The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-03-18

They did not know Hillmon, but four
out of the six only saw a certain man
once, and they subsequently are of
the opinion that that same man was
the dead man. The other two only saw
a certain man twice or three times
and they all say they thought that the
dead man was the man they had seen in
life. What sort of identifying testi-
mony is this? As / said before. / be-
lieve thew were mistaken. just con-
slider for a moment There were two
coroner's inquests held at Medicine
Lodge, why two. because theywanted to
be certain. The only witness exam
ined was John H Brown. John H
Brown tells them that the dead man is
his friend, John w. Hillmon, and that he
shot him accidentally. No suspicion is
aroused. Nobody questions whether it
is Hillmon or not No one knows that
Hillmon's life was insured for $50, 900.
If there had been any suspicion, gentle
men. these men would have been more
careful in their Identification of the
body.
81 now, gentlemen, come to the evil
dence of Mr.. W. II. Lamon, a man who
was we'll known and respected in the
town of Lawrence; a man against whom
nothing was ever said; a man who was
known by every one; man who gave his
testimony at three previou US trials. and
whose deposition l took after the second
trial, because feared that he would not
live for a third. This deposition was
read at the last trial, and at this trial
thought to have had him with US in per-
son, and l went to the telegraph Office in
Lawrence to telegraph him to attend
here, when l was met with the
sorrowful intelligence that his body
had just arrived in Lawrence. Poor
Lamon was dead; Lamon, whom we all
loved so well. And gentlemen, be-
cause he is dead, because these attor-
neys on the other side know he is dead,
they come into court here. and before
you twelve mon attack the character of
this dead man and call him a perjurer
and a liar. They do this because they
know thBt he Cannot reply. These gen
tlemen have not the courage to attack
the living before their faces, but can
only attack the absent and the dead.
And, gentlemen, l feel it my duty to
fight for the honor of poor old Lamon,
whom these gentlemen would willfully
destroy, so that they can grasp and
clutch in their itching fingers blood
money from these defendant companies,
money based upon a foul murder that
these gentlemen may fill their pockets
with it. For that is the sole reason that
they have attacked the memory of the
dead. And on whose testimony do they
bring this charge against the dead? Upon
the testimony of this woman; this plain
tiff, this so-called plaintiff; this woman
who with Levi Baldwin has the auda city
to come into this court and deny the
statements of Judge Thacher. who was
a prominent candidate for United States
senator before the last legislature, and
who is known to every man, woman and
child in the west as man of the highest
rectitude. Yet these two come in and
say that he is perjurer, this woman
who comes into court and swears down
dozens of witnesses; this woman whom l
would not believe although she swore
until she was black in the face; this
woman who comes before you bolstering
up the claim of her attorneys, coached by
them, ready to swear to anything that
they tell her This is the woman upon
whose evidence these attorneys. call poor
dead La1on a perjurer and liar; and
whom they foully attack because he lays
dead beside the body of innocent Wal
ters in Oak Hill cemetery at Lawrence.
'Gentlemen, these attorneys tell you
they took up this poor sorrowlng widows
claim out of charity. That charity called
| them from the frozen north to the Gulf
of Mexico, from the Atlantic to the PACT
| fic. Charity indeed! What is the
truth, gentlemen? We see these charit-
able attorneys, before they take up this
J poor sorrowing widows claim, who is
| grieviug for her husband, as they claim,
insisting they shall have 40 per cent of
| the insurance, equal to the handsome
sum of $4,000, gentlemen, before they
had executed a stroke of the pen. Think
of that That is what they call charity
We now find them having 90 per cent of
| the insurance, and all disbursements,
which leaves Mrs. Hillmon, if she ever
RECEIVERS, little or nothing, and it is very
| questionable, gentlemen, if she would
ever receive Il cent. And the men who
will take this money will be these
attorneys, these charitable attorneys,
these men who are willing to
walk over the bodies of the innocent
/ dead and to scurrilously villify the
reputation of the living that they may
| steal from the sacred trust funds of your
widows and orphans, and thereby line
their own pockets.
| They tell you, gentlemen, that they
| have stood by this widow for fifteen years.
| | tell you, gentlemen, that they have
stood in with her for fifteen years. And
/ these are the men who come into this
court and call every witness but one a
liar and perjurer; and who come into this
court and villify me and my friend
Barker. Who are they, that they should
do this? Who am l that should be thus
accused? l, gentlemen, have lived for
fifty long years; have lived so as not to
dishonor the mother who bore me: have
been honored by the confidence of my
fellow countrymen; held important Off
ces; have been looked up to in my
community and am without reproach
among my fellow men. And, gentle
men. have gone through four trials
of this case, and God knows that /
have done nothing to be ashamed OF
in them My conscience is clear. And
yet these attorneys come here and villIfy
me that they may secure the spoils of
this murder for themselves. Gentlemen,
go to Lawrence where l live; ask my
! fellow townsmen about Jim Green;' hear
what they have to say, and then hurl
these ISLANDERS back at these attorneys,
| NV faloo ooo1oo-5