The herald., 1896-04-25
THE PEARL BRYAN MURDER
Ia Process Of Investigation by the
Kentucky Courts
Te;tlmony Damaging to Defendant Scott
Jackson Is 0ivsn-Line of Defense
Indicated

NEWPORT, Ky, April 24.-All the
available space in the court house to-
day was crowded during Scott Jack
sons trial Among the witnesses exam
ined was Will Wood, the friend and cor
respondent of jackson, once charged
with completely in the crime but since
released. The most interesting wit
| ness this morning was the mother of
Pearl Bryan, who was put on the stand
| TO tsetify to the disposition of her
daughter. 1t is evidently part of the
| prosecution to show the youthfulness,
| trustfulness and ineXperience of the
murdered girl.
Late in the afternoon the defense re-
vealed part of its policy while Wood
| was on the stand, which will be to break
Down the character of the witness,
showing that he, by his own confess
sion to persons whose dispositions the
defense has, was himself improperly
intimate with Pearl Bryan
In his testimony in regard to his anal
ySiS of the contents of the dead girls
stomach, DR.. Crane showed he had
tested for every possible poison, min
eral and vegetable, which could be OBJ
tanned i'll Cincinnati, finding none in the
stomach, except such as were contained
in the embalming fluid except cocains.
The cross ss-eXamination of the ngro
bartender, Allen James Johnson. was
continued. He identified the girls dress
and hat as the ones worn by the youns
girl brought into the wine room by
Scott jackson on the Friday night, Jan
uary 81, before the body was found
Dave Wallingford, the proprietor of
| the saloon was then called. His test-
mony as to. the presence and identity
of Jackson, Walling and Pearl Bryan
at his saloon on the evening of Janu-
/ y or ,ofi ~
| Allen Johnson 1t did more; it showed
| that Jackson was there with the girl on
| Thursday night as well as on Friday
night before the murder. Cross exam
ination, instead of weakening his story
I resulted in filling some gaps that the
prosecution had forgotten
A wave of lowR. .urmurs ran over the
room when Will Wood took the witness
stand. He admitted that he had intro
duced jackson to his second cousin
Pearl Bryan, and that since Jackson S
departure last October from Greencas-
tie to Cincinnati he had kept up cor
reSpondence with him, and that letters
(, from Jackson to him personally We're
| destroyed by him according to Jack
sons request.
The most thrilling part of the story
was that in which he said Jackson.
! while visiting Greencastle during the
hristmas holiday vacation, went with
y
prescription from her that jackson had
sent from Cincinnati and destroyed it,
telling Wood 1t would be dangerous to
him IL he should get into trouble. Janu-
airy "a, 1896, witness said he received a
letter from Jackson from Cincinnati re-
questing Pearl Bryan to come to Gin
cinnati. He showed the letter to Pearl
Bryan that day. She read 1t and asked
witness, "What would you do if you
We're me?''
Witness answered: Decide for your
| self"
| The next day. which was Saturday
| January 25. she told Wood she was going
| to Cincinnati on Monday. January 27.
| He saw her off on Monday, assisting her
| on the train, and that was the last he
saw of her. On the cross-examination
| the questions indicated that the defense
| had testimony from Greencastle in the
| form of dispositions that Wood had
| boasted to them of his improper init
! macy with Pearl Bryan. This question
| ing was, to lay the foundation for the
dispositions Of these persons for the de-
| fense
Wood positively denied every state-
ment of The depositions.