The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-08-27

John v. Morse's Story,
FALL RIVER, August 26.-The testimo-
ny of DR.. Dolan today as to his decapita-
ton of the bodies of Andrew j. Borden
and his wife came as a sad and terrible
shock to the sensitiveness of the Misses
Borden, and for the first time during the
trial Lizzie Borden gave way to emotion.
She buried her face in her hands during
the presentation of the evidence, and
Emma, too, was deeply affected. 1t had
been Dr. Dolan's secret. The girls knew
that the remains of their father and
mother had not been inferred on the day
of the funeral, although they were not
informed of this until some days after
ward, but it was not known to what ex-
tent the officers of the Commonwealth
had carried the mutilation of the re-
mains of their dead. The scene in the
court room was most impressive. Col.
Adams slowly drew forth the doctors re-
luctant testimony.
Dr.. Dolan resumed his evidence at 10
o'clock. He did not measure at any
time the length of the handle of the
hatchet: His opinion was that it was
about 1S inches to two feet long, from
the edge of the blade. He did not at
any time measure the length of the
blade and could not tell its weight. His
opinion yvas that the blows given to Mrs.
Borden were when she was lying down
on the floor, the assailant standing in
STOPPING position over her, about over
the ribs. He should say that the person
might have stood with one foot under
the bureau and the other toward the
the bed. The assailanfs position must
have been near the window, judging
from the position of the wounds. Wit
ness could not say whether the handle
was held with two hands or one. It
| might have been held by one.
stStanding in the position you describe,
wouldn't it be necessity that he should
be
Spattered With Blood
himself in delivering these blows?"
ssYes sir, think it would be-
Sand wouldn't his hands be covered
with blood?''
eyes, sir, I think it possible they would
be-"
'sPossible; do you not admit the prob
ability?"
| ssNo sir.''
'on what part of the body would this
| blood be?'
81 think on the lower part, on the
legs"
Witness said he never gave any permis-
| sion to any member of the family to wash
| or clean up round the house; he did not
remember telling Mrs. Holmes that she
| might do it. If Mrs. Holmes should say
so, he would be inclined to dispute her
understanding of what he did say.
| There was some cleaning wilfullv done
by some person, whom he did not know;
he wasn't prepared to say that members
Of the family wilfully removed them; but
there were bloodspots on the parlor door
| frame and sitting room, which were will
| fully removed on the day after the kill
ing. There was spot on the window
glass in the parlor chamber on the out
side of the pane. 1t looked like blood
but afterward it was proved to be dirt of
some kind. The pane was rubbed to test
the spot. There was no general hand
ling of the axes. They were not brought
up stairs to the kitchen and put on the
table,
Witness went on to say that he caused
Mr.. Borden's body to be searched; he re-
ceived bunch of keys from his pockets; ;
he had them now; they were given him
| by the undertaken. The wound in the
back was not discovered until the autop-
sy at Oak Grove Cemetery; nothing else
was found.
ssHave these bodies been interred?"
eyes, sir.''
sWhen?''
'sI think a week ago last Tuesday"
SIT was the week after the autopsy"
Eyes, SIR
sNOw, sir,
| Have You Removed the SkullA
from the bodies?'
"Yes, SIR"
The stiffness in the court room became
painfully oppressive.
| Col. Adams-sWhen?'
son the day of the autopsy"
sFor what purpose?"
II was instructed so to do"
''By whom?'
''By the Attorney General"
''Was he there?"
| mo, sir"
sWhere did he give you these instruc-
| tions?'
I'm Fall River"
"When?"
''Some days before. can't say whether
it was he who gave me the instructions
| diret or that that they came from him by
the DISTRICT Attorney"
''What did you do with them2"
81 cleaned them"
ssDo you mean to say that these bodies
| are buried without the heads?''
eyes, SIR"
ssWhere are the sknlls?'
'sIn my possession"
"Where?'
cat my office"
'sHas it been said to any member of
this family or any friend that these
bodies have been buried without their
| heads?
The audience was breathlessly atten-
| tive.
'sI don't know" was the answer.
''Did you photograph these skullsP'
81 had them photographed; yes sir"
"And you had the scene photo
graphed?'
Yes, sir"
Weren't these bodies moved?'
.'sNo, sir.''
| Didn't YOU tell me that you lifted