Morning journal and courier., 1892-08-24
KEErE ROUND OVER

70 Await Trial I'm the Higher Court-
The Second Days Hearing In tho
Savin Rock Homicide Case.
The last hearing in the case of Edward
Keefe, who is charged with the murder of |
James T. VIM, took place yesterday at
West Haven before Justice Adams. "a The |
prosecution was conducted by Grand |
Juror French, who was assisted by ex-
Judge Blydenburgh of this city. Keefe's
attorneys were Messrs. Fox & Buchanan.
The only witness called yesterday was
Sheriff Peck, and what the state tried
principally to prove, was that Keefe was
not cutting bread when the fight began as
he stated to the sheriff on the night of the
fight. The witness WAS sure that there
were no signs of bread around anywhere.
Sheriff Peck was the first person to whom
Keefe made statement after the stab
bling ARRAY. When the statement was
called for to day Sheriff Peck said: 'Mr.
Keefe told a very straightforward story
and did not seem inclined to keep any
thing back. Keefe was sitting at the table
cutting bread when VIM came in. He
had been tout with the boys'' and was
quarreleome. They got into a quarrel
about milk and coffee, and finally
VIM threw q cup at Keefe and
then jumped on Keefe and threw him to
the floor, where they rolled OYER andd over.
Keefe all this time hadd t the bread knife in
his hand and n pure self-defense thrust it
! ieetsss Winn." This was substantially the
statement givenby Keefe to Sheriff Peck.
The witness then described the room
whore the fight took place, pointing out
the blood spots, which were indicated on a
| chart presented in court. He also found
on the night Of the trouble two revolvers,
| 80 or 42-caliber, one of them being under
the pillow on Keefe's bed.
Senator Fox then closely CROSS ques
toned Sheriff Peck for the defense. He
/ attempted to confute the evidence before
given by Sheriff Peck and bring out the
| fact that Keefe was cutting bread and &C
account for his having the knife. Sheriff
Peck was positive on this point, however
The bread knife itself was exhibited anc
identified by the sheriff as the one tha
| did the work.
Considerable stress was laid on tn,
statement Of VIM to Sheriff Peck aftel
| he was stabbed. It was somewhat as fol
lows: "This murderous villain, why doe
he want to kill me after I have done 81
much for him" Judge Blydenburgh sale
that that would have great weight with
jury.
Judge Blydenburg said he was there TO
Winn's friends and relatives and to Sc
that, If possible, justice be done; that al
though the case would probably be fairl
presented in any event, yet he was Their
to see fair play, and that considerable in
justice had already been done by attempt
ing to excuse Keefe on account of it's bein
| drunken brawl.
i After fifteen minutes recess Senate
Fox argued briefly that Keefe should b
discharged, while Grand Juror Frenc
| spoke for the state and the case WAS left
Justice Adams. He weighed the evidenc
and among other things said: "While it
not known who was the aggressor, Keef
could have defended himself in name
far less vicious, and think that the stat
ought to look further into the matter.
Keefe was committed to the county Jail t
await trial at the session of the superic
court on the first Tuesday of October: Ser
ator Fox moved that his honor admit Kee1
to bail, but Justice Adams declined til
motion.
John Vim, brother of the deceased,
here from his home in Greenbush, N. Y
He said: "My brother had good reput,
ton at home. He was very kind to Keef
r He had son who was great friend {
Keefe; in fact, they were almost inseparf
|, BILE, sleeping with each other most of IL
time. Well, my brothers son died and
took Keefe right to his heart for the sax
! of his son and finally took him into par
nership. This accounts for my brother
statement after he was stabbed" -.5
When the case came up for trial Kee,
went across the room to shake hands wit
Winn's brother, as they had always bee
friends. Vim held back for a momen
celebrating what he had best do, but fina
Iy offered his hand.