The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-01-17
GETS EIGHTEEN YEARS
VERDICT IN THE SMITH CASE Sur
PRIsED THE DEFENSE.
Scene in Court Room When Jury Re-
ported-Two Votes for AcquittaI
Nine for Second Degree.

Eighteen years of penal servitude Is the
punishment meted out to Winifred Il. Smith
for the killing Of Western b. Thomas. This
is the edict of the jury in it's report made
at 5 o'clock yesterday evening after TWEEN
ty-nine hours elaboration. The verdict was
read In a court room crowded with morbid,
curious spectators. The event was devoid
of demonstration of a sensational char
acter. All day yesterday the jury was con-
fined to the chamber which it entered at
II o'clock Tuesday. Until 10 o'clock yester-
day morning nothing of a definite character
could be CLEANED from the body. The mem
bers refrained from sleep Tuesday night,
and at Z o'clock yesterday morning, when
they filed down the stairway to the court
room, the appearance of many of them in
Dictated a night of restless activity. Bailifr
Register took the jury to breakfast at Z
o'clock. They ate the morning meal in
silence, and but few words passed between
the members while out of the court room.
1t was s o'clock before they prepared to
again resume the balloting. At that hour
the corridors of the court house began to
fill up with the usual audience of loungers.
When the hour for the opening of court
arrived the crowd that clamored for admit
lance was fully as large as on any day of
the trial. Hundreds of women with all the
eager curiosity of their sex pushed and
jostled the men and tried to gain an en-
trance to the court room before the regu-
lar hour. The bailiffs admitted the people
at 8 o'clock and they took possession of
the chairs with the contented air of people
who had come for the day. 1t seemed to
be the belief among the spectators that a
verdict had certainly been reached. The
crowd, however, was doomed to another dis
appointment and filed out of the room with
Disguised faces. Judge AIcCray remained
in the court room a shot time and then
left for his office. For All hour and a half
there were no incidents calculated to excite
the curiosity of people who fingered out
side, but at 1890 O'Clock the rumor gained
credence that the jury was about to come
down. This proved true, but the waiting
crowd suffered another disappointment
when it learned the body was only seeking
further instructions. The news got out
through a messenger dispatched for Judge
McCray a few minutes after 10 o'clock.
At 10 o'clock the foreman Of the jury
summoned Bailiff Register and made known
the perplexity of his fellows. They had
despaired of reaching a verdict and desired
the Instructions of the court re-read. Judge
McCray came over to the court room and
sent for the attorneys for the defense. John
S. Duncan and Henry Span came in, fol-
lowed later by Prosecutor wiltsie and John
3. ELAN. Judge McCray made known the
desire of the jury and attorney Duncan
at once entered an informal motion. He
requested the court to prepare a new para
graph which would set out more fully the
law of s sadcisf as u It might ;he be ;e,r applied II e
bound to decide. The attorneys for the
State objected to this, contending. that il
the defense was allowed to submit "a new
paragraph to the instructions the prosecu-
ton should be accorded the same privilege.
This point was ilotly contested for a time,
but the argument was brought TO a close
by Judge McCray. He declared that the
instructions were complete enough and
to the jury room that he would read the
instructions again at 2 O'Clock.
the courthouse corridors between the hours
of IL and l o'clock. The majority of those
who paced the railways or sat on the stars rs
them were boys who looked as if they did
not know why they We're there. but were
and something was going to happen. Be-
tween l and 2 o'clock the wolne spectators
began to arrive. and as usual were given
entrance to the court room first. The
crowd was so large and boisterous ana
feverish by 2 o'clock that the court officials
deemed it necessary to send for the police.
Captain Quigley and a half dozen officers
were assigned to handle the crowd and did
so without trouble. Many of the spectators
had heard that the jury was to be brought
in. but did not understand the meaning OF
the move. Others were confident that the
verdict was about to be read. Contrary to
the usual order the women were given seats
down stairs and the men SenC to the gal
lery. A policeman at each door prevented
the men from running over each other and
kept the women from being literally tram
pied down. Judge McCray came into the
court room a few minutes after 2 o'clock, his
face in solemn keeping with the surround
ings. The prisoner, in charge of the sheriff,
came in about the same time. Although
Smith had been Informed of the courts in
tention to again read the instructions, he
sat down with a look of great concern on
his face. Then the jury filed into the box.
They looked worn ana tired and unkempt.
Judge McCray began reading the instruc-
tons without The members of
the jury paid the closest attention to the
words of the court. They seemed to feel
that if a verdict was to be reached at all
this second reading must bring it about. The
prisoner was also attentive, and did not
once remove his eyes from the face of the
Judge. At the conclusion of the task the
jury went back to it's room and the crowd
wondered what would next be done. Judge
McCray Immediately left the court room
and the prisoner was taken back to Jail.
The spectators were dismissed, but few of
them left the building. Many of the
women, fearful they might miss some of the
details incident to the finding OF the verdict.
sought resting places in the Superior
Courts and waited. The Boyle-Boeckiing
breach of promise suit in Room 3 attracted
many of them. The sensational details of
that trial served to interest the fair ones
while they waited for something more