Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-02-14
GUILTY OF BLOODY MURDER

james Is. Carpenter, and his mother
Hettie Carpenter, from Jail and ar,
raigned them before President Judge
Jeremiah Lyons, and Associate
Judges, j. i. Barton, and J. p Wick
ersham, on the 9th inst, on the
charge, of having murdered blind
James Carpenter, husband Of Hettie
Carpenter, and father Of James 3.
Carpenter, in the blind mans place
OF business in Port r )yal on Sunday
night, December 10, 1898. The
lawyers for the accused at once be-
gan work on line of obstructing
the progress of the trial by moving
to quash the array of iulors on the
ground, that the two jury commIs-
sioners elected under a special act
passed in 1865 had not filed the
jury wheel as required by that act.
When the jury wheel was filed,
tn wife of one of the Jury Commits
';,uor5 was dead and her husband
-va, then attending the funeral, and
3 .ige Lyons assiste at the filling
of the wheel; that WAS the objection
Judge Lyons reserved his opinion
till on Wednesday morning when he
overuled The motion on the ground
that General act for the drawing of
Jurors was passed at later date
man 1865, for all the counties in the
commonwealth, except for Philadel-
phia, and as it was the purpose of
the general act to provide uniform
system for the drawing of jurors
throughout the Commonwealth that
carried 2 repeal of the former special
act
The ruling Of Judge Lyons
cleared tue way, and when court
convened a. a quarter to Q n m
on the 7th, business was resun-
ed with an expedition that was
surprising to every one. The prison
ers, mother and son expressed de
sire 10 be tried separately. The son,
James B. Carpenter, was arraigned
and to the clearly propounded ques-
ton OF the clerk John w. Hibbs,
Guilty or not gilty, answered dis
tinctly, not guilty
Again to the surprise of every one
the calling of a jury was not a pro
trHcted one. There We're few chal-
lcnges, and long before noon twelve
Tcan satin the jury hox, to try the most
hCody cdrdliu1 murder ever perpe.
trated among the high land people
of this mountain gIrt county of Juui
ate, and before the noon adjourn
memt had been announced, District
Attorney Schweyer had well nigh fin-
ishsd speech that outlined the
salient points of the awful tragedy.
The Jurors were Hiram Dunn,
Theodore Schmittle, Clayton Stoner
II. F. Smith, Henry Bay, VIM. Bar
clay, VIM. Kidd, a. r. Freehrer,
Thomas Murphy, Williamson Van
Ormer, Beale Eaton, Geo. W. Speak
man.
Tie hush in the room was almost
painful, erery eye was fixed, every
ear was turned to catch the clearly
srticulated words of the speaker, and
when the noon adjournment was an
Eounced he had not finished.
THE JAM.
If the large court room was full
before noon. II was jamed full long
before the calling of the court and
the fiuisl Of the District Attorneys
speech afternoon. No such crowd
Of men and women had ever before
jammed themselves into the building
More than II thousand people were
there, every one wearing an intense
eEpr.osIon, and almost every one
standing. The court and the officers
and jury and the prisoners found it
a difficult task to get to their places
in the temple of Justice. Many of
the witnesses could not get into the
room. The court could not proceed.
and Judge Lyons in a mild speech
stated the impOssibility of proceo .lng
WIFI the business of the court, and
r-f Ssted the spectators in the bar and
~ the aisles to withdraw, but how
Gould they, when they were disinclined
to 90 and backed as the wsrs by a
line of people extending into the cor
ridors and down the stairways. The
people only turned their heads, and
locke 7 back over their shoulders.
Tho Judge again kindly appealed to
mem to with draw, they did not
move, then rising to the gravit- of
the stubborness Of the situation he
called on the Sheriff to clear the bar
space and sisles and it was done aud
when the roar of the retreatinG sur
plus multitude that could not find
room in the chamber had ceased the
District Attorney finished his speech
WITNESSES. LAWYERS.
Theu came the witnesses on the
side OF the prosecution, under the
direction of Wilberforce Schwever,
Hon L. E. Atkinson and John J.
Patterson Jr., with, defendants law
yers Judge Joseph Bucher, VIM A.
Sponsler, and jeremiah Keller, al
alert and full Of expectancy depicted
IN every feature of their faces.
Mrs. Carpenter and her son sat
by their lawyers side facing the
north side of the room with their
backs to the jury. The mother was
dressed in mourning, and while her
ta,g is scanned and wrinkled with
time and care it is plainly to be seen
that she had a fine face in days gone
by. The son, the young man on
trial is good enough looking, of
medium height, slender build and
blond complexion.
The witnesses unfolded the ghast-
L. taly, commencing with the search |
aud inding of the body in the creek |
along the south side Of Port Royal,
about 10 feet from where the stream
empties INTO the Juniata river. 1t
caused the fbers of the body of
-r.any OF the audience to tinole when