The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-09-26

| l00k1DS bne Day. We Will SHOW you HIS
return to college at 1:30, and what was
done from then until 3 30 Then, that
he went to DR.. Cheney's lecture, and
we will produce his notes different
from any other students, and show
he is marked present. DR.. Cheney will
| tell you that he was present. We will
show you that after this lecture he took
| the Sutton street car to Polk, to Mission
and Ninth, out Mission, and then to the
ch rc1, and alone did he walk into the
church. We will show that he arrived
at the church at 4:55 and not before;
| that he entered by the door on the
south side; that he went into the library,
| took book and card he wanted. He
| removed his coat, neatly folded it, took
out his watch so that it would not drop
out while he was fixing the gas jets. He
then went up to the ceiling by ladder
and fixed the gas burners.
"We will show that when the gas fit
ters turned on the seventy two gas jets
much gas escaped. Through lack of ven
tilation this gas remained in the atmOs-
phere near the ceiling. When Durrant
wei to the ceiling he inhaled the gas,
which made him sick, as testified by
King. You are asked to believe that
| this man accused of murder went di-
rectly down to secure a witness to his
| crime. We will show that Durrant was
on the platform lying down when King
returned and went down to the kitchen to
take the seltzer. We will show that
upon the request of King, Durrant
helped King to carry a cabinet organ
down stairs into the Sunday school
room Then Durrant and King left the
church together, Durrant putting on his
| coat at the door. 1t being Kings dinner
time. Durrant walked with him part of
the distance, then Durrant returned
home, meeting lady on the way to
| whcm he said the gas made him sick.
| After dinner he went to the church to
an evening entertainment. This will be
the simple story of the defendant. He
will be corroborated by those who
know him well and who will
give reasons why these statements are
correct.
"We will then turn our attention
| to some evidence found in the church.
We will show that the marks upon the
belfry door are the marks of chisel and
that the chisel was found in the pastors
studio in a tool box. We will show you
as long as they have introduced a paper
here with letters on it as compared
with letters found in Emanuel church,
that they are letters written by
Rev. John George Gibson. If we are
to act upon suspicious we will show you
that there are others who have been cast
into suspicion worse than the defendant.
We viii show you that on April 3, Dur
rant wore dark suit of clothes of blue
cloth, while the witness Vegal said he
had light trousers. We will show that
the eye sight of Mrs. Leake and Mrs.
Crosset are impaired and that the re-
putation of witnesses Quinlan, Open
helm and Phillips for veracity is
bad. If We can prove what we
have outlined, we should have tie
spirit of Blanche Lamont call upon you
to realize the truth, and if her spirit
coul13 come before you it would say: Let
| the defedant stand out; let him be free,
for he harmed me not.
Theodore Durrant is innocent We
stand for his life; we demand his lib
erty."
After recess Mrs. Matilda Durrant,
mother Of the prisoner took the stand
as the first witness for the defense. She
told about her own birth and marriage
in Toronto, Canada, where Theodore
was born. The family came here in
December 1879. She detailed the child
hood of the prisoner and his education
at various schools. During vacations he
worked at various occupations. He had
money in the bank. She testi-
fled on the morning of April 3, her
son was dressed in a blue chevi0t
suit, the blue trousers Of which she
identified and the garments were intro
duced as evidence. Mrs. Durrant stated
that her son returned home that evening
shortly after o'clock, dressed in the
same blue cheviot suit. He wore no
overcoat. When Theodore left home on
the morning of April 3, he kissed his
mother good bye and saluted her in the
same manner when he returned at night.
The family dined that evening at 6:15
but the witness said Theodore had little
appetite and be did not look well. At 8
o'clock that evening he took his mother
| to street car, and when she returned,
at II 80, he was IN bed and asleep.
Police Sergeant Reynolds described the
chisel marks on the belfry door. He
searched for tool with which the mark
might have been made and in the pas.
tors study found chiGel which fitted
the marks exactly.
OMAHA, Nab Sept. 25,--The Bee to
day says: Last night prominent
me b3r of the Pinkerton Detective
Agency passed through this city. He
had just come from San Francisco, is fa-
miliar with the whole proceedings in the
Durrant matter. When pressed by
friend for tip on the surprise that
Durrant's lawyers were holding back, he
said that as the fact would soon come
out in court, he had no objection to tell
ing what the profound secret was. The
detective said that Durrant had now
in his possession, and would soon show
to the court letter which is bound to
establish his innocence of the crime with
which hs is charged. This letter was
| written nv Blanche Lamont day or two