The Portland daily press., 1893-06-21
CHEERS IN THE COURT.
The Judges Stared at the Walls and
the Sheriff Didn't Hear.
NOT GUILTY THE VERDICT IN THE
BORDEN CASE.

The Defendant and Her Counsel Nearly
Overcome by Emotion When They
Heard the Words Which Set Her Free
Spectators Cheered and Waved Their
Handkerchiefs-The Jury Was Out
an Hour and Quarter-Closing Scenes
of the Great Trial.
New BEDFORD, June 3O.-The case of
Lizzie Andrew Borden, accused of the
murder of her stepmother and father,
was given to the jury at 3.15 this after
noon. At 4.30 the jury filed into their
seats and rendered the verdict of not
guilty.
The closing scene of the trial was in
direct contrast to those which preceded
it. Heretofore, all has:been decorous and
in keeping with the dignity of the most
dignified court in the country. But
when the verdict of not guilty was re-
turned cheer went up which might
have been heard half a mile away
through the open windows. No attempt
was made to check it. The stately JUS
tices looked straight ahead at the bare
walls winking and blinking like ordinary
men. The hand of doughty Sheriff
Wright was powerless to WELD the gavel,
and not once during the tremendous ex-
citement did he make the slightest sign
OF having heard it.. People arose in
their seats and waved their handker-
chiefs in unison with their voices. Miss
RnTdnn7c II
the rail in front of her and
tears came as she heard the words ssNot
Guilty" Mr.. Jennings was almost cry.
ing and his voice broke as he put his
hand out to Mr.. Adams, who sat next
him, and said THANK God.'' Mr.. Adams
returned the pressure of the hand but
seemed incapable of speech. Gov. Rob-
inson turned to the rapidly dissolving
jury as they filed out of their seats and
cleaned on them with fatherly interest
in his kindly eyes. He stood up as Mr..
Knowlton and Mr.. Moody came over to
shake hands with the counsel for the de-
fense.
AS soon as possible the room was
cleared. Everybody wanted to shake
hands with Miss Bordens She was taken
to the room of the Justices and allowed
to recover her cOmposure with only the
friends who were with her. At the ex-
piration of an hour she was helped to a
carriage and driven to the station where
she took the train for Fall River.
Mr.. Knowlton Resumed
his sum ming up as soon as the court
came to order this morning.
The first point he touched upon was
the point of motive. He said it was not
necessary to find motive in all cases to
fix guilt. He claimed the motives of a
crime were as inscrutable as the ways
OF divine providence. He claimed jeal-
ousy surrounded and threatened the
daily life of Mrs. Borden and that it was
not Lizzie Andrew Borden who greeted
her father when he came in but a mur-
deress, whose hands were reeking with
the blood of the dead woman up stairs.
1t was not the father she met but the
husband of the woman she had Just
killed. The murder, he said, was not
the result of careful plans but the out
come of stern necessity. The speaker
then described the last walk Of Mr..
Borden and his arrival at the house: how
Bridget let him in, and the moves that
were made up to the time he asserts Liz
zle pounced upon him with uplifted axe,
AAAAs AAAO WAOOA ottlu bldb I1lO DIISOu6r WAS
possessed of composure that had aston
ished the world, but she was not under
the influence of any drug when she first
saw the officers of the law upon the day
OF the murders, and he claimed that the
story OF the barn was simply Incredible
Instead OF this she occupied the time be-
tween the departure of Bridget up stairs
until she called her in. killing her father
and destroying the evidence of
said no credence was to be placed upon
stories of the peddler regarding seeing
woman go from the Borden barn to the
house at 1850. He said the man had
told dozen different stories regarding
the time. He claimed the defense had
failed to show what Lizzie was doing in
the barn at the time she alleged she was
there. Regarding Medley, he said the
man was an old detective and his evi-
dence was of the most valuable variety.
He said the nerve that Lizzie exhibited
after the murder when every one was
trem bling with fear was evidence that
she was capable of the crime. He then
attacked the story offered by the defence
regarding the burned dress and in this
connection said that even Mrs. Churchill
said she did not know what dress Lizzie
burned.
A striking passage in the remarks of
the district attorney was that in which
he spoke of Lizzie's meeting her father
after the murder of Mrs. Borden, He
said:
I have called your attention to the way
in which they lived under the same roof:
it impressed me deeply, as am sure it
did you. The malice was all before the
fact;
The Wickedness. the Ingratitude
had gone on under this roof for MANY.
many months.
There may be that in this case that
shows that Lizzie Borden did not plan to
kill her father, and 1 hope so. But it