Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1892-04-24
A SCAFF0LD GRIM.


TCoRtimtcd from FIFTH Page
make facts. They say the witnesses they
put upon the stand surprised them.
They came here and told all they knew.
They could do nothing more. They
brought his friends, and / brought
them. What did they say? There was
no evidence of insanity; no evil
dence of moroseness; there was
nothing wrong. On the contrary,
they said he was jolly and light hearted.
One witness even said he was man
who could not be made mad, and an
other said, when friends attempted to
iibe him upon his broken German, he
would only say: oh, they're crazy, and
go off laughing"
After dwelling upon the evident
sanity OF the murderer, and detailing
some of his more prominent character
istics, Mr.. Howard told the jury the
murder was the third felony Maier had
committed. The first was when he
stole S119 from Mrs. Heger, and lost the
hulk of it playing poker in Denver; the
second was when he unlawfully admin
istered drugs to his wife, and the third
time he committed a felony was when
be shot his wife TO death, and said:
"What wonder. then, that my friends
were unable to get evidence! He's not
insane; he never was insane. The evil
dence of his insanity does not exist.
It's
AN UPHILL. JOB
to get something which Is not In exist
ence. No wonder they had a tough job
of it,"
Mr.. Howard referred briefly to the
expert evidence given by the physi-
clans, and then turned his attention TO
a remark by Mr.. Atkinson, that it was
better that ninety-nine guilty men
should escape than that one inocent
man should suffer, and said:
swell, ninety-nine guilty men have
escaped, in Ohio county, since the last
murderer was hanged. don't greatly
over-estimate the fact. Over quarter
of a century has elapsed since life was
judicialIy taken in this county. 1t Is
time to call halt with the one-hun-
dredth man, and let the pendulum swing
the other way"
He differed radically with MIR. Atkin-
son as to the law on insanity, and said
that what had been quoted by Mr.. At
kinson was not the law of West Virginia
at all, and he boldly challenged him to
state if this was not the fact. Mr.. At
kinson did not reply, and Mr.. Howard
went on to expound the law, and called
the particular attention of the jury to
the fact that the Court would instruct
them as to the law, and said by those
instructions they were to be guided.
He said the defense had been pleased
to indulge in some conJectures and
imaginings as to the crime and the state
of the defendants mind. They talked
of his attempt upon the life OF the child,
Katie Yoho, as additional proof OF the
insanity. He said:
"Well, II there is TO be speculation
upon this point, desire TO do little OF
it, and I shall present for your con-
sideration theory which
Is SUPPORTED BY KNOWN FACTS.
"After killing his wife in the cold
blooded manner he did, the murderer
then turned his attention to the child
who slept with her and fired upon her.
Why did he do that? For the reason
that she was the only witness OF his
foul crime. and he knew II he took her
| life, he could alarm the neighborhood
and say, some one killed my wife and
killed Katie Yoho, and tried to kill me,
but escaped Surprising that he had
killed her, as she fell out OF bed AID
crawled under it, he ran into the street
and cried: Murder 'Murderr But
as he cried the second time, he looked
up and saw Katie Yoho standing at the
head of the stairs, and he knew he had
not killed her. Acting upon the i'm
pulse of the moment, he fed down Wood
street, and the child, not seeing him,
ran screaming to her aunt's, Mrs. Mes
bits. As she ran, he stopped, and
thinking 1t was not too late to still her
voice, he pursued her back up Wood
street and to the door OF Mrs. Nesbitt's
house, but he was too late, and she es-
caped into the house. Realizing that II
was too late, he threw his revolver into
the street, and fed through the dark
ness. II gentlemen are to speculate,
beg to offer this theory for considera-
tioL along with their ideas"
Mr.. Howard then referred TO the state
ments OF the counsel for the defence that
there was stare of insanity in the eyes
OF the defendant, and said:
eyes, gentlemen Of the jury, look at
that starel Look at it! Note the stare
OF the maniac Note the vacant look OF
his eyes, Look at that stare! Look az
i'll THE murderer sat still In his chair
with his eyes downcast, as is haoitual
with him. See for yourselves that he
can't raise his eyes and look in the faces
OF a Jury Of his fellow-ctizens, and then
talk about the stare OF an insane man!
Note him well, and say II the vacant
stare of one who has mind diseased Is
there! No, no! gentlemen! That won't
do! All that you can see there is the
downcast eyes of guilty murderer, IN
able to lift his head"
Again, on the subject OF insanity, he
said:-
s'If this plea is 20 obtain, then all
murderer has to do is to come upon this
stand. and say he is crazy, and that his
father was crazy and his grandfather
was crazy, and that there was insanity
in his family-that he can trace IL clear
hack TO Noah-and then sit down in
front OF you, and fold his hands, and
wait for verdict Of not guilty. Gen
tlemen,
JURIEs ARE NOT TO BE FOOLED
in that manner in this day and genera
ton"
Mr.. Howard ridiculed the idea OF the
dafanse that Maier loved his wife, and