Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1895-04-27
CHI RCH OF TRAGEDY
Emar suel Baptist Edifice Seems
TO Be Inflated.
FOUR DEATHS OCCUR IN IT
Noun & Durant Has Been Declared Guilt,
~ Coroner's Jury OF
Murder.

San Francisco. April 19.--Much doubt /
as to- the guilt OF W II. T. Durant, the |
young medical student, accused OF Kill
ing Miss williams and suspected OF |
having slain Miss Lamont. Is freely eX- |
pressed. There has been an undercur- |
rent of opinion which was expressed III
the statement TO the newspapers by the
mother of the accused man. and also
mas been boldly stated In anonymous
letters to the coroner. that the actions
of the pastor. the Rev John George
GIBBS on, have been so peculiar that the
polio + might do well TO turn their search
lights on him. He stated the reason he
had not visited Durant in prison was
because of the infiamed state Of public
oplnion.
In spite of these expressed suspicious
against the preacher 1t is almost be-
yonl doubt that he is not In any man
ner implicated, as his whereabouts at
the time Miss Williams is supposed to
haye been murdered are known. If it
shohld be proven that Miss Williams
was not killed until midnight instead
Of between and 8 o'clock then there
might be grounds for suspicion voiced
by 10 many people.
The inquest was resumed this morn
ing One of the witnesses before the
corpner's jury was Elmer Wolf. an in
innate friend OF Durant, Wolfe vas In
the neighborhood of Emanuel church
| on the night Miss Williams was muir
derbd. and claims to have seen Duraut
within a block of that editlce as he
went home.
| Popular sentiment favors razing the
church. which has always been under a
\ cloud. The stain of human blood marks
! its history. one pastor killed a news
/ paper proprietor and another blew out
| his brains.
I Elmer Wolfe. whose statements have
bedn questioned recently. offered to pro-
4 duee witnesses to substantiate all he
hah previously stated regarding his
| movements on the night Minnie Will
laThs was murdered. but the coroner and
chief of police said that they were sat
isfed with wolfes statements.
Two of Durant's comrades in the Ma
iidnal Guards company We're examined
and said that on the afternoon OF the
night that Minnie Williams was muir
dered they saw Durant lettering about
the ferry at the foot of Market street
ard he talked with them. They said
that Durant told them that he did not
expect to be at the armory that night
arid asked them to respond to his name
at RON call.
Or. Bartlett. who conducted the au.
topsy. testified that Minnie williams
died OF asphyxiation, as the result OF
having part of her clothing forced
down her throat by the murderer, anC
the knife wounds on her body were in
fiIcted after her death. He also testifie,
that the girl had been outraged. an,
that previous to the time OF the TRACED,
she had led blameless life
Several other witnesses wUre exam
ired on minor matters. and about l
o clock the coroner announced that h
had no more testimony to offer. thougl
he called Durant to the stand. The lat
. ter left his seat as II to present himsel
for examination. His attorneys advise
him not to speak, and no further effor
was made to question him.
The coroner's jury concluded its In
vestigations today and rendered veI
diet declaring Durant guilty OF tn
murder OF Minnie Williams.
, The coroner's jury returned the fol
. diving verdict; I'VE find from the evi
dence that the murder was committe
tly one Theodore Durant. and we charg
5 i'm with the crime
2 When Durant was SHOWN the verde
His face flushed little for the first tim
since the terrible crime was discovered
: Miss Gertrude Taber. a step-sister 4
Z Elmer Wolff. the young man who's
[ name has been frequently mentioned 1
: 1he case within the past two days. ia
dome forward and identified the pursl
which was found on the San Bruno roa
{ NJ a elamdi~eer. and which containe
some papci -mung which was a bus
II hess card OF Or Vogei. on the back {
which was written the name of Mis-
: Williams
il Miss Taber says she II issed the purs
Is some time ago, while rio ing out 10 Il
l. raber ranch on the san Bruno road. an
e explains the presence OF card wit
I. Miss Williams name upon IL by sayin
n hat Miss Williams visited her son
weeks ago and wrote her address q
II one Of Or. Vogers cards.
Il Elmer VOLTS testimony at the ii
; quest was slightly mixed. and some
5 Durant's friends thought ne knew mo-
> of the crime than he wished 10 tell al
II pointed 10 the finding OF .he purse
substanftate the claim. II is peculi;
Ieoincidencc that the purse should ha'
x been lost by one SO closely related
Wolff. and found at this critical time.
~ Mrs. Durant. the mother Of the n
cused. says that she has evidence for Il
% defense which viii SO TO upset the ben
- ing OF the statement OF Witness III
a who testified before the cornner's jul
re that he had seen couple unswerir
of the description OF pUrant and the des
E. glrl standing near the church abo
ne $50 on the night Of the murder. and VI
IS afterwards entered the church var
IS Airs. hurant says a young couple HI
IL come To her and stated that they we
ID the parties who entered the church ga
or about the time Hiil claims 70 have SEE
a couple pass into the front gate.
This afternoon the police received /
~ formation from a laundry that a pn
OF bloody trousers had been lcft I
~ cleaning. The police say that q
- trousers are too big for Durant. but tn
~ they Will trace the clue 10 find 4
n owner
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