Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-04-24
THE SUPERIOR COURT.

! and True Bills Found Against Both. l The case of the state against Michael
 Murphy for assaulting Peter Kelly with | intent to kill, was the first heard before the superior court this morning. Kelly
 testified that on the morning of Decem-
 Der 29th, 1888, he was shot in the back
 of the head by the prisoner while eating
 his breakfast in the boarding house of
 James Monahan on Bank street. After the shooting Murphy accused Kelly of telegraphing to Boston. Philadelphia and
 Baltimore to keep him out of employ
 ment and swore he would kill Kelly. His actions were already those of an in
 sane man.
 of the wound received by Kelly. MT and
 Mrs James Monahan said that on the
 morning of the shooting Murphy acted
 strangely, but before that day showed l no outward symptoms of insanity. | The court directed Dr Frost to make
 an examination to determine Murphy s
 mental condition and after a nasty ex-
 animation and close questioning the
 physician announced that upon most
 questions Murphy was rational but upon
 the subject of the shooting of Kelly he
 was decidedly off.
 1 Officer Dodds said that Murphy was
 not drunk when arrested but was suf-
 fering from great nervous prostration. l In his own behalf Murphy had noth- 1 ing to say except that he thought Kelly
 had wronged him. The prisoner main | talned a stoical indifference during the trial and was apparently the most un- concerned man in the court room. The statement made by Sheriff Gates yesterday that the man had been pro- nounced insane by a physician at the I T the case was given to the jury at 1O:57. After an absence of nine minutes the jury returned a verdict of mot guilty on the ground of insanity. Judge Car penter instructed the sheriff to retain the prisoner.
 This afternoon Judge Carpenter sen- fenced Murphy to confinement in the Connecticut hospital for the insane for period of two years. Murphy was ably defended by Attorney Root.
 It was just 12 o'clock when the case against James Higgins, accused of burglarizing the saloon of Timothy Hor- igan of Baldwin street on the night of November 16, was called. Horigan ex- plained that the store had been entered through rear door and liquor, cigars, an overcoat and few pennies taken. Patrick Mulvaney, who works in a bakery in the same building with Hor- igan's saloon, saw two men, one of them
 barefooted, run away from the saloon door about o'clock in the morning. He
 was unable to identify them. His testi- timony was corroborated by Matthew
 Smith, another baker.
 Thomas Farrell of Pimberton street testified that Higgins called at his house about 5 o'clock III the morning after the burglary and asked for a match to light a cigar. He was in his bare feet and wore an overcoat closely buttoned. Another man who was with Higgins waited for him outside the house on the street.
 Officers Dodds and Michael Sullivan testified to arresting Higgins. When searched a lot of cigars similar to the ones stolen from HOrrigan's saloon were found upon his person.
 No testimony was offered by the de- fense and the case was given to the jury at 2:52. Attorney Wilson Pierce de- tended Higgins and made a strong plea for the acquittal of his client for want of evidence. It was Attorney Pierce's first jury case.
 The jury failed to agree.
 THE GRAND JURY. Terrence McKiernan of Union City, the slayer of Thomas Cleary, was brought from New Haven on the 11:17 train for the action of the grand jury. The pris- Oner was taken from the Naugatuck station to the court room in hack to es- cape the crowd that had assembled along the streets to see him. McKier- nan was neatly dressed and cleanly shaw en and his dark curly hair was carefully brushed. He smiled as he lightly trip ped up the City hall steps and was al together a different appearing man from the devil-may-care fellow who was inter- viewed by a DEMOCRAT reporter the morning after the crime was committed. The grand jury who considered the against Patrick kennaugh were as fol lows Newton Smith, Charles E. Turner, Waterbury; Joseph H. Whit ing. Dwight M. Garrett, Seymour; Robert l.. Gilbert, D. Henry Spencer, P. McManus, Derby; George c. Bedi- ent, Benjamin Nichols, Ransom Chat field, George R. Hotchkiss, Bethany !: Lewis Asher, Henry R. Barnes, Lewis il. Freedman, New Haven; Henry R. Spencer, Henry B. Russell, H. I. Wheel CT, Southbury.
 Judge Carpenter defined the law bear ing upon murder and the duties of the
 grand jury. He also explained the
 crime of rape and the penalty attached l to it. At 12 o'clock the jury retired to
 hear the witnesses for the state in the
 two cases brought before them. After 1 hearing the evidence of Drs Futile and
 Fitzgerald in the murder case the iurv
 adjourned to 3 o'clock.
 | McKiernan, closely guarded by Sheriff Sweeney, sat in the ante-room of the
 police court while Judge Carpenter was
 charging the jury. He was holding hurried conversation with his counsel. Attorney Baldwin. He shook the re-
 porter's hand very warmly and asked l about the people of Naugatuck, men | tioning several names. He would not talk about his case or his crime, except 1 that he has secured William c. Case of
 New Haven and Baldwin & Sweeney of
 Naugatuck to conduct the de- l fense. He was in very happy
 frame of mind and one would think
 from the way he spoke that the crime | was the last thing to cause him any m | essences.
 As the grand jury were filing from
 the district court room to the police l court room he looked at them and turn 1 ing to the reporter said ..T w-o,