The Dalles times-mountaineer. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1882-1904, 1895-04-20
THE CHURCH FIEND.
The Testimony on the Coroner's Inquest
Strong Against Durrant.

Strong Against Durrant.
SAN FRANCISCO, April 17.-Coroner
| Hawkins resumed his inquiry into the
| death of Minnie Williams this morning
| an hour earlier than yesterday, but for
an hour before the doors opened the
| crowd commenced to gather and a de-
tail of policemen had all they could do
to keep the curious throng quiet.
DR.. Gibson was late, but appeared
after slight delay and was the first
witness called. He testified that he
| had never been in the belfry of the
church until the 10Th inst, and that he
| had only seen Miss Williams three
| times to his knowledge. He had never
been very intimate with Durrant. He
did not identify the body at first sight.
| He had never slept in the church, and
| did not know if Durrant had or not.
He identified the broken pieces of the
| knife as those found near the body,
and also the stick used to tamp the
cloth into Miss Williams mouth.
Mrs. Voy, at whose house Miss Will
liams stopped on the afternoon of the
night on which she was murdered, tes-
| titled that she had never heard of Dur
| rant, and knew Miss Williams by no
orher name. She had given the dead
girl night key. She identified the
clothes shown by the coroner as those
worn by Miss Williams.
Miss Voy gave corroborative evil
dence. and added that Miss Williams
had told her that she intended to re-
sign from the Christian Endeavor So
ciety, as she. could not afford the eX-
pense. She also identified the clothing.
Elmer A. Wolf testified that he last
saw Durrant on Friday night about II
ota hot hainor Of tho tu hot
saw the young ladies home from So
cial at DR.. vogel's. He thinks he saw
him few minutes after standing on
Twenty-fourth street, but is not sure.
He said that Durrant arrived at VOgel's
house about $50, but did not come di-
rectly into the parlor.
DIR. Vogel, at whose home the party
was, testified that he knew all the par
ties concerned. Durrant's hair looked
disheveled. Durrant asked to be
shown place where he could wash
and comb his hair. Witness denies
ever having said that his forehead was
wet with perspiration. He said Dur
rant had explained his tardiness by
saying he had been at the armory. A
statement was read to the witness in
which he is quoted as having said that
young lady had told his cousin,
Miss Lucille Turner, that Durrant had
once suggested that she allow him to
make medical examination of her,
he telling her that he knew of good
place in the church where it could be
done without any one being the wiser.
The young lady resented the PROPOSE
tiOn, and after that would have nothing
to do with Durrant. Witness said the
statement was practically correct, and
@1o% 4 1nl nj HI SOW t1,nf
she did not like Durrant. The witness
said he knew Miss Williams we'll. She
never spoke of Durrant.
G.. T. Hills was the next witness
called. He said he knew neither Dur
rant nor Miss Williams. About 8:15
Friday night he saw man and a short
woman near the church. He thought
they were man and wife. He was
across the street from them, and could
not describe them accurately. He
thought the man wore a soft hat, and
a long overcOat, such as Durragt wears.
They weut in the direction of the |
church and entered the side gate,
which leads into the churchyard. |
That was the last he saw of them.
A. E. Williams, the father of the |
murdered girl, was the next witness. |
He said his daughter had spoken |
about Dnrrant to him, and said Dur |
rant had not treated her right. She |
did not go into details. Williams |
identified the pocketbook found in Dur
rants pocket as the one he had pre-
sented to his daughter.
James Saderman, son of the sexton |
of the church, testified that he thought |
Durrant had key to the church, be-
cause he has seen him alone in the
building. The boy did not know Miss
Williams.
Sergeant Burke described how he
searched Durrant's clothes and found
the purse