The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-12
JUDGE TWIeGSIS DETERMINED
ne SAYS FITZPATRICK WILL BE
TRIED FOR MURDER.

The Prosecution Was Not Represent
ed at the Preliminary Trial of the
Accused Murderer Of Joe SPRINT.
Says Fitzpatrick Is the Man the
state Is After for the Murder and
No Other.
The acquittaI of DR.. J. j. Fitzpatrick in
the preliminary trial in Midwife, as print
ed in the Morning News dispatches yester-
day. of the charge Of murder, does not
mean that he will be allowed to go free.
according to the statements of Judge H.
d. ID. Twiggs, attorney for the prosecu-
ton.
THAT man will be tried for the murder
of Joseph Sprintz before a jury" said
Judge Twiggs, and there is nothing that
can stop it. This preliminary trial does
not count for much. They rushed 1t on
me without due notice as can show, and
the witnesses in the case for the state have
never been brought up. fitzpatrick is the
man charged with the killing Of Sprintz
and he will be tried. We may have him
arrested again, or we may wait for the
grand jury of the county TO act There
is intense feeling in the matter on both
sides in the community where the crime
was committed, and case like this can
not be passed by as a small matter"
When asked about the report from Mid
vile as to the probability of Dr. Kilpat-
rick having been held as the murderer Of
SPRINT as a subterfuge to keep down sus-
picion while the detectives were trying to
md
Twiggs said: That report is absolutely
false. Fitzpatrick is the man we are go
ing to hold for trial. and he is the only
man upon whom any suspicion has ever
rested. We will have the whole affair
sifted before the court, and In spite Of
the methods which seem to have been
adopted for a purpose by the defense, we
will bring forth some sensational testi-
mony, which will have weight In the case"
AS was stated in the Morning News
in a dispatch from Midwife, the
preliminary hearing of the case took place
there, and DR.. fitzpatrick, who is accused
of assassinating Sprintz, was liberated.
He was brought to Midwife from
WayneSboro, where he had been impris-
oned. He was not put in jail, but, by the
courtesy of the jailer, was kept in GUS
tody In his dwelling.
=
in that entire region of the state which
has caused as much excitement as this.
The killing of Sprintz caused a great SEN
sation owing to the righteousness Of the
tragedy The young man who was muir
dered was found dead in his room the
morning after the killing with wound
on the head as though he had been struck
by a club or heavy weight, and yet there
was but little blood around the place
where he was lying. 1t is known that
skull wound such as this always causes
a great flow of blood and the only reason
that is arrived at for the lack of blood
is that the murdered man had been poi
soned prior to being struck with the blow
that robbed him of his life. This is up
held by the indications that he had been
vomiting in the room, probably while he
was attacked and beaten over the head.
There will be charges by the state that
DIT. Fitzpatrick is the murderer and that
his purpose was to put Sprintz out of the
way in order that alleged intimacy with
Sprintz's wife might not be disturbed. r
will be charged that Dr. Fitzpatrick was
unduly intimate with the wife of the muir
dered man. who was at the time of the
killing in Atlanta. In the reports from
Midwife it was stated that Mrs. Sprintz
was stopped in Macon by detectives for
the prosecution and not allowed to go to
Midwife, where the preliminary trial was
held.
There is much sentiment for DIR. Kill
patrick in Midwife among his friends. who
resent strongly the charge that he is
guilty of the crime. He is one of the
leading men of the town and is held in
high esteem by many.
1t is not yet known whether the prosecu-
ton will have him rearrested or whether
the action of the grand jury will be await
ed. The grand Jury will not meet until
late in the summer, or early in the fall,