Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1897-01-08
The Bran Case.


There is a general disposition to crti-
else adversely the jury in the United States
court at Boston which found guilty, last
Saturday, the first Mate Bran, charged
with killing the captain and his wife and
the second mate of the bark Herbert Full
Ter on the high seas last July. But this
opinion comes manifestdly from very
imperfect reading and consideration of the
evidence The Boston Transcript in
leading editorial says "The people of the
United States owe respect and honor to its
! jury in the Bran case for the wise and
courageous verdict of guilty This is
said after personal hearing by the writer
of all the evidence, the arguments of the
counsel on both sides, and the charge of
the court" The Transcript writer then
proceeds to a careful review of the facts as
| brought out in the evidence. The crime
was committed at night when a seaman
named Brown was at the wheel. The cir
cumstantial evidence was all consistent
with the theory that the mate Bran COM
mitted the murder
This circumstantial evidence was cor
roborated by the direct testimony of Brown,
that as he stood at the wheel he looked in
to the window only few feet from him
and saw by the dim light of the lamp the
mate Bran strike with something like an
AK handle at a man who lay where the cap
tain was found; then 60 quickly forward,
upon which woman's shrek was heard,
and soon Bran came up upon the deck.
"This proof, conclusive if Brown was to
be believed, rendered it imperative that
the prisoner should try to shake the credit
not only of Brown, but of the other wit
nesses whose testimony corrobOrated or
was consistent with Browns. But the at
tempt failed and the prisoners own tes-
timony Dram having been put upon the
witness stand by his own request was ut
terly disbelieved. The jury seem to have
believed the following facts: A young man
of 20 years Lester II. Monks who hap
pened to be passenger on the vessel, was
aroused from a deep sleep by woman's
shrek from the cabin on one side Of him
and by a horribly loud breathing from the
cabin on the other side. He loaded his re-
vOlver, unlocked his door, rushed out, saw
the captain on the floor went to him and
found him nearly dead. He rushed to the
captains wife's cabin and in the dim light
did not see her, but saw what he thought
was blood on her bed; whereupon he rush
ed on deck TO the first mate Bran Bran
told him that there was muuny and that
the second mate had gone forward with
the men. The passenger took the first
mate down into his cabin with him and
kept him there while he hurriedly dressed,
and then went upon the deck again with
him, the mate not having gone the length
of the captains body or tried TO help him.
Upon deck the mate staggered and vomi-
ted, and pleaded with the young man TO
protect him against the crew, for / e said
he had been hard on them and feared they
would kill him.
AT daylight they woke the steward, who
found that the captain, his wife and the
second mate were all dead, with their heads
cut open by an AK. Then the first mate
pointed out bloody ak lying on deck, and
threw it overheard. When the crew awoke
and it was evident that there was no such
mutiny as the first mate had claimed, he
invented theory that the captain had
killed his wife because of her relations
with the second mate (of which there was
absolutely no evidence in the case), and
then fatally wounded the second mate, who
wrested the AK from the captain and killed
the captain, and then went on deck and
dropped the ak without being seen by the
hrst mate, and then returned to his cabin,
crossed his feet and died. In the excite
ment of the moment and under the intu-
ence OF the first mate, who had great gifts
OF persuasion, this theory was written out
by the passenger and signed by him and all
on board. But this theory being too alb
surd 10 sustain itself, and some scapegoat
being desired, and the mate being thus far
successful in keeping on good terms with
the men, they arrested Brown. His man
ner after the murder had been gloomy.
Brown said that they would find out who
did IT when they got ashore. II is signih-
cant that Brown, before being charged with
the murders helped to prepare the bodies
respectfully to be kept until they should
reach home But the first mate had pro-
posed that they should be thrown over
board. During the week before they
reached Halifax, Browns knowledge had
its effect on the crew, and they arrested
the first mate. The first mate before his
arrest had begun a false logbook."
The defence tried to discredt Browns
testimony by introducing evidence TO show
that he was insane, or had been insane,
and that he shot at a man in Rotterdam
while insane several years ago
THE most striking part CT the defence
was the attempt to prove that Brown, who
was one of the witnesses for the prosecu-
ton, did the killing in very brief attack
OF homicidal mania not discovered until
this trial. But the district attorney made
it clear that if Brown had done it without
knowing what he was about, he could not
have escaped detection by the first mate,
who was on duty, and that If he was sane
he would not have dared to leave the wheel
even dashed to do so much in a house
which he had never entered, with weapon
which he had never seen, against persons
whose respective places he did not know;
and that in either case mate as acute and
Watchtul and alert as the prisoner was
and on deck where he swore he was watch
ing, would have known something of what
the man at the wheel was about. The
prisoner was very ably defended by learned
and experienced counsel, who rightly per-
mitted him TO CO. as he wished, upon the |
stand, for it was reasonable to expect that
such an imperturbable and persuasive per-
son would influence at least some of the
jury. But the jury could not believe that
so able a man would have known so much
about what was done on deck, and so little
about what he himself did and saw in the
cabin. The distinctive traits of his testi-
mony were infinitely detailed description
OF the deck, and vague want of recolec-
tion about the cabin and the bodies"
The jury were out over "a hours and
came into court three times for instructions
or to ask questions before bringing in
verdict.