The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-09-25

San Francisco Sept. 24.-"The case for
the people" With these brief words Dis
trict Attorney Barnes announced this
afternoon that the evidence for the prose
cuuon in the case OF the people against
Durrnnt as complete. Tomorrow morn
ing there VIII be some fag ends Of cross
examination Of witnesses who have al
ready testified. bat they viii not be long.
and AIr. Barnes has nothing more 10 offer
except IA rebuttal. should there be any
thing 10 rebut
The testimony Of William Sterling, a
Eashtter, was important in an uHeNpect-
ed way. The cross-exam.natlol brought
out that on April {. the morning after
the dlsappearaace OF Blanche Lament,
the knob Of the belfry door was broken,
and, although Sterling tried 10 turn the
handle with his nlppers, he could rot
Blanche Lam0nt's body IS therefore 10
Gated In the belfry from that hour. and
there were no means Of access TO IL eX-
cept by climbing a steep ladder 10 the
false roof and from that place crawling
through uprlghts into the belfry. This
small fact. brought cut by accident. al
most at the end OF the case for the peo-
pie, has a serious import in more than
one way
For some days il has been obvious that
the only possible line of defense was 10
show that Blanche Lamont was seen
-
is narrowed both as TO time and place.
The gasftter swears that the door knob
was broken on the morning Of April 4.
There is no other way through which
body could be carried into the belfry, al
though a man without a load could creep
in over the false ceiling, reached by high
ladder. The condition Of the door. there
fore. is proof that the body OF Blanche
Lamont was in the tower that morning
She was seen alive the previous afternoon
between 3 and + o'clock. and If she was
living at any hour later she must have
been in easy reach Of the church She
could not have left the city. for instance
In that way the circle is narrowed and the
circumstances surrounding testimony Of
the sort indicated would be more easily
verified
The theory OF the prosecution is that
Blanche Lamont was murdered during
that part of the afternoon OF April be-
tween the hour when Durrant was seen
entering the church with a woman and
the time when he was seen disheveled and
| overcome In the church by George King.
That period during which Durrant was
out Of sight was about an hour. more or
less. OF course that time would not be
/ long enough 10 allow the murderer to "orn-
NIT the crime. drag the body up the high.
| steep stairs. strip ~ naked and hide the
clothes In widely separated and well-con-
/ fry.
There was one phase Of the gasdtter's s
testimony that remains obscure. So far
as he saw. there were no marks OF a crow
har or Jimmy on the belfry door when he
saw II on April g. Marks of that sort
were found on the door when the police
searched the church after the murder Of
Minnie Williams Somebody had been
trying to get into the belfry by force. The
gasftter saw nothing Of this sort, but his
testimony is only negative. The marks
may have been there and vet have passed
unheeded by man not looking for such
things. A theory advanced by the police
Is that the man who killed Minnie Viii
Jams wanted 10 carry her body up the
same dark way. but found himself unable
/ 20 break In where he had himself shut the
door That theory ignores the splashes
OF blood that smeared the walls and
floor of the room in which Minnie will
Jams was killed. With such stains in full
view the discovery OF the body IN anv
part Of tho building could be a question
~ only a few hours. no matter where con-
c.alad in the church. and by placing tho
bodies together the murder would have
made certain the finding OF both