Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1896-03-26

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! cause by attempting TO deny tina
which was undeniable. He therefore
resolved to waive the first, and to con
centrate his forces upon the overthrow
of the second and vital point in the
| prosecution.
lie commenced by saying that he
would admit the fact that the Leaton
family had persisted by poison, but
would totally deny that his poison
had been administered by his client.
LET the jury" he said. look upon
| Eudora Leaton. where she sits. over
whelme with her weight OF woe! OBJ
serve how young, how delicate, how
sensitive she is. Can any II for an
instant suppose that she, Il young girl
Of sixteen springs, n mere child In
years, an infant still in law, could
have conceived, planned and executed
so atrocious a crime as the destruc-
ton of a whole family to clear the way
for her inheritance of their estates.
Such a supposition would be prepos-
ferrous.
1T can only be because. for the deep
atrocity Of this crime, the law de-
mands an instant victim, and no other
is to be found, that this poor child has
been seized and offered here as Il sac
rifice to :ippease the offended majesty
of Justice. And If in the end she Is
inundated it will be only as the pas
cal lamb slain upon the altar OF the
temple for the sins of others.
Il will not" he continued. affect to
disregard the meshes Of coincidence
that envelopes my most unhappy client.
Like the poor lost dove, beaten
down by the storm and fallen into the
net of the fowler, she Is involved in a
coil of circumstances that may prove
TO be her destruction, unless the just
Interpretation of an intelligent jury in
tervene to save her from unnlerited
martyrdom.
But" he continued, II have n
theory that l shall offer in explana-
ton of those circumstances. which |
firmly believe must ~eXonernte my
client in the mind of the jury and
every just person present.
Before proceeding further. l will
read a few extracts from the records
of the %coroner's inquest upon the case
Here Counsellor Fenton took from
the hands of his clerk certain docu-
ments, from which he read aloud that
part of the evidence given by the late
Lady Leaton, in which she testified to
having seen the shadow of a wOman's
form upon the wall, and heard the rus
tie of a woman's dress along the floor
of her husbands chamber a few mo-
mcnts before he drank the fatal sleep
ing draught that stood upon the stand
beside his bed on the night of his
death.
Next the advocate turned 10 another
part of the record and read the evil
dence given by the late Miss Leaton in
which she deposed that, at the very
time at which her mother heard the
noise and saw the shadow in her faith
er's room, EudOra was seated beside
Agatha's bed, engaged in the vain
effort 10 read the restless invalid 10
sleep.
Finally, he referred to the record of
the second coroner's inquest. and read
the evidence given by Eudora Leaton,
in winch she testified that, while
Watching by the bedside of hey cousin.
on the night Of her death. she fell into
Il light Slumber, from which she
was awakened by the impression
of some N moving about the room.
and that at the moment of opening her
eyes, she saw a figure steal away
through the door opening into her own
adjoining chamber; but that on fol-
lowing the figure, she found the next
Don vacant. and therefore fancird
that her half-awakened senses had de-
ceived her.
The evidence which ! have Just
read" continued Counsellor FcntOn.
as he returned the documents to- the
hands of his clerk. lis so significant.
SO important, SO vital to the cause of
justice, that, had it been permitted To
have its due influence with the coro-
ner's jury, no such cruel suspicion
could have fallen upon Eudora Lcaton
rs that which has placed her here on
trial for her life. And now at least,
when the evidence shall be duly con
sidered. it must entirely exonerate this
innocent girl. From that evidence.
gentlemen Of the jury. | draw the
whole theory Of this most mysterious
chain of crime, and that theory !
would undertake to establish. rs the
only true one, TO your perfect Satisfac-
ton.
The whole Leaton family have per-
iShed by the hand Of the pOiSoncr.
.True-alas, most horribly truc. But
who, then, is that %poisonerG Who but
that nocturnal visitor. who had stolen
sc II fell assassin TO the chamber Of
Agatha Leaton, and while her watcher
siumbered, put the poison into her
drink, and whose ~iil-boding form was
seen by the awakening watcher to
steal away and disappear in the dark
ness: Who, but that midnight intru.
der who, in the temporary absence of
Lady Leaton. glided like an evil spirit
TO the bedside of Lord Leaton. and
dropped the deadly drug into his drink.
~ =,