St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-12-12
He WAS her DARLING
Miss Van Wie's Letter Raises
a Lively and Interesting
Legal Debate.
1t Is Probable That She May
Yet Face the Jury and
Tell Her Story.
Tests With the Boat in Which
the Fateful Trip on the
River Was Made.
Horizons Father Expresses
Strong Belief in His Sons
Innocence.
"My darling Walter -

"My darling Walter"
These terms of endearmen were ad
dressed by Miss Mary Van VIE in the
letter to her lover, Walter f. Horton,
which was read yesterday at the tlial
of Horton for the alleged murder of his
wife.
Mr.. Erwin made mastery argument
in support of his objections to the read
ing of the letter, and so eXhaustlyely
did he enter into the subject that the
entire morning sitting was occupied in
counsel arguing the point. Mr.. Erwin
raised four objections to the introduc-
ton of the letter as evidence, and they
may be summarized:
First-That there was no evidence in the
case teuding to establish the corpus deli"ti
or body OF the crime charged in the indict-
ment
Second-That the letter was an unanswered
letter found among the effects of the defend
ant.
Third-That the letter was obtained with
out lawful authority by the parties who OBJ
tanned it.
Fou ;th-That this was an infringement of
the constitutional rights guaranteed to citi-
Zens to be secure in their person and prop
erty from all unreasonable arrest and seiz-
criminal court to give evidence against
himself.
Mr.. Mum combatted the citations
quoted by Mr.. Erwin, and added that
the letter was offered to show the rela-
tiOnS existing between these parties,
which ought not to have existed be-
tween a married man and single lady.
Mr.. Martin, junior counsel for the de-
Tense, replied generally, and then Mr..
at the subject. In this way the two
hours of the morning sitting gradually
drew to an end, Notwithstanding the
apparent dryness of the legal bubble,
the closest attention was paid the utter
ances OF the legal contestants, every
available seat in the court room being
occupied. Judge Kelly decided to re-
serve his decision until after the noon
recess.
Father in Court.
When Horton rose to accompany Capt.
Weber to his quarters in the Jail, he
was approached by an elderly man.
plainly though neatly dressed, with
full beard of grayish tinge and frank,
intelligent-looking face. Horizons face
at once relaxed into a smile, and he
grasped the man heartily by the hand.
They spoke few words and parted,
Horton going to the jail; his supposed
friend into the streets. He was accosted
edged his deDtity-WiJliam T. Horton,
of Stevens county, Minnesota, the
father of defendant. He was stopping
at the NicOliet house, and had come to
attend the trial of his son. His belief
in his sons innocence was absolute.
Walter had always been 'a good boy"
and it was hard to see him in such
trouble. He had great confidence that
the trial would ultimately end in the
vindication of his son from the awful
charge under which he was now lying.
Miss Mary Van VIE.
During the noon recess there was a
rumor on the streets that Miss Van Vie
was in the city, and, notwithstanding
the previous decision of the state, was
to be called on to the stand. The cOun-
sci for the state were very nOn-com-
municative upon the subject. Miss Van
Vie, however, was in the city. She
was seen at the union depot with Judge
Egan. who went specially to Minneap-
oils to produce her at the trial, if it were
found necessary. No one can say def
nitely, outside the prosecution, whether
Miss Van Vie will be called before the
court to tell her story of the intimacy
her letter to Horton had not been
admitted as evidence she would
certainly have been called. The letter
having been admitted, it is questionable
whether Miss Van VIE will have to face
the jury and satisfy the curiosity of the
morbid crowd in the gallery and the
scores of fashionably dressed women
who appropriate large proportion of
the seats on the floor of the court room.
The rumor that Miss Van Vie was in the
city caused intense excitement among
the people who craved admittance to
the court at the. afternoon session, and
when the trial reopened there was
hardly an inch of room vacant.
Letter Admitted.
Judge Kelly at once gave his decision
upon the admissibIlty of the letter in
evidence. His decisions upon the four
objections we're:
First-That the body fthe crime had not
been proven; that was question for the
jury. This was case depending upon a
great number of circumstances, and it was
not now for the court TO decide what was the
effect of the circumstances already proven
SecOnd-As far as it was an unanswered
| letter in the possession of the defendant he
| could not hold. from the authorities quoted,
| that under any clrcumstancea any letter. un-
| less proved to have heen answered or acoui-
| esced in, could not be received i'll evidence.
| Evidence already adduced and gone to the
| jury tented, as it was claimed by the state, to
| SubStantiate matter contained in this letter
| Under the circumstances of the case, he held
| the objection was not well taken.
Third and fourth objections raised con-
| stitUtional questions, and the judge said: II
| shall hold for the purposes of this case that
| the constitutional objection raised here
| does not apply" ana he added: II could
| suppose case where man had committed
murder: had gone into his hOuse and WI RI
! his clothing covered with the evil
dences OF his guilt, had removed that
| clothing. placed it under lock and key: and
| then. afterwards, when he was arrested, it
would be nonsense to say that the officer of
| the law could not produce the guilty eyi-
dence of that kind after he found it.
The letter was accordingly ruled as
admissible as evidence.
Mr.. Erwin made an exception against
the ruling, and also against the nom
| judicial language of the case instanced
by the judge.
7 tSmiIe on Her Face.
This cleared the way to the re-intro-
ductiOn of testimony, and DR.. Quinn
was recalled to the stand. He now
| merely testified to seeing Horton at the
| Jail, and the latter requesting him to
| gethis watch out of his trunk. Mr. Err
win re-examined at length. He made a
very careful examination of the body of
Mrs. Horton. There were no discolora-
tions beyond what were natural, or any
bruises whatever. so far as ne could as
certain. The coroner subsequently adj
mitted to MIR. Mum that one side of the
| face was more dlscolored than the
| other.
Mr. Erwin-Do you remember, when you