Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-07-15
NOT A FALSE WITNESS.
The Microsc pc in Murder Trials-Notabl
Cases

The Microsc ,pe in Murder Vrials-Notab1e
Cases.
In conversation with the London crown
prosecutor, an English correspondent was
shown curious amount of persons who
had been found guilty # murder by cir
cum stantlal evidence, and one of the great
est aids In the detection Of murder crimes
is furnished by the microscope in the
hands of scientific men. In distinguish
Ing the human blood on a knife or razor
from rust or from th3t of another animal,
IN discovering partial Of poisonous mat
ter Invisible to the naked eye and In var
lous other ways the microscope has rem
dered Valu Idle assistance to justice. 1t has
been tue means Of acqultting any an limo
cent man whom the caain oEcircumstantial
evidence which was drawing him toward
the gallows and of delivering many muir
derer IN o the haad Of the exeCutioner.
In 1855 murder Of an unusually brutal
character was committed in Cumberland.
The murder man, the paJmaster of a
colliery, had been wayla-d in lonely spot,
his throat cu5 from ear to ear and his body
flung under hedge. Circumstantial evil
Geuce of very discriminating nature was
brought against the prisoner. He b d
been seen near the spot of the murder alb
out the time the deed was done, and had
attempted TO disguise himself b. cutting
off his whiskers; but jurors are very &C.
luctant to convict on circumstan. iaI ey;-
dence alone, and the circumstances in this
case, though very incriminating, were not
thought suffcen ly conclusive.
The aid Of the detective microscope was
invoked A learned microscopic, on ex-
amining the prisoners tro Users, found
+ several spots Of human blood. the largest
''being not so large as swan shot. y
Around these spots were traces of soap,
evident signs of the spots having been at
tempted to re washed out, while over ore
or two ink had been spread. The ivory
handle OF razor fonnd IN the prisoner 5
possession was also smeared with hum n
blood. A very severe cross X ,mlna,i N
lett the witness violence unshaken. He
showed that the corpusels or globules OF
human blood can be easily distinguished
by an expert from tio. Of any other an-
! imal those found in the human blood ba-
ing each about 1920 of an inch, in dl-
ameter, those of a sheep about 1000 of
an inch, of dog l-2542, etc. A vel dict
Of gully was fouLd and the man
execut
Another proof of the wonderful detective
powers of the microscope was given at the
| Chelmsford spring as 'iz9s. This was also a
case of murder. t. e victim being an old
woman living alone and having consid r.
able amount of 70 aney in her bed chamb n.
The back Of her head was beaten in, no
doubs by means of a large hammer, ard
the head nearly severed f:on the body.
The footsteps nound the house c3incided
with the imprints of the pris-
oner's boot: the hammer found beside the
murdered woman's bed was declared by j
naighbor to have been seen In ais pose
ession; a little girl had seen him come from
the house on tie morning OF the murder
d-most conclusive pro Of atl-in the
brook mile or more from the Old women 5
house was found a pocket handkerchief
and tightly rolled In it razor covered
with blood, which it was proved belong
to the prisoner. The defence
argued: Assuming the ruzor and the
handkerchief belonged to the prisoner
and that the bio. upon them human, they
may have nothing to do with this murd"r
having been found considerable distance
from the murdered woman's house. Tue
microscope answered the question in q
most conclusive manner. Upon the blade
of the razor, beside the blood marks, were
f uad few fibers of lax and cotton. On
inspect the murdered body it was fouuc
that the rezor had partially severed one o.
! the string of the woman's nightcap
which string was composed Of a mixture
of cotton and flax.
Another remarkable illustration may be
given of the important part played by the
microscope in seeuri Z the conviction: of a
murderess. Not many years ago female
child about nine years of age was found
murdered by a deep cash 10 the throat in
small plantation near Norwich. Sus-
picion fell upon the mother, who had oeen
seen by several persons leading the child
towards the place where the crime had
been committed. Upon the women be-
ing searched long and sharp knife was
vealed bit of fur or hair on the handle
When asked to explain how he fur came
there the prisoner brazanly replied
Yes, | dare say there is, as | came
home, [ found rabbit fast in a snare ano
cut his throat with the knife The truth
telling microscope cast a different light
upon the su Jet. The microscopic, or
separating the handle from the blade
found a quantity of human blood, anc
asserted that the fur was that of &
squirrel. The strange fact Was revealed
that around the child neck, when the
murder was being done, was a tippet Over
which the murderer's knife must have
passed, and which was made of a squirrels
| fur.
The innocent, however, have also reason
to bless the microscope. A few years age
a man was on the point of being sentenced
to death, the principle evidence against
him being that he was seen near the scene
of the murder and had in his pose on
knife covered with blood" The micro
scope discovered the 80 called blood to b,
simply lime juice.
Instances of the condemned who have
survived the hangman's rope are by NJ
mears rare. Not many years ago a mar
was publicly hanged in England three
separate times and, either through de
fects in the soaffold machienery or th
hangman' s bungling escaped death afte
all. People pretended to see in this
visible interposition Of providence to saw
the mans life. And for all that is know
to the contrary, did so interfere, for a wo
man has confessed on her deathbed t.
having committed the crime, and the un
fortunate man has consequently been re
leased from Jail and presented by tn
British government with $1,000 and
farm In South Africa, the only condition
of his release being that he changed hi
name and never disclosed his identity.