The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1895-10-25
AT DURRANT'S TRIAL
Opening Argument Begun
by the Prosecution.
TESTIMONY OFFERED REVIEWED
Attorney PeixOttO Makes a Strong Plea
for the State-Durrant Uncon-
cerned as Ever.

SAN Francisco, Oct. 24.-At the re-
quest of General Dickinson, Miss Gum
ingham was recalled to the stand this
morning at the opening of the Durrant
trial. She was asked few unimportant
questions and then excused, after which
the prosecution announced that it rested
it's case.
Assistant District Attorney Peixtto
then began the opening argument for
the prosecution, and after dwelling at
at length on the Importance of the case
on account of the brutality of the muir
der, he said he was prepared to answer
four questions asked by the defense at
the opening of the case, viz: Where
was Blanche Lamont murdered; when
was she murdered; by whom was she
murdered, and what was the motive?
He said the prosecution believed it had
proved Miss Lamont was murdered in
Emanuel church on the afternoon of
April by Theodore Durrant. The mo-
tive he ascribed to some unbridled pas
sion that prompted Jack the Ripper to
murder women in the Whitechapel dis
trict of London. He said the state never
had and never would demand the life
of an innocent man, but he believed the
evidence justified the prosecution in a sk-
ing verdict of guilty with the penalty
fixed at death. So far as Durrant's pre-
vious good reputation was concerned he
said that carried out the theory of the
prosecution, as Miss Lamont would not
have gone to a lonely place with any
body in whom she did not have the ut
most confidence.
Mr.. Peixotto then reviewed the testi-
mony from the time Miss Lamont left
the normal school on Powell street in
company with Durrant until she entered
the church with him. After dwelling on
the manner in which Durrant enticed
the unsuspecting girl to the belfry and
murdered her, he began an analysis of
Durrant's action.
stripping her body of its clothing and
even taking from her fingers the rings
which she wore,'' he said, ''this defend
ant laid out the form of this poor girl so
that in after years when the skeleton
should be found in the belfry there
would be nothing to tell that the
bleached bones were those of Miss La
mont. Ia dong this he did not go about
it as a person unskilled in the handling
of bodies would have done, for he
blocked the head up with piece of wood
so that the night air might circulate
freely under the body and reduce the Ii
ability of discovery.
"Then it might be supposed that he
would have quietly slipped out of the
church and gone away from place that
must have had so much of horror for
him. But not so with this cool, calculat-
ing young man VINO showed on the
stand that he was more cunning even
than his own lawyers, and smarter than
the district attorney who was question
ing him. Egyptian darkness was none
too dark for him and he chose to remain
in the church. To go out he might have
he knew, and seeing his pale face, dis
heveled hair and trem bling form they
would have asked, what makes you SO
pale?' so he went down stairs probably
not having heard King playing on the
piano, as his crime was all his mind
could contain.
''Coming through the sliding door, as
King said, he stopped a moment. King
asked him why he was so pale. Durrant
did not realize his pallor, and he wa:
unprepared for the question. Before he