Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1895-09-19
THE DuRRANT TRIAL.

Durraut, in the Emmanuel Baptist
Church, pale, agitated, with bloodshot
eyes, ,hishair disheveled, his coat and hat
off, and every evidence of weakness, was
presented to the jnry in San Francisco
yesterday by the prosecution as he ap,
psared after his alleged travels from
the Normal school on the a.sernoon of
April 8.
1T has been shown by four witnesses
that he left the school with Blanche
Lamont on that afternoon and by three
others that he rode with young lady
of her description out to the church
and entered it. From the time he en-
tered the church, about 4:30, it is the
theory of the prosecution that he was
occupied until 5 o'clock in perpetrating
the murder. At 5 he was seen in the
church by another witness, George R.
King, the church organist, who occu-
pied the stand all of yesterday.
The murderer of Blanche Lamont,
al, ,er having killed her, locked the door
to the belfry, broke the lock and took
the knobs off the door and threw them
under the belfry door. It was then
necessary for him to cross space above
the ceiling to e rear garrett of the
church from which there was passage
down to the basement.
It was down this rear passage that
Durraut came when he burst on Kings
view. He stopped in space between
partly opened folding doors when he
saw King sitting at piano in corner
and when King asked him what was
the matter he did not at once reply
When he did reply it was to explain
that he had been fixing sun burner
above the ceiling and that he had been
overcome by escaping gas.
Durrant's appearance was so start
ling that King ran to drug store a
block and half distant at his sugges-
ton, to get him some bromo seltzer and
FASTENED back with it.. King was in
doubt as to whether Durrant, on his re-
turn, was standing in the vsstibule
at the church entrance or lying on
platform in the Sunday school room in
the rear. As he remembered it Dur
rant was lying on the platform.
Upon first entering the church King
had detected the odor of escaping gas,
the only thing in his testimony favora-
BILE to Durrant, and this led him to en-
ter the closet used for library where
the body of Minnie Williams was after
ward found. At that time he did not see
Durrant's coat and hat in the room adj
Joining the closet, but after his return
with the bromo-seltZer he entered the
room with DurranG and the latter's
coat and hat were lying on box.
The door to this room YVES usually
locked, but when King arrived at the
church he fonnd the door open. Only
Durrant and King had keys to it.
The prosecution attempted to show
that the defense had tried to tamper
with this witness and had got him to
change his testimony as to place Dur
rant lying on the Sunday school plat
form instead of standing in the ves'i-
bule, but a reference to the records OF
the police court showed that King had
testified on cross examination in the
preliminary examination that he
thought Durrant might have been ly-
ing on the platform.
Miss Lucille Turner was on the
stand for few minutes to say that she
was not In the church on the day of the
murder. Her testimony was to clear
up point left in doubt by Mrs. Leak,
who Tuesday testified that from her
front window she had seen Durrant
enter the church with q young lady she
said looked like either Blaneh Lamont
or Miss Turner.
The case went over till Friday on ac-
count of the Jewish holiday to-day, to
accommodate two of the jurors.