The sun., 1896-07-20
STI1L EVIDENCE.
An Instance In Which ls Sent the Wrong
Man TO the 6ailowa-
Prom the Washington Evening Star.

Prom the Washington Evening Star.
speaking Of circumstAnt!al evidence," said
an old attorney, II am free to confess that I
consider /. hardly the thing to hang q man on
though IL has been done In many cases can
recall an instance when was a younSs,er OF l2
or IA. In which nv father. who was a leading
criminal lawyer. defended a man who was
hanged on merely circumstantIal 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
but he was never disturbed until one night
shortly after midnight, there was terrinc dis
pistol shots. and when the people who came 10
see " nat the matter was got IN they found the
the butler, with his hands full OF !eweiry and
watches lying IN The doorway OF the old gentle
mar SHa9's I room, with a bullet somewhere in his
His revolver lay by his side. and as far as
could be seen the whole story 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,
was the only Translation Of ii, and there was no
other for several days, because the butler had a
week. However, il WAS not fatal. and as soon as
ne was at himself lie made q statem- mt to the
by footsteps and had taken his pistol. which had
only two loads in It out OF the five, and gone
GOWN INTO the hail below 10 see what the noise
was:
He noticed that his masters door was partly
open al the far end Of the hall and hurried to-
ward IL AS he approached 1t he heard his N as
yer speak 70 some one asking who was there
and with that there WAS pistol shot and hc
Jumped INTO the room. grabbing q burglar as he
uiu go, ana AT the same time getting shot in
the head from his masters pistol. Beyond that
generally disbeleved, for there was no evidence
OF any other person in the house with evil de-
signs, and all The plunder that he had not
lytn
about him, 80 that there WAS no apparent reason
why burglar should be there. All the doors
were found locked by those who came in re-
sponse TO the alarm. and there were absolutely
NO Signs or any ourglRriZtnR from the outside
Atother strong point was that the bullet
whlch WAS found in the butler's head exactly
httea the pisto! OF his master. showing conciu-
lar who shot him. This was the condition OF the
AFFAIR when my fai her took charge OF H. and
though he really believed the buffers story and
tired 40 TO prove IT. he couldn't do 1t. and the man
"A wear later a burglar was shot by police.
man IN the city nearest To us. and he confessed
on ms deathGed that he was the murderer OF our
r!ch man, IL g had hidden in the house early in
the evening. had collected all he could OF jewelry
ana other portable Naluables and was about gel
uhs out wien he was caught both by the old
had got the bullet Intended for him AS he hai
run INTO the room just as the old man fired
Dropping everything in his sudden surprise he
had rushed down stairs and hidden in ihs han
way, from where he had slipped Out as som as
the front door was opened. In the excitement
he p" as not observed, and he got away without
ALS trouble AT all. AS the nearness to the civ
mace strah.ers SO common that their nresence
excited no suspicion. I'll never FORGET thai In
cident, and II never be in favor OF the death
pchaIly on clrcumstant!al evidence. don't care
Just, nnd the writer felt that the attorney was
more than half right. "