Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1889-12-05
forward Tho0gh ny mind ma.i hiI {
cIRcUMsrANTIAL EVIDENCE.

OF England w hlle that was putting II
pretty strong, it is admitted that a chain
! OF circumstantial evidence has often sent
men to the gallows. If a circumstance can
be explained away il is but shadow. If
it cannot be explained away, it becomes a
menace To the prisoners life. A witness
may be bribed, abducted, or impeaehed
A Circumstance is honin the path demand
ing blood,
Ii has been often asserted that inno-
! cent men have been hanged on circum-
siantial evidence There may have been
such instances, but they have been rare
indeed. In my own experience in law and
| detective work, have seen some curious
| things about circumstancia evidence 1t
is, in one sense, the strongest chain
which can be forged, IN any other the
very weakest.
About twenty years ago ! was detailed
on a murder case IN Kentucky town. It
was not to work up the case, but to save,
| if possible, the young man arrested for the
crime When | got the facts and details
felt helpless TO accomplish anything. He
was young man of % named Graham,
and was of respectable family lie had
been engaged to n young lady of the high
est respectability, but they had quarrelled
about something. Common friends had
| brought a reconciliation, but a new sutton
had appeared upon the scene, and era
ham jealousy had provoked another quar-
rel. He had not visited her for two weeks,
when, on the evening Of Sunday, Oct. 30,
one of Graham ( friends met hIm and
said.
Your rival is up at I,ossings and seems
bound to cut YOU out Adele seems very
sweet to hIm
Graham truly loved the girl, and this
| speech made him wild. He turned pale,
trembed and finally said
''IIe is an adventurer and an interloper,
Let him look out for himself"
An hour later he started for Lossing's.
He passed several people who saw that he
was excited. The house stood back from
| the road in grove Of trees, and was APP
preached by two paths or drives from the
| front Graham fully intended to enter the
! house. but when he caAe upon the grounds
his courage failed him He was afraid he
might say or do something rash IN his
| persent mood. and very sensibly decided to
return to town and defer his call till the
next day Next morning his rivals dead
body was found on one side OF the. drives,
about half way between the house and the
! fence He had been struck down with a
budgeon Conclusions areIalways jumped
at in murder cases, Two Of the negro
servants were at once arrested, but before
noon they we're set at liberty, and Graham
was taken into custody. This chain al
ready contained several links. Others
were added as soon as he was arrested.
He was dreadfully agitated hesitated to
acknowledge that he had been near the
| place and a blood stain was found on the
right sleeve Of his coat. Before he had
been in jail one day his own father be-
| leyed him a murderer He was examined
and bound over, and It was only after that
event that he began TO protest ms innocence.
The girl who had been the cause Of it
Of it came nobly to his rescue.
While she truly loved him, she
had been willing to make him jealous, and
when murder had come Of it, as,she beliyed,
she felt terribly conscience-stricken and
anxious to believe in his protestations Of
! innocence.
When ! came upon the ground the state
! had its case all worked up, and when
went over it to look for flaw | could find
none. / had to acknowledge that was
without hope. Indeed ! believed Graham
I guilty His own explanations rather
strengthened that belief. Lossing's house
faced the east. The highway in front ran
north and south. The lawn was twenty
rods wide, and one drive led in from the
north and the other from the south end.
Graham approached from the north He
would naturally turn in at the first drive,
but be claims 10 have gone on to the
second. He followed it to the house,
passed around it, played for two or three
minutes with the dogs, and then clrcled
about the fish pond, and took a short cut
across the grove and struck the road, not
hitting the north path at all. The dead
man h al come from the village as well,
and on foot. He had come and attempted
to return by the north drive.
If Graham was innocent, who was
guilty?
Not the slightest suspicion had been di
rected elsewhere 1t seemed hopeless to
look. questioned and cross-questl0ned
him but he could not give me the slightest
foundation for clue OF theory What
got came by accident / asked to see the
blood-staned clothing. and found it to be
a single daub Of blood on a white vest. Ii
was a curious mark such as ! had never
seen before. and when quietly Investigat-
ed further discovered that the murdered
man had been struck on the back u his
Read and fallen forward on his face. lie
had very thick hair and, while the blow
had crushed the skull he had hled but
little The blood would not squirt from
such a blow. The body bad not been
lifted and 20 how did Graham get that
blood stain Accident gave me the knowl-
edge ] was looking the ground over at
Igsaipp'g ffa the fourth or Nfth time when