The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1895-04-25
SLIGHT CLEWS
Discovered In the Double Murder
Case at San Francisco.

Discovered in the Double Murder
Case at San Francisco.
The Microscope Brought Into Use In the
Case-Thickness Of the Hairs Of the
Murdered Woman, the Alleged MUIR
derer and the Horse He Rode.
SAN Francisco, CAL, April o2.-W. 81.
Theodore Durant, medical student and
assistant Sunday-school superintend-
ent, Is to stand trial for the murder of
Miss Marian Williams in Emanuel Bap-
tist church library on Friday night,
April IL. for the coroner's jury has
found that the young woman came to
her death by his hands; that he defow-
cred, choked her to death by thrust
ing pieces Of her underskirt down her
throat, cut her wrists SO that she
would bleed to death, and to complete
the murderous work had driven a
knife into her heart, and in beastial
fury slashed her breast. The slashing
and cutting was done after the girl
was dead. There was slight flush
to be seen on the prisoners
cheek when he heard that the
verdict would place his life in
Jeopardy, but his cold gray eyes
gave no sign of emotion, and lightly
he went back to his cell, laughed and
joked with his jsilers and went to sleep
Friday night as though he had no cares
in the world. Durant is either GRIM
inal of remarkable nerve and GOODNESS
or else he is an innocent man. But
people wonder how this young man
could have heard the gruesome details
of the killing of the little woman who
was his friend, without evincing the
slightest emotion or interest.
Durant's friends have based their be-
lief in his innocence on one point only
that no blood was found on his cloth
ing. But If there is no error in the
PHYSICIANS judgment, and though
science in the test is said to be exact,
then one of the most battling points
that has 30 far confronted the detec-
tives is cleared up. It has all along
been asserted that the murderer could
not have possibly inflicted the terrible
wounds on the body of the girl, who
was presumably struggling for her life,
without getting a considerable quan.
iity of blood on his clothes. Acting on
this theory the detectives began q
search for the blood-stained clothes,
without success.
With the result of the autopsy and
the conclusions of the physicians, the
matter is easy of explanation. With
skill acquired in the diesecting room of
the medical college it would have been
an easy matter for him to have infiict-
ed the wounds upon the lifeless body,
from which the flow of blood would
have been slow without having soiled
his clothes with as much as q single
drop of the crimson fluid. It would
have been an easy task even for an
unskilled hand, and nothing seems
more probable than that the butcher,
be he Durant' or another, left the
church without mark about him to
show of his bloody work. The detec-
tives even are not satisfied with this
and Friday night they were again at
work in the church building searching
from cellar to belfry and lobby to
altar. They think that the bloody
garments Of the murderer may be
found between the lathing and the
weatherboard of the hall. With ak
and chisel they will tear up the floor.
ing and rend the wainscoating.
Another curious circumstance has
come to light On the body of Miss
Williams was found several horse
hairs and some human hairs. A mi
croscopical examination was made of
them and they were measured, with
the following result: The long, silky
hair, presumably from Miss Williams
head, was found to be six two-thous-
andths of an inch in thickness; the
shorter hair, thought to be that OF
the murderer, measures five
two.thousandths of an inch and
the horse hair, of which there
were half dozen strands, was found
to be twen ty-one four-thousandths of
of an inch thick. Some hair from the
name of the horse ridden by Durant on
his trip to Mount Dia bio was taken to
the expert and when put under the mi
croscope was found to measure exactly
the same as the horse hair found on
Miss Williams clothing. The coin ci-
dence was more remarkable when il
was found that the hair from the name
| OF several uOrSeS ulcdSurcu clGHeT llOTe
or less than that of the horse Durant
rode.
The church in which the crime was
committed has long been held in any
thing but high regard by the neighbors.
| One of the latter, Richard Stanton says
that it was a common thing to see
young men and women go into the
church by the side gate at all hours o.
the day and night "These visits had
become so common" he said, that nc
attention was paid to it. 1t was 6
daily occurrence, and the people hat
ceased commenting on it. There wa:
a light in the church nearly every
night. The pastors study was lighted
up nearly every night saw ligh
in it on Friday night, April l2, at lo:3'
o'clock as passed into the house.
paid no attention to it, as it was such ,
common thing, and the neighbors hat
become accustomed to it."
L