Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1889-05-16
lie Is GUILTY.
The Jury Says Irving Catimer Murder
ed His Mother.
Pleas az the Counsel.

Prosecutor Parkinson opened with a plea
tor careful tnought by the jury and a mod
est disclaimer OF his own ability TO meet
the requirements. 'This defendant is a
wonderful man, he said. 'In Detroit he
heard of bis widowed mothers death In a
moment the lightning would wing TO him
the particulars of that lone mothers death.
He whose heart should be plunged in sor-
row has not the word of sorrow, but will
full lie ever upon his lip. Taken TO the
scene of the nights crime, he passes twice
the room where lies his slaughtered
mother, and never expresses desire to see
her in death. Think yourselves of your
murdered mother with but door between
you. Think of leaving that house 10 play
cards, TO amuse yourself when you know
YOU are suspected of the murder Of that
mother. The death alone is enough 10 melt
a heart OF stone; and then the suspicion of
being the perpetrator OF this, worse than
barb arous, crime would crush, break an
innocent son. The hardened thug, trained
TO life Of crime, could not pass through
ahis struggle, as has this man. This prison
ssr had gone through course of mental
preparation which has prepared every fiber
5n his body for the ordeal. He had nerved
and steeled himself TO the consequences.
l see before me consequence-an uunat-
'ural, cold, brutal demeanor, which must
have its full and adequate cause behind it,
"Hou are not able 10 deal with the facts
and interences in the case unless you APP
a remarkable accusation, but with a re-
markable, most unusual character. A shout
Of rejoicing would have gone up from this
court could be have been shown innocent.
This whole populace would with one grand
acclaim have sent up hosanna could this
man have thrown the light of truth upon
his actions and shown himself an innocent
man.
1.-THE man who committed that crime had
a reason. He had premeditated and planned.
His motive was not robbery 1t was GER
tainly not necessary to kill her before she
could lift her gray head TO say, Take what
l have But there was no effort TO rob.
Nothing but a few trinkets and II watch arc
missing, just such things as murderer
would take to endeavor TO create a suspicion
of burglary. Did you ever hear of robbery
where doors and windows were not broken
openr'
Then Latimers financial status was
traversed, the impending financial ruin
fully detailed and the recSlessness of his
business management related. The evil
dence shows that day Of reckoning was
near AT hand. The son was almost Al bank
rupt. In "A few days the mask must be torn
from his mother eyes and she would know
that the son she had trusted had dissipaled
the money that was TO support her in her
declining years.
Then came a neat illustration OF the force
of circumstantial evidence.
blackboard" said Mr.. Parkinson, land
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
a man who has lied time and again, who
admits that he is liar, who has been
proven periurer, and who, with his life
in his hands, asks you 10 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.
"This prisoner owned revolver of the
calibre that fired the fatal shot. That isn't
all. He owned ii secretly. But one man
knew of IL, 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 ficials,
sheriffs, clerks and errand boys when they
have TO leave the city on business. He
wanted to let people know that he was
going TO Detroit on business. What reason
was there of going through the perform
ance of receiving telephone message from
Detroit You AL know that the natural
language of the heart is the truth. A lie
has no existence. 1t has TO be manufac-
tured through a positive act of the will
pie! 1t is the act of a man who is putting
in motion train of causes which precede a
crime. But, like all criminals, he overdoos
II. Instead of creating the natural he Gre
ates the artificial. And then there is an
other circumstance, the lack OF cuffs.
Think of that, fellow men, a jim-dandy dude
daughter and applause) going to Detroit TO
see girl without wearing cuffs. Where
oh, where is Trixey!' Laughter.
"Why wasn't Trixey brought heUel This
hoe
timony. Why hasn't he produced Trixey
herei There can be no question but that
he wore cuffs to Detroit. They had upon
them the bloody impress Of the murder and
he destroyed them.
Mr.. Parkinson then held up the oircum-
stances of the trip TO Detroit in thestrong-
est light. "At every step he is the ,embodi-
ment of falsehood going upon the enrand 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 h d 10 pay his fare TO Jackson,
only from Ann Arbor, however. And then
he takes sleeper toJackson. Might there
not be Jackson people aboard whom he
would not want 10 see. Not until Jackson
was reached did he decide 10 return 10 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
He sits up in his store, his shoes on, with
that sore instep.
"Witness Burch had asked Latimer IL
anyone had motive ina killing his mother.
Until then no intimation 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 10 her death, and with not q
word of inquiry of his informant as to the
details OF the murder. Why, all the testi-
mony this fellow could give, this self coz
victed liar, in six weeks soidly could not
raise an unreasonable doubt let alone a
ireas enable doubt.
Taking the ood-stained jewelry box
found in Irving room, the prosecutor said
'4'That blood came not from a smeared hand.
Hts well defined lines show that it came
from dripping wound from the hand of
the man who opened IL. The man who
opened il was the murderer and that muir
.derer is the man sitting there. whose bleed
ing thumb, wQunded in the death-struggle
with his mother, left this tale of his fiendish
act. How did you get these blood stains
on YOU at the store, Irvingr shaking the
blood clotted stocking in the prisoners
very eyes. The scene made the blood
freeze. There was an all-broo1ing silence