all know that the natural
language of the heart is the truth. A lie
has no existence. II has 10 be manu- fac
tured through positive act OF the will
pie: 1t is the act of man who is putting
in motion a train Of causes which precede a
crime. But, like all criminals, he overdoes
1t. Instead OF creating the natural, he Gre
ates the artificial. And then there is an
other c Renaissance. the luck of cuffs
Think of that, fellow men, a Jim-daudy dude
daughter and applause going 10 Detroit TO
see "a girl without wearing cuffs. Where,
oh, where is Trixey.f Laughter
why wasn't TriXey brou hit here This
ft.affi Y1Hr
timony. Why hasn't he produced TriXey
here. There can be no question but that
be wore cuffs 10 Detroit They had upon
them the bloody impress of the murder and
he destroyed them.
MIR Parkinson then held up the circum.
stances OF the trip 10 Detroit in the strong
est light. AT every step he is the embod-
ment of falsehood going upon the errand of
murder. He had been in obscurity on the
trip back to Jackson that night. BY some
legerdemain he had kept out of sight of the
conductor until Ann Arbor was reached
Then he d 10 pay his fare 10 Jackson.
only from Ann Arbor, however. And then
he takes sleeper TO Jackson. Might there
not be Jackson people aboard whom he
would not want TO see Notuntil jackson
was reached did he decide to return to De-
troit. And why; Because this man, an
expert in the lodging Of creditors, wanted
to undergo all this hardship this loss Of
sleep, TO pay Creditor Ellis in the morning.
ne SlIo up III us slOlt, MS SlOtS Oll, Win
that sore instep.
Witness Burch had asked Latimer if
anyone bad "a motive in killing his mother.
Until then no iutmatou had been given
him that the mother whom he had left in
health twenty four hours before had suffer
ed violent death. Not a word Of inquiry
did he ask of Burch Imagine an innocent
son told of his mothers murder cold and
Indifferent to her death, and with not a
ward of inquiry of his informant as TO the
details of the murder. Why, all the test-
mony this fellow could give, this self con
victed liar in six weeks soidly could not
raise an unreasonable doubt let alone a
reasonable doubt.
Taking the blood-stdined iewelry box
found in Irving room, the prosecutor said ::
''That blood came not from smeared hand
Its well defined lines show that ii came
from dripping wound from the hand of
the man who opened it. The man who
opened il was the murderer and that muir
derer is the man sitting there, whose bleed
ing thumb, wounded in the death struggle
with his mother, left this tale of his fiendsh
act. How did YOU get these blood stains
on you at the store, Irving.' shaking the
blood clotted stocking in the prisoners
40 10.