The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-08-03
CHEERED The VERDICT
CrowdsRejOiced Over the Taylor
Trial Verdict.
When Guilty" Was Announced
There Was Applause.
WAS ONLY ONE BALLOT
Prisoners Received the Verdict
With Indifference.
WAS ONLY ONE BALLOT

CARRo11roN, Mo-, Aug. 5.-Yester-
day witnessed dramatic ending of
the famous Taylor trial, which has
been replete with sensational features.
George and William Taylor, charged
with the most atrocious crime known
to the annals of Missouri, were found
guilty of the cruel deed by twelve good
men and true.
As soon as court opened Colonel John
B. Hale began the last speech for the
defense. The colonel is an able
speaker and for over two hours held
the attention of the large audience,
the judge and the jury in the closest
manner. His style was dignifed and
courteous, and his points well made.
He was followed by Prosecuting At
torney Bresnehen, who closed for the
state. Mr.. Bresnehen made an effect
i've address, sometimes rising to the
proximity of eloquence, and his evil
dent sincerity and earnestness added
much to the effect of his address. His
points were strongly defined, and his
arguments clear cut and logical.
When Mr.. Bresnehan had finished,
Judge Rucker gave the jury their final
instructions and turned them over to
the sheriff. They were escorted to
dinner, and then taken back to their
room at ! o'clock.
About $3.50 a deputy sheriff was
noticed slipping quietly, but hurriedly,
around the square, notifying the at
tOrneys and Judge Rucker that the
jury had reached a verdict. The crowd
that had been hanging idly around the
court house yard made a rush for the
door and started up the steps. Deputy
sheriffs were at the head of the stairs,
however, and no one was allowed to
get beyond the top step. When Judge
Ruclzer and the attorneys arrived, the
judge took the key out of his pocket,
peeped in the room. notified the jury
to take their seats in their box,
then threw the doors open and
walked to the bench and took
his seat. The crowd surged in
like madmen, and it was with difficult
ty the sheriff and his deputies were
able to maintain order. The court or
dered the sheriff to bring in the de-
PENDANTS, William and George Taylor.
In few minutes they were brought
in, and all eyes were turned on them.
The prisoners were pale, and look of
WEAKNESS and, perhaps, trepidatiOn
might have been noticed by a close
observer. They quietly took their
seats George looked around the
aDDaTGQJIX
moment, but Bill Immediately fastened
his sharp eyes on the jury as if he
would read their verdict in their faces.
When they were told at the jail,
George remarked that they had got
through in a hurry, but expressed no
opinion as to what the verdict
would be.
Judge Rucker then turned on the
jury amid breathless silence and said:
AT al +1,,,,
Foreman Craig answered, I'VE have"
and walked over to the clerks desk
and handed in the folded paper
which held the destinies of two men.
His look was a determined one, but he
was pale and nervous. The clerk
called the roll of the jury, to which all
responded. ''Mr. Clerk, read the YER
Dict said Judge Rucker. Circuit
Clerk HigginbOttOm arose with the
paper in his hand and in a loud, clear
voice, read: 1--WE, the jury, find the
defendants, George and William Tay-
Tor. guilty of murder in the first degree
as charged in the Indictment"
For a moment the silence was in
tense, then a burst of applause greeted
the announcement of the verdict,
which was quickly hushed by the
Judge. The defendants maintained
their look of composure to the last and
not trenOr was visible in either. The
Jury was then discharged and they
were Immediately surrounded by
crowds, all wanting to know how many
ballots were necessary to reach the
verdict, and to express their approval
of same. One juryman said that on
the first ballot all but two were for
conviction and that had it not been for
the time consumed in examining the
instructions a verdict would have been
reached in ten minutes.
Mrs William Taylor was at the jail
when She first heard the verdict, and,
throwing up her hands, exclaimed:
ssOh, Lord, that can't be" and tainted.
The TavlOrs were locked up in the
court room with their attorneys until
o'clock and all this time the immense
crowd on the outside cOngregated in
the street leading to the jail, all
anxious to once more see the faces of
the men whom the jury decreed should
die for the murder of Gus Meeks and
his family. While the defendants
were in the court house the sheriff
called his deputy and went down to
the Jail and made thorough search of
the cells for anything that might have
been passed into the prisoners to effect
their escape, but found nothing, and
the sheriff says from now on a guard
will be there day and night.
The attorneys for the defense are
still fighting and will make a motion
for new trial to-day, which it is ex-
pected the court will overrule. They
will then take an appeal. The verdict
is universally Endorsed here by those
who heard the evidence.