Evening star., 1896-07-04
CIRCUMsTANTIAL EVIDENCE.
Had to Pay the Penalty for Another,
Who Committed the Crime.

AA&O 80 Hoy tAC EChAANy kOK AAAoshSht
Who Committed the Crime.
Speaking of circumstantial evidence"
said an old attorney to a Star writer. Il
am free to confess that corsidsr it hardly
the thing to hang a man on, though it has
been done in many cases. j can re-
call an instance when I was a youngster
Of twelve or fourteen. in which my father,
who was a leading criminal lawyer, de-
Tended man who was harged on merely
circumstantiai evidence. The facts were
as follows: Living just in the edge of our
town WAS man of wealth. who had
grand old house, occupied only by himself
and servants. There were various stories
ABOUT how rich he was. and what large
amounts of money he always kept near
him, but he was never dist lrbed until one
night shortly after midnight there was a
terrific disturbance in the old house, ac-
companied by pistol shots. and when the
people who came to See what the matter
vas, got In. they found the owner dead
with bullet through his eye, ana the but
Ter with mis- hands full OF jewelry and
watches lying in the doorway of the old
t;entlemans room with bullet somewhere
IN his head. bue he wasn't dead.
Eis revolver lay by his side. and as
far as could be seen the whole story was
told right there. The butler who had been
In the house only about six months, had
attempted TO rob his master. had been
caught in the act and shot, but had killed
the old man in the fight That was the
only translation of 1t, and there was no
other Tor several days, because the butler
had a very serious wound, and was de-
nrious Tor a week. However, ii was not
1atal. and as soon as he was at himself
he made statement to the effect that he
mad been awakened in the night by foot
steps and had taken his pistol, which had
only two loads In 1t out of. five, and gone
oown into the hall below to see what the
Eoise was.
He noticed that his H. aster's door was
partly open. at the far end Of the hall. and
hurried toward it. As he approached il he
heard his master speak to some one asking
VINO was there. and with that there was a
pistol shot. and he jumped into the room,
grabbing 4 burglar, as he did SO, and at
the same time getting a shot in the head
from his masters pistol Beyond that he
remembered nothing more. His story was
generally disbelieved, for there was no evil
dehce OF any other person i'm the house
with evil designs. and all the plunder that
he had not caught in his hands was lying
on the moor about him, SO that there was
nc apparent reason why a burglar should
be there. All the doors We're found locked
by those who came in response 10 the
alarm, and there were absolutely no signs
OF any burglarizing from the outside
Another strong point was that the bullet
which was found in the buffers head ex-
actly htted the pistol of his master, show
ing conc!usiNely that it was the master
oAia hot tie WHO SnOt IhlS
was the condition of the affair when my
father took charge Of 1t. and though he
really believed the buffers story and tried
to prove 1t. he couldn't do it. and the man
was finally hanged. A year later a burglar
was shot by policeman in the city near
est TO US and he confessed on his death
bed that he was the murderer of our rich
man. He had hidden in the house early in
the evening. had collected all he could of
Jewelry and other portable valuables and
was about getting out when he was caught
both by the old gentleman and the but
ler, and that the butler had got the bullet
intended for him, as he had run into the
room just as the old man fired. Dropping
everything in his sudden surprise, he had
rushed down stairs and hidden in the hall
way, from where he had slipped out as
soon as the front door was opened. In the
excitement he was not observed, and he
got away without any trouble at all. as
the nearness to the city made strangers so
common that their presence excited no
suspicion. I'll never forget that incident
and I'll never be in favor of the death
penalty on circumstantial evidence, l don't
care how strong 1t is. Even lynch law is
less unjust" and the writer felt that the
attorney was more than half right.