The morning call., 1894-03-27
HEATH GREW PALE
Sensational Evidence in
His Trial.
REEL b. TERRY IS ACCUSED.
Sensational Story Told by a
Dying Woman.
REEL B. TERRY IS ACCUSED.
MYSTERIOUS MEN IN A BUGGY.
Fresno Excited Over the Latest De.
velopments in the McWhir.
ter Tragedy.

FRESNO, March 26.-The talk of the
town this evening is the testimony of Mrs.
Cora Palmer given at the Heath trial this
morning implcatug Reel b. Terry. for
merly an attorney of this city and bitter
enemy of l.. E. McWhirter. Rer test
mony was a thunderbolt to the defense.
and all but those intimately connected with
the prosecution were almost as much sur
prised as the defense. Many people recalled
the general rumor circulated Oh the morn
ing of ths murder that the ''gang" had a
hand in it, and they are now exultanily
saying. 81 told you So"
A peculiar part of this phase of the case
is that even the prosecution itself was un-
aware of tie important evidence within
its reach until last Friday. Mrs. Palmer
was seen by no person connected with the
prosecu ton till last Friday, when she her,
self sent word to Mrs. McWhirter to visit
her at her home in Washington Colony, as
she had something of importance in con-
nection with the Heath trial to impart 10
her.
Mrs. Palmer's recollection of the incl
dents of the tragic night was recalled by
the accidental finding in raebag Thurs
day of the III ask and handkerchief which
she took home after saving them from the
flames and which she had thrown aside,
thinking them of small Importance, as she
| supposed the men she met near Nc
Whirter's were merely incendiaries whose
purpose she had foiled.
The scene was strikingly dramatic one
as the sick woman, propped up on her
| pillows with her nurse at her side, was
! sworn. Her presence was a surprise, and
the whole court was on the qui vive as to
what she had to say. She told how after
bringing her husband in from Washington
Colony and leaving him at the depot she
started to 90 to Mrs. Nichols, a friend
| living in the northern part of the city, to
spend the night.
! While going along n street she passed a
| buggy in which were two men. They nearly
colided with her vehicle, and one man,
whom she recognized as Reel Terry, swore
at her. After she had driven short dis
tance in the direction in which the men
came she noticed little fame in the f0xtail
along the sidewalk. A blaze at that time
of the year would be dan gerous. So she
stopped he phaeton ana proceeded to stamp
cut the flames. AS she did so the horse
started. She stopped then and noticed
that it was handkerchief burning. She
rolled il in her hands to put out the flames.
| There was with it a cloth and the witness
exhibited a mask of black cloth. The
| handkerchief was of white silk and had
great holes burnt in it. But the part that
attracted the mos attention was the mark
| in the corner, "R. S. H" The rest OF the
word was burned out by the flames. An
other point noted was that the black cam
tric mask was of the same material exactly
as the strings of the blue mask.
The witness described the horses. buggy
and the men seated therein. and during
grew pale and troubled, elu,ching the
table in front Of him.
On cross-examination Attorney Foote
asked her If the other man was Judge
Harris, and the witness answered posi-
lively mo" She was certain of Terry,
however. She stated she did not tell of
these things before because she was taken
sick very soon thereafter and left Fresno,
while the things she had put in her buggy
that night were thrown by the hired man
into a gunnysack.
The cross-examination was very rigid
and to some extent brutal, considering the
condition of the woman. 1t is not be-
lieved she can survive three months, and
this made her testimony all the more i'm
pressive. her utterances being the words
of dying woman.
The next witness was John Chenowith.
He saw man in a one-horse buggy drive
rapidly by his house Oh Stanislaus street,
toward NJ. short time before the shoot
ing. He also heard shots and screams.
DR.. NJ. V. Yancey testified that Heath
bed said McWhirter ought to be killed.
In view of to-day's occurrences in the
Heath case. the question is naturally
asked, "Who is Mrs. Palmer?" She came
here fourteen years ago from Michigan as
the wife of DR.. Palmer. who bought prop
erty ard erected a comfortable house in
| Washington colony. She was his second
| wife and much younger than her husband.
! She was q woman Of good education and
refinement, and was respected by her
| neighbors. The doctor was not prosper
Gus as a farmer. and after a few years
took a place In drugstore in San Fran
| cisco. and it was presumed the final sepa-
ration from his wife was the result of a
| domestic misunderstanding. After living
alone with a son for several years she
married printer by the name Of Boland,
of dissolute habits. from whom she has
since been divorced. Mrs. Palmer is a
lady of nervous temperament and some
eccentricities of manner, but ladylike and
bright and of good reputation. 1t = be-
lieved by her neighbors she is honest aud
sincere in what she has said in connection
with the Heath trial.
A peculiar circumstance in Terry's
alleged connection with the murder is that
Judge Harris. McWhirter's biiterest su-
emy perhaps. claims that Terry slept with
him that night, and Terry has put forward
this as an alibi.