The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-11-02
IS ASKING FOR MERCY
Holmes, the Nan Of Many Grimes and Mys-
teries. Attempts No Defence.
SECOND BLuNDER OF HIS COUNSEL
airs.Pictxci Attacked by 81 Nervous FI
and sicr Screams Rang Through
the Room Hoimcs Confused and
Shnncfnrcd The Defence Asked
for Their e'ii"ucs AcquittaI.

Philadelphia, Nov. 1.-Ilolmcs to-day
Threw himself upon the mercy Of the
jury. When the Commonwealth closed
It's case this afternoon his attorney.; an
nollnccd that they considered the prose
cution had not made out lis charge of
murder. and they would rest their c;,s,,
upon the evidence offered by the Com
monwcalth and submit no testimony I'm
defense of the prisoner. This decision
was made by holmes upon the advice
on u well known lawyer who at one
time was retained by the prisoner The
move seemed like Il bold one but was
unqucstionably done moro In dcspcra-
non IN The hope OF influencing the Jury
ana creating the impression in their
minds That, being conscious of his in
noeehce ana not having had time To pre-
pare Il proper defense. Holmes trusted
himself To their sense OF Justice
In reality Holmes has ON defense.
moi Witness has appeared for him
ana his black record would tell terribly
AGAINST him even IL he were able To
that he did not kill pictzci. The Com
lnonwealth presented no direct proof
that Holmes murdered FictHcl Their
chain OF circumStantial evidence even
was not as strong as was expected. and
but for the admission at various times
OF Holmes himself, the District Attor-
ncy would have had Il most difficult
task in proving the charge. That the
Commonwealth hestitatcd tn arraign
folmes Tor murder here until the dis
coVcry of the dobics of the pictHcl chill
drcn is we'll known When the bodies
of these children were found, the Dis
trict Attorney was then absolutely con
Ninccd That Holmes killed l'iet2cl and
that the murdcrcrS of the children were
thc direct outcome of the first nssaSSi-
hatioh. When the remains of the three
chlldrcn were unCarthcd and Holmes
made his admission that he had been
alone in The house with the dead body
oil l'tctHel. Mr.. Graham was satisfied
ol the strength of his case and brought
the accused man to trial.
II was expected that the cnsc would
be sensational in the extreme, but after
Judge Arnold ruled out all evidence
hearing upon the murder of the chill
drcn the most ghastly feats of Holmes
series OF crimes were eliminated In,
stead OF furnishing any sensation the
trial itself has been as dun and unin-
terestinS to the spectators In the court
room as the majority Of ordinary muir
der cases are. But two incidents out
OF the ordinary have broken the mono
tony These were tho appearance upon
the witness stand of Mrs. pielzci. and
her pathetic tale of her journey with
Holmes and the tcstifying against the
prisoner OF the girl that he deceived
into believing that she was his legal
wife.
But nine witnesses were called To
the stand to-day. The defense this
morning had decided hat they would
attempt 10 prove that pictZcl committ-
ed suicide and was not murdered EX-
pert testimony bearing upon this the
Dry introduced by Mr.. Graham must
have shown the attorneys for Holmes
that the defense thay had outlined
would require greater resources 10
maintain than they had III their
command.
They also made two blundcrs to-day.
Mrs. Pictzcl was recalled Ia the stand
to identify some articles OF clothing
belonging to her husband, and under
cross examination the defense attempt
ed to show that she was perfectly cog
infant of the scheme swindIc the
insurance company, and that in the
journey she took with Holmes she
was trying to avoid arrest for hc.
share IN it, and was not seeking her
children and husband.
MIR. Graham resented this form of
examination Indignantly and accused
the defense of attempting to add to
the woman'S already heavy burden of
grief. He showed by the witnesses
that although arrested for
conspiracy. no indictment was ever
brought against her. and that she was
discharged because there was no cvi-
dcncc showing that she had any direct
with the swindlc. The uues-
tionS of the attorney for the defense
brought tears to the eyes of the broken
woman upon the stand. and her appear
ancc excited the sympathy OF all in
the cunrt When she was removed
from the stand and led into the corridor
she was attacked by nervous fit and
her screams rang through the room.
The delcnSc'S second hlundcr was in
cndcuvorng TO elicit from Miss Yohc
the opinion that she still believed her
self to be the legal wife OF Holmes.
When Mr.. Graham saw the drift of the
questions bciug asked he had the wit
ness tell the entire story of how Holmes
had deceived her in the marriage and
the lies and dcccptiOns he practiccd
upon her. During this recital Holmes
became confused and hung his head
in Shamcfaccd manner. Just before
recess was taken Mr. Graham an
nOunccd that the prosecution had closed
its case. During the recess Holmes
consulted his lawyers. and when they
came into court Mr.. I2olan boldly asked
Judge Arnold to either discharge the
prisoner on the ground that the Com
monwcalth had not made out Il case
against him or else charge the jury to
acquit him. This Judge Arnold refused
to DO. Then they asked for q contin-
ilance for at least three or four hours, in
which TO prepare their evidence. Judge
Arnold refused to grant them this mueh
time, but gave them half nm ho,,r
They retired with the prisoner and nm
on their return MIR. RoIan announced
that they would rest their case upon
he evidence of the Commonwealth.
He said they were satisfied that the