Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-06-20
SHE HEARD IT UNMOVED
Lizzie Halliday Listened Stolidly
to Stories of Her Crimes.
HER DEFENSE TO BE INSANITY.
No Attempt Made by Her Lawyers to Stem
the Tide of Evidence Authorizations
McQuillan Tells How His Daughter Was
Lured Away.

MONTICELLO, n. Y, June 20.-Before a
throng of ?, 900 people, who occupied every
seat and all of the standing space in the
little courtroom, the trial of Lizzie Halli.
day began in earnest.
District Attorney Hin told tho jury the
story of the finding of the naked body OF
Sarah j. McQuillan under heap of stable
filth riddled with bullets. 1t is for the
murder of Sarah McQuillan that Lizzie
Halliday is on trial, although when that
young woman's body was found so was
the body of the mother, Margaret McQuil-
Ian, and later on the body of old Paul Hal
liday, the prisoners late husband, was
found under the floor of the kitchen,
where this woman spent most of her life,
All three bodies were filed with bullets.
and Mr.. Hill told the jury that they fitted
pistol found in the possession of Lizzie
Halliday Sept. 1, 1898, when the bodies of
the murdered women We're found and the
woman was arrested.
Sarah j. McQuillan, for whose murder
Mrs. Halliday Is put to trial, was a beau
tiful young girl, the daughter of old
Thomas McQuillan and Margaret his
wife. The MoQuillans lived in the out
skirts of Newburg. The mother had been
gone to the Halliday farm several days
when late last August, Sarah got n note
from Mrs. Halliday saying her mother was
i'll and wanted her. She went to Burling-
ham. She was next seen dead under the
heap of stable refuse.
Told by Witnesses.
The first witness was Mrs Caroline
Wright of Newburg, who told how Mrs.
Halliday had appeared at her house and
engaged Margaret McQuillan as domestic
help, representing herself as Mrs Smith.
The other witnesses We're Joseph Osborn
and Margaret Arnot, who testified that
they had seen the McQuillan girl drive
away with the prisoner.
The defense in the Halliday case seem
to be doing but little, apparently relying
upon the law which protects any and all
forms of insanity. The prisoner was COM
pletely composed, and If it were not for oc-
casional twitchings of her mouth no one
would suspect that she understood that
anything unusual was going on. Aler
Sawyer, the Justice of the peace of tho
town of Mamakiting. WAS called to the
stand. He testified that he went to the
house on Monday, Sept. 4, and found n
pistolball while taking up the carpet. He
was the man who proposed to Mrs, Halli-
day that she go to Bloomingburg with n
couple of men for the purpose of getting
hor husband.
He described infinitely the discovery of
the bodies of the McQuillan women. When
the prisoner was brought back from Bloom
ingburg, Justice Sawyer told her that the
bodies of two strange women had been
found on her place. She appeared perfectly
rational, he said, until the evening of this
day, Monday, when she began to act queer
ly and to complain that potato bugs wero
crawling over her. Tho blood stained rope
was put in evidence and identified by Mr..
Sawyer as that found in the house. Tho
bullets taken from the bodies of the wom-
On were also produced. They wero found
wrapped up in the report of the testimony
taken at Birmingham and werr in the Sui
livan county clerks office, District At
torney Hin has been searching for them
for over week. Paul Halliday, ono of
tho sons Of the murdered man, testified to
calling at his fathers house ON Aug %.
When he visited the house with Garfield
on Monday, they found II bloody cape and
spots on the carpet. Mrs. Halliday re-
piled to their inquiries that it was her own
blood that made the marks.
The revolver which is supposed to have
been used in the shooting by Mrs. Halli-
day was also brought into court. The re-
volver was found in an clubhouse. When
court was adjourned, Mrs Halliday ap-
peared somewhat paler than usual, but
was composed.