The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-08-06
MOrea Kitchens Vain Appeal
For Mercy.
ONLY SIX WEEKS TO LIVE.

Death Penalty sept t8-His SPECIFY
Trial and Conviction of One of the
Most Brutal Crimes Ever Committed
in Chatham County-The Story OF
the Murder as Told on the Witness
Stend-Morea Kitchens statement
Judge FaIIigant's Charge-TEe Death
Sentence.
Albert Morea Kitchen. the negro wife
murderer, was convicted IN the superior
court yesterday of the murder of his last
wife. Rhena Kitchen, and was sentenced to
be hanged Friday, Sept. Is.
The trial was one Of the quickest known.
1t began at 1880 o'clock in the morning and
at $50 o'clock in the afternoon Kitchen was
sentenced.
Since the Smith murder trial there has
not been suoh crowd i'll the court house.
The superior court room gallery was sea
Of black faces; not foot Of standing room
was vacant. Downstairs in the court room
proper the jam was as great, but was
made up altogether of white people. who
seemed to take as much interest in the case
as the blacks. Every seat inside and outside
of the bar was occupied, the vacant space
between the chairs and the wall. the aisles
behind the jury chairs and doorways on
each side Of the judges bench were packed.
Over hundred negroes loitered in the cor
ridor, awaiting an opportunity to get into
the court room, but the opportunity Cid not
come, as most of those inside never hudged
until the trial was concluded. Many lead
ing members of the bar were present TO see
how Savannah's first colored lawyer would
conduct his first important case
GETTING JURY.
There wasn't much difficulty in securing
the first ten jurymen. but the defense struck
fourteen and the state two before selecting
the last two. Altogether the state struck
three, the defense seventeen and five went off
on account Of being opposed TO capital pun
ishment. The jury was as follows:
Charles B. Westcott, Charles A. Sagurs,
Robert J. Ebbs, John l.. Clifton,
Thomas L. Moffat, Thos. F. MoCaffrey,
Michael F. DeezAn, Thomas A Maddox,
Michael j. Barrett, William 7. Farrell,
William H. BIRD, Aaron H. Burrel
Attorney Kinokle undertook to challenge
the jurors whether or not they had read
the newspaper accounts of the killing, but |
Judge Falligant promptly overruled this, |
aud stated that newspaper reading didn't |
disqualify juror from service
Europe Fraser at whose house the murder |
was committed, was the first witness. He |
testified that Albert Kitchen and his wife |
Rhena had gone TO bed together, and when |
he awoke about 4 o'clock he missed them. |
He and his wife went out to look for them |
and found Rhena lying dead in the yard |
with her throat cut. Lawyer Kilckle |
seemed to BE- trying, IN his cross-examination |
of Fraser, TO prove that Kitchen didn't COM |
NIT the murder. |
Affie Fraser, wife of Europe, corroborated |
her husbands testimony.
George W. Drummond, one of the coro- |
ner's jury, testified as 10 the nature of the
wounds upon the body of the murdered |
woman.
THE FATAL WEAPON.
Officer Bissell testified to the finding of
the bloody razor about SIX feet from Rhena
Kitchens head under the house, and the
case in the closet.
Detective Hanley told the story of how
Kitchen was arrested by Detective Miller
OF Charleston and turned over to him.
he also related the murderer's confession to
him on the train coming to Savannah |
THE MURDERER's CONFESSION.
j. J. Doolan, MORNING NEWS reporter
testified to confession made to him by /
Kitchen in jail the night he was brought in |
by Detective Hanley.
Kitchen made loug, rambling, suffering /
statement to the jury, in which he ad-
mitted the killing, but denied that he in
tended to commit murder when he cut the
woman. He also denied that Rhena was
his wife. He closed his statement by saw
ing: In the name of God, gentlemen, give
me Justice, even though everybody is cry.
ing cruelty ;me."I
Soncltor General Fraser opened the argn-
ment He stated the racts presented bv the
state; made out most horrible murder In
ehe extreme, and the only question left for
the jury to decide was whether Kitchen
should suffer the death penalty OF be i'm |
prisoned in the penitentiary for life. Justics
demanded, he said, an appeasemeut. and |
the only appeasement proper is the death of |
Albert Morea Kitchen upon the gallows |
Ihe solicitor general closed by saying it was |
unnecessary to go int a long argument. aa |
clear case of brutal murder, without the |
slightest eXtenuatlon, had been proven |
ana asked the jury to bring in a verdict |
without any recommendation to imprison- |
ment for life, as Kitchen is a man who
deserves to live no longer than the law will
allow him. The negro women in the
gallery expressed their approval of the
sololtor generals speech by EXPLANATIONS
or Good, Good"
LAWYER KIECKLE's DEFENsE.
Attorney Kinckle opened by saying that
he had never before entered upon a case
with more dlffidence, in view of the cir
cumstances surrounding it, but as q mem
Der Of the bar he felt it his duty to do all in
his power to defend the unfortunate man.
His argument was an able one
and very fowery. He pictured
in a sympathetic manner the wrongs in
fiicted upon Kitchen by his wife, telling
how, while the winds were blowing softly
and people enjoying the sweet dreams of
sleep, Kitchen was demonstrating and ex-
postulating with her as to her misconduct.
He set up the theory of self-defense, claim
ing that the murdered woman had
attempted TO kill Kitchen with the ak be-
fore he cut her Afterward he tried to
impress upon the jury that the evil
dence hadn't made out a case of muir
der in the first degree, and closed by
asking for verdict of not guilty on the
ground that the killing was justiiable
homicide.
Judge Falligsnt's charge occupied about
twenty minutes, and the jury retired at l :05
O'Clock.
AWAITING THE VERDICT
The crowd remained in the court room
after the jury retired to deliberate Every
body seemed to feel satisfied that q verdict
would be reached in few minutes After
fifteen minutes had passed and nothing was
heard from the jury people began to get
anxious and feared a mistrial A half hour
AMI then an hour passed, and the court
crowd patiently waited. At 2:20 o'clock
Judge Falligant was about to order a recess
until 4 O'Clock, when an announcement came
that the jury had agreed.
The delay in reaching q verdict was on
account of one of the jurors wanting a
recommendation to life Imprisonment and
another voting for acquittal. Ten were