The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-30
SHE DID 1T, SAYS THORN.
MRS, NAoK's hccoMPLIoE MAKRs
4 FIGHT FOR ms LIFE.

Martin Thorn on the witness stand In ME Own
Observation-Disclosures Tor Moro Than Four
Haeurn. no Disp,ays nemarkabie CooinessA
11e swears That Mrs. Mack KILLED Gieta,eu.
suppe. ana That re Helped to Dispose q the
Body Thrsash Love or the slurderc-,-s,a
Testiu,ony Not BADLY shaken Under cross-
Ruaminat,oa Mrs. Mack Not Called nvi.
dence Ali In. ana the Case May Bnd To-pnS.
For moro than four hours yesterday Martin
Thorn sat on tho witness stand In the Queens
county Court House, at Long Island City and
spared with the lawyers for his life. The prose
cution had rested on Friday and the prisoner
was TO combat single.handed the terrible evil
dence that foes and former friends had piled up
against him. With a verdict of guilty staring
him in the face, deserted by all save the attorney
assigned by the Court to defend him, he faced
the examination and REORGANIZATION with an
absolute stoicism that showed him to be q No
markable man.
His wits were always with him. There was
no thrust of the lawyers that he could not parry,
no hidden trap into which no could DO lured.
Without a change in color, without a tremor In
his face or a culver In his voice, without evcn o
nervous tapping Of his fingers as they lay on the
arm of his chair. for hour after hour he went
over the details Of William Gicldsonsuppo's
murder. There was blood in every sentence
that he spoke. and there was no sparing Of him
on the part of either his counsel or the prose-
cutting attorneys. They probed him with
questions SO full of CHASTITY horror that
even those who have followed closely the full
proceedings of the trial could only shiver and
wonder at the man Of stone who sat so quietly
and answered everything-with a lie. no doubt.
now and then. for life was at stake and con-
science fed-but still answered as though 10
were but q tale of stolen dry goods or broken
crockery.
Mrs. Mack had been marvellous in her wood.
enness at her confession, but her life was not In
the balance. and ut the end she broke. Thorn
stood 1t all to the end with even q furtive smile
occasionally, and when he stepped down at last
and took his seat between his keepers no stran-
ger coming into the courtroom would have
picked him for tho ono who had just gone
through such a terrible ordeal.
THoRN's Low HIS DOWNFALL.
With all that has been written and said Of this
murder, Thorn's tale. even though foreshad-
owed and discounted as 10 its truth, Q Iuld not
fail to be interesting. It was full of the love he
bore Mrs. Mack. once his mistress and possessed
of his every secret, and now his bitterest enemy
seeking to save her life at the expense Of his.
She had done the murder and he, through love
L va ~ tANNA AiSApo ~ aANS h"N ~ "a ~ 1890
love had been his downfall. both because 1t led
him to the crime and now most likely to his
death. That was the tenor of it all, the shield
behind which he sought immunity.
With the end Of Thorn's testimony came the
practical closing of the case. There was soma
minor evidence In rebuttal. but it was dramatic.
and important only from q legal viewpoint.
Nothing was left but tho summing up by tho
lawyers. the Justices charge, and then tho YER
dict Of the jury, and these were postponed until
to-day. for tho hour was late.
Mrs. Mack, the self.confessed accomplice in
the crime. did not again tell her story Of how 10
happened. Until the very last the settlement OF
this mooted question was left in doubt. and then
It was formally announced to the court by the
prosecution that she had refused to repeat her
testimony. Mr.. Howe for the defence stormed
all in vain. He demanded the presence Of the
woman as o witness for the people in tho name
of Justice. He dared the District Attorney to
let her tell her story to the jury. With all
the power Of his voice and all the legal articles
at his m he tried to work in through tho
lips of Thorn that evidence 80 freely given By
her at the other hearing. but he failed. Thelaw
would not allow it. and then In desperation he
demanded that she be made to appear on a writ
stand to-day as a witness for the defence. bub
when the people called his blum he weakened.
Under such conditions the prosecution was pre-
thought better Of It and decided not to call her.
So he closed and the people closed and the end
WILL He ESCAPE THE ELECTRIC CHART
The weight Of Thorn's testimony Is variously
gagged BY various. persons according In some
n in fSxo 70 Of fh the R RrSIaal'eTf The ssn parpos sas OF %f Il ~ SaG
to raise. Il possible. a reasonable doubt In thS
minds of the jury as to VIII eh one did the actual
aimed 70, Of course. entirely p~roblematilal. and
there 10 at least a divergence Of opinion In
word unsupported. with every possible motive
for perjury, against hers, biased, to the came
degree, but certainly corroboratcd in part. There
Is this difference. however. in the two stories.
II he is believed and the law is left to Its work.
sworn that he knew nothing OF the murder until
1t WAS done. III she were on trial and her words
escape from death for her. because she confessed
to- the Turing Of the bath rubber 70 his doom.
were the / most Interesting Of this trial. It was
known that Thorn was to go on In the morning.
and the rush for admission was out OF all pro
portion to the size of the room. Sheriff Don't
was literally besieged with applications for
seats. and had he been q ticket speculator
Women we SSa We're es consp %aus in r the crowd. After q
large number had obtained seats, the attor.
such a character that women lad best not at
tend. Sheriff Don't and his deputies therefore
warned them to this effect and some Lett. but at
least half decided to stick II out. II they entiS-
ipated any salacious testimony they We're disap,
pointed, but II was certainly cory enough 10
sicken even the most morbid.
After John Gotha had been recalled so that
Mr.. Howe might ask him n he mad not zen
Hamilton, which he denied, Mr.. Howe began bis
statement TO the jury. Before he had proceeded
far, however, IL became manifest that 1t asal
more an argument based on his cross'examina
tion OF the prosecutions witnesses than a state.
ment of what he expected to prove. He did not
attempt to make his client much OF n saint. but
he painted Mrs. Mack as the arch assassin of the
century.
MARTIN Thorn Is innocent OF the murder Of
William Gieldsensuppe,' he began in his loves
and most impressive tones. Will show
you that the idea OF killing Gieldsensuppe ger
minated in the mind OF that aduitcress assassin
Augusta Mack"
Then he stopped and walked slowly along ~
front OF the jury box, cycling The jurors closely
LAWYER HOWE ATTACKS MR5. MACK.
"Gentlemen." said Mr.. Howe, his voice sink
ing lower still e have Away tried TO do my
duty. am now In, the sore and yellow leaf
Ms career on earth cannot be long. haNt
never yet attempted TO deceive a jury, and ! tel
you that Augusta Mack is tho slayer OF WilliaIr
, Gieldsensuppe.'