New-York tribune., 1893-12-24
THE NET ABOUT COUGHLlN.
INCIDENTS OF HIS SECOND TRIAL FOR The
MURDER OF DR. CRONIN.
IkUU BILE WITH TIE JCKY-AN ENGLISH si"i'i
-LLl5AL sKIKMlshEs-RELICS OF THE
ihAGEDY-NES. fOY ON THE STAND


DR.. p. II. Cronln at the Carlson cottage IN
Chicago on May 4. 1889. that it would be unsafe
to predict that the elimination Of sensation had
been reached when on Friday morning the Wit
ncsg-box in Judge Tuthilrs court. where Coughhh
is on trial was for the first time occupied Dy AlrS
Andrew Foy the wife Of the man in whose mouse
the conspiracy is said to have been planned ana
VIII, IN spite Of threats has at last summoned up
sufficient courage to tell Of the crime which -FOUR
years ago was committed.
From the very first Of this. Coughlin's second
trial. the public have had surprises. A jury was
not secured without trouble, for it was only on
December s. after a week Of questioning that
the box was filed In fact it had to be hlied more
than once. for suspicion was raised that jurors
wore being tampered with by the defence
Two men were excused on the ground that
they had served on jlres within a year.
and the defence acquicsced In THIS course
rather than run the risk Of prejudicing other
Jurors by having the State make known It's real
ground Of objection Other jurors were also eN-
cused by reason of suspicion Of unfairness'
Ever since the trial began Mrs. Foy has been
looked forward to with interest. Before inc jury
,,.as secured II was announced that she would
testify If the State could get her evidence ad-
,nit,ed II. they conceded. would not be compe-
IN introduce It against the others. At tn" same
tir,a the names II the conspirators were pub
ushed Many of these names were already
known IN connection with the murder OF DR.
C,ro,in hut some were new. The doctor. so the
story went. was killed in the Carlson cottage by
p,tricl, Cooncv with a carpenters chisel. while
Martin Burke held him. Michael -. now
member ~ the Chicago police force whose name
was withheld because ne was not under arrest
stood guard at the door and Patrick oSuhNa"
stood outside at the rear Of the cottage. "''e'
tho murder Coughlin and Foy reached the cot
tare and participated In the disposal OF the p'uy'
which Coughlin and two others took III Uuh"
and placed IN buggy hired by n man ior
Courhlin and drove about town. hnally deposit
,n- 81 in the catch basin of a sewer. \ large
,u,,,bar % others are said to have had hand
IN the consr!racy. including Martin Dawn VINO
hrourh, Or Cronln 10 the scene of the murh"r
rho men who drove the body about ana th"S'
,,.h, had mart I'm the renting and furnishing oi
tho cottage in view of using 1t as a place '''
,isIting vengeance on Dr. Cronin
rho ,r,ol of Courhlin really began on Decem-
bor g. Assistant states Attorney seaman anu
,ss,s,,r, Dlstdct-Attorncy Rottum conducting
the case ror the people. and Daniel p"n"hu' anu
ox-1rdqe Wing looking after the interests of the
defendant The Foy question came AZ once 10
,hc front IN a dispute as to whether the people
had q right 10 outline her expected testimony
,ybo, the aanis-ihhty of II was yet 10 be do
,,1.d rrlce Tuthiu ruled that tho state might
outline the testimony without mentioning the
,,,oss,s ror-e II was thon said that among
,be ,bincs that the state expected 20 show were
,ho, y,.o.s before the murder of Dr. Cronin the
concentrations began t. assemble at Foy's house
,,,org ,hcrn was Coughlin. who had never been
g., tho house before this time. As the dat" ~
the tragedy approached the secret conferences
Locorle more frequent. Sometimes Coughlln WAS
,horn two or three times dav They expected
70 show that Foy was IN tho habit ~ asking
how things were going and If there were any
diecovcries - which Coughlin was In the habit
of answering that all WAS going well. They also
cxrecied To- show that on May Il Mrs. Foy held
. long conversation with Coughlin. that she
told him that she was aware ~ the conspiracy
and upbralded him for getting hcr husband ana
others into trouble. In reply Coughln told her
f. keen her mouth shut; that all was safe. that
there would bc no discoveries, and that she
,y.uld L.. better taken care # than she had ever
boon in her life. According 10 the prisoner
own statement said Mr.. Seaman there was
violent hatred existing between Dr Cronin ana
Daniel Ccughlin four years previpus 10 IN" muir
der The attorney told how Coughlin. meeting
"pot" Dinan. told him he and the Doctor had
been AZ cnmity for four years He stated how
in 1854 Or Cronin was In a prominent irish So
ciety. how he assailcd the oilicers AT the head
of that society. how in 1898 Daniel Coughlin sat
on a Jury from the camp Of which the Doctor
was a member which declared him guilty Of
treason Mr. Scanlan told Of John L. Garrty's
diving statement and referred to the attempt Of
Courhlin t. get Major" Sampson 10 Slug" Dr.
Cr.uin and how even that desperate character
rejected the offer. and Informed the Doctor Of
his danger. Mr. S"anlan affirmed that the state
did not claim that there was conspiracy oi
any faction or organization to cause the ply
aician's death but that Daniel Coughlin for his
own purposes sought 10 show that the whole so
cioty Wa concerned in the plot
Tho ncxi day Mr.. Sraninn. continuing alluded
- the mystery surrounding the men accused
and suspected. and insjanced j. VI. Simonds
and Cooncy. who hed after their part in the
crime had b,rn done. and had never since been
sccn 10y people who knew them. The speaker
rXcorlatcI the "cDwardly assass'ns who, al
though four to one. dared not face their VIC
tim but struck him down from behind" at
which Courhlin flushed and WINGED. lie picked
up 4 paper and tried to read H. but put IL down
again Al this time his wife, dressed in black
ard wearing q thin veil sat In the courtroom.
Air Seaman told of u wonan's seeing the whit"
horse and buggy drive 10 the cottage. and see
ing he doctor aiight from IT. ana Of her hear
in., tho groans and scuillc inside; he traced the
Nandcrlnrs of ihc murdcrcrs on the North Side
seeking a place 20 leave the body. told of the
pcreons they encountered. and the finding II
The body eighteen days later Speaking Of the
white horse Incident. he said:
"DiEan. The livcryman. learning of IT. visited
ihc Ch.caEo-ave. station 90 ;"ll what b. knew Of
b.. r. mot COughlm. YOU look agltaied, Oh
served Couphlin. Don't YOU think ought To
Bc?' inquired Dnan. That white horse and
buggy was driven by man YOU got the rig
FOR am roing 10 ten all about IT. What
WAS Coughlm's reply. He told Dinan to keep
his mouth shut. saving that he and Dr Cronn
had been enemies for years"
The next day cX-JudGc Wing outlined the de-
fence IN a vigorous plea in which he char
acterlZcd the States case one of crcumstan-
Ial evidence and wa~ncd the jury against ac-
ccptng ii with0u, careful analysis. While the
cour, adjourncd over sunday somebody
started mild sensation by suggesting that
the British Ministry had paid $1,000 from the
Government Secret Fund to help Coughlin in
his defcncc. because IL was relying for aid in