The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-04-21


San Francisco, April 2O.-Theodore Dur
rant passed a good night and this morn
ing ate a hearty breakfast and was in
a happy mood when shortly after /.
o'clock, visitors began to arrive
To these he talked cheerfully and from
| his conversation, it would seem he has
no fear of being convicted for the horri-
Bile crime that the coroner's jury says he
committed.
Many of his visitors are physicians, who
seem to take more than ordinary inter.
est in the young man and who, without
exception, say that he is a most remark
able man from any standpoint.
This morning, almost score Of Dur
rants fellow students from the medical
college called TO see him. but Durrant
turned his back upon them and would
have nothing to do with them.
Judging by the manner in which the
attorneys for the defendant are proceed
ing it would seem that they rest more
hope on the inability to secure a jury
that would convict Durrant than any
thing else. The preliminary examination
will commence Monday
Durrant's. friends have based their be-
lief in his innocence on one point es-
pecially-that no blood was found on his
clothing. But if there is no error in
the physicians judgment. and the
science in the test is said to be exact,
then one of the most battling points that
has so far confronted the detectives is
cleared up. It has all along been asserted
that the murderer could not possibly have
inflicted the terrible wounds on the body
of the girl, who. was presumably, strug-
Cling for her life, without getting a con-
siderable quantity of blood on his
The Search For Blood,
Acting on this theory the detectives be-
gan a search for the blood-stained cloth
ing without success.
with the result of the autopsy and
the conclusions OF the physicians the
matter is easy of explanation. With
DUrrants skill acquired in the dissecting
been an easy matter for him to have
inflicted wounds on the limp and lifeless
body, from which the flow of blood would
have been slow, without soiling his
clothes with so much as single drop
of the crimson fluid 1t would have
been an easy task even for an unskilled
than that the butcher, be he Durrant or
another, left the church without a, mark
about him to show of his bloody work
The detectives, however. are not even
satisfied with this, and last night they
were again at work in the church build
ing-searching, searching from cellar to
that the bloody garments of the murderer
may be found between the lathing and
the weatherboards of the hail. With an
ak and chisel they will tear up the floor
ingS and rend the Wainscotlng.
Led BY a Hair.
Another curious circumstance has come
to light On the body of Miss Williams
human hairs. A microscopical examina-
ton was made. of them and they were
measured, with the following result:
Miss Williams head, was found to be
six two-thousandths of an inch in thick
ness; the shorter hair, thought to be that
thousandths of an inch, and the horse
hair. of which there were half dozen
strands, was found to be twenty-one
four-thousandtls of an inch thick.
Some hair from the name of the horse
ridden by Durrant on his trip to Mount
Diablo was taken to the expert and when
put under the microscope was found to
measure exactly the same as the horse
hair found on Miss Williams clothing.
The coincidence was made more remark
able when it was found that hair from
the name of several horses measured
either more or less than that of the horse
Durrant rode.
The stable keeper who owned the horse
says that Durrant examined the animal
in the stable on the afternoon of the
day that Miss Williams was murdered.
of IH-Repute.
The church in which the murder was
committed has long been held in anything
but high regard by the neighbors. One OF
the latter, Richard Stanton, says that it
was a common thing to see young men
and young women go into the church by
the side gate at all hours of the day and
night. These visits had become so COM
mon," he said, that no one had paid any
attention to it any longer. 1t was daily
occurrence, and the people had ceased
commenting on it.
every night. The pastors study was lit
up nearly every night. / saw light in
it on Friday night, April Il, at 1880
O'Clock, as passed into the house. paid
mon thing, and the neighborS had be-
come accustomed to it
Link BY Link.
The chain of circumstantial evidence
that has been welded, link by link, ap-
pears so strong that it seems hardly pos
sible that it can be rent asunder; Yet, IN
his friends say they are more hopeful
than ever. They say so, but produce nei-
Their proof nor shadow of proof that
would controVert the facts ascsrtained.
Brigadier-Genes al Dickinson, of the Ma
tional Guard. of which Durrant Is mem
Der, is chief counsel for the accused. He
Regarding the report that Durrant is
writing statement you may say that it
is not for the perusal of the public.
went to Chief Crowley and asked permits
sion for him to have Durrant make a
statement of his side Of the case for my
own use. and this permission was grant
ed. He is writing it simply to save me
time. When he completes 1t
l will read it and then question him, but
the statement Is not being made for pub
Lication."
Gibson's Strange Actions.
Rev. J. G.. Gibson, who has been men,
toned often in connection with the trag-
edy, still keeps himself in seclusion and |
refuses to see reporters. A prominent |
Baptist in Oakland has addressed a let |
ter to Gibson, advising him that in view |
Of a. charge made in communication, |
that he is implicated In the murder of |
Miss Williams that he should bring suit |
for libel. so that the matter may be |
brought to proof. The pastor has as yet /
made no reply to this.
Now that the inquest in the matter of |
he murder of Miss Williams has come to
/ conclusion, public interest is, centering |
n the inquest that is to be held next |
Thursday in the case of Blanche Lamont, |
chose naked body was found in the bel |
,,,tof the church, with the marks of the |
"a gler's fingers on her neck. Thib |
nurker Is also attributed to Durrank. /