The Portland daily press., 1896-06-06
NO DEFENCE OFFERED.
IIurd Case Comes to an Abrupt
Ending.
JUDGE EMERY ATTEMPTS TO
HAVE ARGUMENTS HURRIED.
But Attorneys on Both Sides Objected
StrenuousIy-Court Finally Consented
to Hold Jury Until Today when Case
Win BE Argued.

Strenuousiy-Cour FINALLY Consented
to Hold Jury Until Today when Case
VIII BE Argued.
ESPECIAL TO THE PREss.J
Alfred, June 5.-The governments evil
denoe was concluded and the Hurd mur-
der trial came tosa sudden and rather
unexpected close this afternoon.
The government rested at O'Clock,
and the other side. to the great surprise
OF the crowd of spectators, offered no de-
Tense. The. arguments will. .ba made to-
morrow morning, and it is expected that
the case will go to the jury by noon.
The greater part of the forenoon was
consumed in the examination of Bidde-
ford police offiosrs in relation to their
visits at the Hurd homestead shortly al
ter the murder, their talks with the pri-
soner and tho finding Of the evidences of
his connection with the crime.
Officer John Hanson. janitor of the po-
lice station, described the articles of
clothing the prisoner had on at the time
of his arrest. The only blood stains dis
covered on the clothing were on one leg
of the drawers. The question put by the
defending attorney indioated desire to
show that those particular spots of
blood came from slight wound on the
prisoners leg.
Deputy Marshal hIogan gave corrobo-
rative testimony regarding the develop
nlents of the officers Investigations, and
the prisoners alleged voluntary confess
sion to the marshal. This witness identi-
! fed the axe with which the first blow is
alleged to have been struck. WheE found,
underneath pie of clothing, in small
closet, the axe had blood upon its "pole. :"
| Officer Hanson was present at the hnd-
ing of the axe.
John j. Iraynor, who was a member
of the police force at the time of the MUIR
der, recited the dialogue between the
marshal and prisoner in the police sta
tion on the following day. His narrative
did not differ from that of the proceed
ing witness.
3 Officer John Hayes gave testimony re-
garding his finding Of the razor with it's
bloody, nicked blade, underneath the
piazza of the Hurd house. where the re-
spondent had said it could be found.
Cross-examined in relation to whether
there was much excitement at the house
when tie officers were making their in
vestigations, the witness replied i n the
negative, and said Mrs. Hurd, the moth
er of the murderer, seemed as cool and
calm as anybody there.
Officer Louis o. StuaFt's testimony
was to the OBJECT that he ATTEMPTED to in
teryiew the respondent while on the way
TO the police station, but II urd said he
should prefer to answer those questions
in court.
The recall of Marshal Harmon on a
technical point, gave the defense e.
chance to further cross-examine him, and
to call out some admissions to the effect
that works on physiology, phrenology
and proyerbial philosophy were among
the books which the prisoner had in his
home and had extensively read.
B. =. Cleaves and Walter J. Gilpatrick,
members of the coroner's jury that sat
on the Hurd case, testified that before
the respondent gave his testimony at the
inquest, he was cautioned by the county
attorney against Standardization, but
Hurd's reply was that he had made up
his mind to tell the truth.
Mrs. Lulu N. Verrill of Biddeford,
who was employed by the county attor-
ney as stenographer at the inquest testi-
fed that she read to Hurd her shorthand
notes on his testimony and he signed
them. She presented the transcription
her records, which Senator Higgins
vigorously argued against admitting,
but Judge Emery overruled the objection.
A man named Martin, employed as
driver for Coroner Warren, testified that
oat the latter's request he brought to AL
fred.in Deoembe the ty typswritten record
of the inquest, took it to the Jail, showed
it to Hurd, left it in his possession about
35 minutes and then secured his sigma
ture to it. To the admission of this testi-
mony and the signed statement of the re-
spondrnt, Attorney Higgins took OBJ
jections, on the ground that there was
no positive proof that the statement had
been read by Hurd before he signed it.
But Judge Emery admitted the transcript
tion in evidence, and County Attorney
Emmons read from it the respondents
testimony at the inquest.
The testimony was in the nature Of q
full confession of how. when and why
the murder was committed the state
ment being practically the same as that
made to Marshal Harmon, about which
the latter testified so fully yesterday.
In the afternoon the spectators space
in the court room was filed as densely
as the sheriffs would allow More than
three-fourths of the audience were ladies.
Mrs. Hurd, mother of the respondent,
appeared and was given a seat beside the
defending attorney. Her face was hid
den by long black Grape veil and she
carried in her hand black fan, which
she kept on the move much of the time.
There was no meeting of the mother and
son, but he watched her as she came in
and frequently glanced in her direction
after she took her seat in front of him.