The herald., 1895-04-22
Gathering Evidence in the Brutal
Girl Murders
CHIEF CROWLEY'S BELIEF
Durrant to Appear in the Police Court
Today
Probably Be Entered Against the
Accused--New Evidence

SAN FRANCISCO, April 21.-Public in
terest IN the Emanuel Baptist echurch
murders is again at high pitch, owing to
the fact that young Durrant, the young
medical student formally accused OF one
murder and suspected of the other: will
have his preliminary examination tomor'
row. 1t was week ago last Friday that
the outraged and mutilated body of Mari
an Williams was found in the book room
of the library of the church. and while
vet the people were thrilling with the
horror of it, the body of Blanche La
mont, a young woman who had been
missing since April Sd. was found in the
belfry of the same church, stark naked
and with the marks of the murderer S I'm
gers on her throat.
The police have been busy in picking
ND the threads and weaving their net of
circum stantial, evidence, so as to leave no
weak mesh through which the accus eel
can escape for they believe they have the
murderer in the person of the prisoner.
That they have more evidence than they
have so far admitted seems to be almost
certain. But it is said now that they will
make an endeavor to try DUR first on
the charge of numbering Miss Lamont,
~
much stronger against the prisoner than
in the case of the killing of Miss Will
Jams.
Chief of Police Crowley says that he be-
lieves Durrant is guilty and that he had
no accomplish. 1t is also said that the
prosecution has some sensational evidence
in store in this case.
Referring to a rumor that Blanche La
mont was lured to the church by Dur
rants promise to perform criminal
operation on her to save her from dis
grace, and that when she shrieked in
agony, he grasped her by the throat to
stihe her cries and choked her to death,
Or. Barrett, the city's autopsy physician,
stated that the rumor was without foun-
dation He took especial care in the mat
ter of the autopsy and he Is satisfied that
no criminal operation was performed. He
also states that both young WON en- died
of strangulaton and that the knife
wounds in Marian Williams body were
not che cause of her death.
Rev. Gibson, through his private secre
tary, whom he has employed as buffer
aginst reporters. has issued an explain
ton of the reasons why he has notvisited
Durrant in prison. The prisoner and his
friends had bitterly complained of his
neglect to visit one of the pillars of the
church in such deep trouble but the
preacher says the utterances of the ac-
cused man and the latter's mother con-
tanned such covert insinuation that he
(Gibson) might be the murderer, that
he did not feel justified in calling and
offering spiritual consolation. The police
this evening are still searching the
church in an effort to find the clothing
worn by the murderer when he killed
Miss Williams. They are delving and
probing IN the cellar and church-yard and
an old well on the premises; they are
crawling through the interstices between
the ceiling and roof, and climbing up
through the belfry. They worked until
late last night, also, but without success.
Chief of Detectives Lees arrived from
EosAngeles tonight and started in to in
vestigate the Lamont and Williams muir
der cases. Today he visited the church
and examined the edifice. the blood
stained library and the belfry where Miss
Lamont's body lay for nine days.