Evening journal., 1896-05-08
The SECOND DEGREE
n Wrecker Hildreth Found
Guilty.
JURY ASK LENIENoY FOR HIM.

~ Ilthn 0"iAt9 ~ Ac7aoA Dcbhco
rlme of Murder.
fE. n. Y, May s.-The jury in the
Of J. W. Hildreth, the boy train
Ter, inditced on the charge Of murder
& first degree, at an early hour this
ing agreed upon verdict Of murder
second degree.
making his final plea in behalf Of the
ed Attorney Sayles, the defendants
s ;el, said:
K he great corporation, the Central
bad, is pushing this case, he said.
81 over there sits their chief detective.
is waiting to hear the bell tingle
&. this boy will sit in the electric
lies then censured Mr.. Klock for us
4 he peoples money in pushing a trial
+ e interest of a railroad. 1.-THE road
& uilty, " he said, "of negligence in not
g trackwalkers at night. They
&: the attempt was made to wreck the
the week before, and still, knowing
A trains daily ran over the road, and
8 did not then put on a watchman.
referring to the alleged confession he
Little Johnny said he personally
done nothing toward wrecking the
If his confession is good, it is good
s cry detail. For Gods sake, are you
to take out the bad and leave the
Il of that confessiOng' Sayles laid great
on Latham intimidating the defend
When this boy was arrested, guards
thrown around him stronger than
d be placed around a man. He was
allowed to have counsel, which the
lrst entities him to. Little John was
given hope of sympathy. and with
hreats OF Latham still ringing In his
do made this confession.
n the last few minutes of the summing
IT. Sayles referred to the death of the
idant's mother. He traced the boy
New York to Greens, at Greenway,
( out the care and guidance Of a moth
owe.
ontlemen, said be, "take this boy,
4 mother's son. Do right by him. Let
zsrness and mercy guide your every act
cave the defendant into the care and
N anoe of the legal custodians of Oneida
ty. May God bless you.
ben Mr.. Sayles concluded, the women
( he courtroom wero in tears. Two or
jurors were noticed to put their I'm
to their eyes and rub them.
torney Klock, in summing up for the
|Bcution, said:
feel l have the right to say If this is a
< trial that my outline has not chang
q particle from what / said to you gen
en- in my opening. The people have
hit to discover and check such crime
as found on Nov. 10. 1 look back
pride to my action. II was not my
to go to Sayles and tell him had a
in the station house and ask him IL
anted to interview him. The Central
oad is not on trial here.
trust your minds will not be divert
The fact that the rails were tampered
half mile from the scene of the
ik is enough. Is sympathy TO over
#e your Judgment in crime, Why, the
mises never did crime to equal this.
was cool and deliberate murder. The
ndants said thoy expected several
, Id be killed and then they could rob
dead. IL was the deliberate act of mur-
and is the first degree of the crime.
you doubt for one moment tkat hu
agency wrecked that train? When tho
ndant confessed, he blamed all on his
8mplices. OF course he was telling his
of the case to make it light for him
He said he understood Greek, Latin
. French Then tell us this boy did not
erstand what was meant by immuni-
Klock, then turning to the defend
said, You put on your hellish garb
criminal and lost your human in
ct. " Young Hildreth did not move a
sole.
y he district attorney declared that the
ndant had graduated in crime and
la deliver a valedictory address to a
of criminals.
. Judge MoLennan's charge was evenly
lnoed. He read to the jury the law,
ming different stages of crime from
i rider to felony. He said the jury should
|der their verdict without fear or favor.
i first thing for them to consider, he
b. was whether the train was wrecked
|ough human agency. If SO, who did it,
|hey found the defendant did IL or aid
|Dthers with intent TO Kill, no is guilty
murder in the first degree.
The Verdict of the Jury.
fter being out several hours the jury
ed the judge for further instructions
to tho different degrees Of murder.
by were instructed by Judge McLen-
b. Juror Jones then said the jury could
agree as TO murder in the third do
e. and the jury was informed that there
5 no third degree for murder. The
90 then instructed the jury as to the
ferent degrees Of manslaughtor. Hill
tn was brought in to hear the instruo-
ms. His eyes were red, as though no had
,n weeping. Counsel Sayles asked tho
irt to charge the jury that a verdict for
lrder in the first and second degrees or
,nslaughter In the first and second de
,es may bo found on an indictment for
lrder in the first degree.
i so charge, said the court, If they
a so find on the evidence.
A short timo after the jury reported
1t verdict had been agreed upon.
After they had filed into court Foreman
chards announced the verdict, which
IS Of murder in the second degree. The
,dict Of the juryreoommended leniency.
the announcement Hildreth put his
Int hand to his forehead and turned
ghtly pale, but he made no demonstra-
n. His father, who sat by his side,
lsped the hand OF his son and held IL
mly. He, too, was calm but deeply af-
ted
The ballots in the jury room resulted
follows; First ballot-Guilty of muir
T, z; not guilty, 2; blank, 3. Second
of murder, first degree, p;
,ond degree, 2; third degree, / not
lily, / blank, l. Third ballot-Mur-
r. second degree, 8; not guilty, 2; muir
r. third degree. ]. All these ballots were
ken previous to tho instructions given