The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1890-10-02
TEN YEARS FOR euro.
The Italian Stabber Guilty
of Mans1aughter Did
the Doctors Do It?


of Peter Keogh ended today in verdict
of manslaughter. Judge Knapp SEN
fenced the Italian to ten years at
hard labor in State Prison. The
proceedings in the trial yesterday after
noon too late to be published in The JER-
sEY CITY NEWS were as follows:-
Counselor Dixon outlined the defense
in brief address in which he claimed
euro had in the fight been robbed of 800
and that Keogh's death was the result of
inexcusable treatment by the surgeon at
the City Hospital. Then euro was asked
to testify.
son the day in question" said euro,
II took pair OF shears and two razorS
from my house to cut the hair and shave
a friend on Railroad avenue. From there
went to John Lewis house and from
there to Boss Murphy's and then to Mary
Rooney's, alongside of Aliens saloon. l
got pint of beer while there, and about
eight or nine o'clock / came out
and set on beer keg in front of
the saloon; Keogh and another man came
along side of me and Keogh put his hand
in my inside vest pocket and took $780,
The two men then assaulted me, knocked
me down and beat me; 1drew the scissors
for protection and Keogh ran against
them; / did not stab him; the vest ! have
on now had on that night; it is stained
with blood and my teeth are loose yet
from their blows"
KEoGH's BAD CHARACTER.
"What was the character OF Keoghp
II heard he was a loafer; the officers
who locked me up said. You needn't be
afraid; you've only killed loafer.' Two
months and half before this Keogh
tried to put me out of a barroom; he said
had no money and was no use. / have
been five years in this country"
No cross examination.
Sergeant Sylvester Van Buren, testi-
fied:-"I am sergeant in the Third pre-
cinct; did not know Keogh, but saw
him four times at the station house under
arrest
Prosecutor Winfield objected to this
testimony, and Judge Knapp sustained
the objection.
81 understand he was bad character"
Several other witnesses were called to
testify to the bad character of Keogh,
and then DR.. Merrins, surgeon at the
hospital. testified that he was a graduate
from the University of New York and
had practiced six months.
"When," said the doctor, "Keogh came
in the hospital he was very pale and had
lost blood. He was not bleeding then; 1
took off the bandage and dressed the
wound; did not apply the bandage very
tlght it was about half-past nine or ten
o'clock; saw him at nine o'clock next
morning: did not think him in Immediate
danger of death; did not then know the
nature of the wound; his condition was
apparently slightly better in the morn
ing than at night when he came in; his
pulse was stronger; he was carried to the
dressing room that morning to have
the wound dressed; would not have
moved him Il thought him in -irsmedi-
ate danger of dying; / told him to stand
on his feet and there was squirt of blood;
he was placed at once on his back; the
bleeding stopped; l thought it better to
tie the vessel, for any change would have
caused it to bleed again; put him on the
table to perform the operation, but two
or three times put him on his feet to
make the wound bleed to trace it; 1t
bled but little. 1t was necessary to en-
large the wound to permit a ligature
being passed about the femoral vein The
operation was performed at ten o'clock in
the morning and keoge died at seven
O'Clock that night
DR. MGILL'S EXPERT EVIDENCE.
DR.. John d. McGlll testified:-.If a pa
Jient was weak, and the hemorrhage had
stopped while the patient lay on his back
would bandage the limb from the toes
up. Iwould then elevate the limb slightly,
and keep the patient in that position
under gentle compress for several days.
II the patient was resting easily and no
hemorrhage took place while he lay on
his back, would not ligare the vein. I
hold legation to be the last resort to stop
hemorrhage. If found l could not
stop the flow of blood by gentle COM
press, would never deem it necessary to
cut further in order to find the wounded
vein or to ligate it, In this case the hem
orrhage had stopped, and should never
have moved the patient to ligate the
VEIN"
This closed the case, and Counsellor
Grouse addressed the jury. He at once
admitted that euro did the stabbing, but
insisted that no malice had been shown.
1t was simply wound inflicted in the
heat of passion. He claimed that Keogh
had been improperly treated at the hos
pital and that legation of the wound had
not been necessary.
"At the hospital Mr.. Grouse said,
"the physicians put Keogh to bed. and no
blood flows from the wound during the
night On the following morning they
find him in the same condition. They
stand him on his feet. and the wound
bleeds. They lay him back in bed and
the wound stops bleeding. Blood is
the life of man. If thA man could have
kept up his blood he would not have died.
They set him down on the floor to see
where the blood came from. and they pro-
posed to ligate the wound at once,
although not drop of blood would come
from the patient if they had let him alone.
The inexperience and youth of the ply
sician who performed the operation ex-
cuses him. He did what he thought was
best"
At this point the court adjourned for
the day.
PROSECUTOR wINFIELD's ADDRESS.
Prosecutor Winfield made one of his
vigorous speeches to the jury, in which
he secuted verdict of manslaughter, and
demanded a verdict of murder in the first
degree. He referred to euro as one of
that class of men who, if one hundred
were picked up on the street today nine
ty-nine would have stilettos in their pos
session.
st is this class of people," said the
Prosecutor, ''who come to this country
and fill their stomachs, but soon will
come the day when the country will be
troubled with indigestion and will throw
off these people and it can't como too
soon. There is too little hanging done in
this country for it's good, gentlemen"
DEGREES OF HOMICIDE.
When the Prosecutor had finished his
address, Judge Knapp charged the jury,
| and the following is the substance of
what he said:--
"Under an indictment for murder q
man may be convicted of one of three
crimes or acquitted. Two of these crimes
are murder. The degrees of murder are
determined by the intent of the act. If
| it is shown that the crime was designed,
| it is murder in the first degree; but If the
murder was without that design it was
murder in the second degree Man
slauuhter the third of these crimes is