The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-10-11


rigid cross examination Of District Attor- /
ney Barnes today Theodore Durrant
made a. number of answers that are re-
garded as C:scidcdly incrimira ting, mas
much as they appear to be III direct con-
hict with we'll established facts.
He gave an explanation OF a clew re-
gardng Blanche Lannon'S disappearance |
said to have been received by him that |
was so paipably Il fal5ehood that every j
body in the court room laughed aloud
The sitting atmosphere Of the over
crowded court ROOM came To J1urrarts |
rescue and he was enabled to recover /
from his confusion during short recess
that followed. When he again came to !
the stand he had his old time self as
surance at his command ard remained |
calm during the most trying ordeals. |
Without u tremor Durrant handled |
Blanche Lannon'S torn clothing which /
was found hidden away III the little Gre
vices of the Berry and denied that he
secreted The garments. Even The grue- |
some model boFring the waist and skirt !
worn by Blai.che Lamont when she was |
murdered did not affect him, although it |
stood within three feet Of where he vas !
sitting. But the prosecution was never /
| theless well satisfied with the day work,
for 1t had accomplished what had never
! been done before Durrant for moment |
had lost his wonderful self possession
and had been caught in number OF
Barefaccd Untruths.
The maze i'll which Durrant lost his
| bearings and disclosed the fact that he
! was perjurlnS himself vas i'll telling
about boz the afternoon he spent at the fer
ries waiting to sec il blanche Lamont
would not appear. Two days before the
/ body of the young woman was discoy-
cred Durrant sad he obtained d clew to
the effect that upon that afternoon size
would cross the bay &c Oakland. Dis
trict Attorney Barnes asked him whcle
he obtained tie clcw. DuTrant said tina
| as he was standing at the corner of
! Market and Montgomery streets that
/ man whom ha had never seen before
/ and has never seen Since approdche--hlm
/ and asked him if fiS name was not Dur
rant. The prisoner replied in the ahlrnla-
I tive The stranger then asked Durrant
if, in view of the fact that his name
/ had been unpieaaaruy connected with tie
/ disappearance of the ;,irl he would not
! like to find her Durrant replied that he
would be overjoyed even to obtain
/ trace of the missing girl.
/ Watch the ferries then this after
noon, sad tine stranger, she Will try
to cross the bay. That is my advice
When questioned by the district attOr-
ney Durrant said that although he was
greatly Interested in finding Miss Lamont
he did not ask the stranger his name his
4 residence or ior any additional lnfornld-
| ton other than that which was volun-
! teered. He went 10 luncheon and from
there to the ferries where he remained
until o'clock without having caught d
glimpse of the missing girl. While he
was waiting, however,
He Saw Three Medical Students
and az old schoolmate. To one Of the
men he said he was waiting to see il he
could rot find Miss Lamont. To two
others he seid he was waiting for several
members OF the signal corps Who were
coming over from Oakland. The fourth
tpstiTie6 that he
| school tg;.1 whose description answer
ed to that of Minnie Williams, who was
| murdered that right, and ride away
/ toward the mission on a Howard street
car. When Dlrrant was asked if he told
two of the students that he was waiting
for some members OF the signal corps, a
first he reptied that he did not In a
moment he remembered that on u former
occasion ne admitted the conversation and
then replied III the affirmative.
District Attorney Barnes asked Durrant
why he abandoned his search at o'clock
to make preparations to &C to Mount
Diablo on a pleasure trip If he was 50
deeply interested in the disappearance OF
Miss Lamont. Durrart replied that ne
had made preparations to go on the trip
and DID not think it was necessary TO
remain at the ferries any longer. ar
Barnes asked h:ra if he told anybody
else OF the clew given him by the stran-
ger so they could continue the search
Durrant said he had had no opportunity
to tell any Of Miss Lamont's friends.
w ll6I qu6SliUtISu fIOSSIN DuITdQC admit
ted that he attended u meeting of the
Young Peoples society the same evening
where he saw several of Miss Lamout'S
intimate friends. Among others was
Thomas Vogel, whom Durrant had said
a moment before was more interested in
the disappearance of the young woman
than anybody else except Mrs. Noble, her
aunt. Durant admitted that he had
a. private cory ersation with NogeI but
did not think to tell him about the clew
he had obtained.
A Surprise Sprung.
After a short recess during which
Durrant recovered his composure, a sur
prise was sprung on him in the hope
that it might discomfort him. After ask
ing Durrant if he had ever made a writ
ten statemen- of his Whereabouts Oh the
day Blanche Lamont was murdered and
receiving an affirmative reply, District
Attorney Barnes asked the following
question:
rs it not a fact that you sent a writ
ten statement of your case to your at
torneys, ard wrote on the envelope TO
be opened if ! am convicted ana to be
returned if | am acquitted" "
The excitement caused by the question
was intense. In the hum of voices Dur
rants answer was lost and the steno-
grapher was asked to read the reply.
II never sent an envelope to my at
torneys bearing such an inscription said
he
Durrant was questioned at length re-
garding the communication and the sig
nifcant Inscription on the envelope, but
he denied that he ever sent such a docu-
ment.
Durrant was next shown the various
garments Worn by Blanche Lamont and
asked if he had secreted them in the
belfry where they were found. He identi-
fed the pieces of clothing as the ones
worn by Miss Lamont on the day of
her death. but said he did net hide them
in the church.
A Climax Reached.
Durrants strong nerves were tested by
a number of questions relative to the
last time he saw Miss Lamont. The eli
max was reached wnen District Attor-
ney Barnes, with his voice pitched in q
higher key than usual, advanced TO where