The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1897-03-19
G0RDY MUST
ANSWER
Before a Jury for the Death OF
His Wife.

GEORGETOWN, Del, March 1s.-So dam.
| aging was the evidence presented by At
| torney General White to the COroner'f
| jury which met at Milton to-day to in
| quire into the death OF Mrs Mary Lewis,
that the jury decided that the woman was
murdered by her husband. James NJ.
| Gordy.
The jury reached this conclusion after
celebrating but very few minutes, the
| verdict being a unanimous one 1t was:
That Mrs Gordy, alias Mary Lewis, Of
New York, came to her death from wounds
upon the head inflicted by some blunt in
strument In the hands OF James NJ Gordy,
with felonious intent"
1t was shortly after 10 O'Clock when Cor
oner w. H. johnson called the jury to-
gether They answered to their names as
follows: Foreman, Captain Charles H, At
kins, Ex-State Treasurer; John Lewis,
James Ponder, son of Ex-Governor Pom
der; Captain Henry Hudson, W. h Lingo,
Captain Fisher, Leslie Coyerdale, j. w.
Weyler and w. H. Fasgue.
The Attorney General concluded the ex-
animation Of the witnesses, and In doing
so outlined the case which the State ex-
poets to present TO the court and jury at
the trial. He began with the finding of
the body by James Robinson; brought out
and Hopkins that the woman was MUIR
dered, together with the fact that she was
dead when the body was put in the water.
He followed this up by the testimony Of
j. p. Bailey and Mrs Bailey, who heard
wagon drive through their lane to the
wharf at II o'clock the night Of the muir.
der, and supplemented this with the evil
dence that Gordy had been down to
Vaughns Landing in February and was
familiar with the perilous drive.
The most sensational evidence of the
day was given by Mr.. and Mrs. Harvey J.
Messick, the tenants on Gordy's farm.
After relating about the arrival of Gordy
and his subsequent movements up to the
time he drove away with the missing va
Uses, Messick was asked about the articles
found secreted IN his house. He said the
first he saw Of the hammer was in the
hands of Gordy, and that the hair crimper,
kid glove, night gown, hand bag and jew
ell case, which have been identified as be-
longing to the dead woman, were left
there by him.
Then Mrs. Messick took the stand.
Realizing the suspicious cast upon herself
and husband by the finding of the articles
in the house. she showed u disposit ion to
tell all she knew Shs was shown
pair Of trousers which she and Mrs. Stew
art had cleaned, stating they were wet to
the knees and the bottoms were GOV cred
with mud like that in the mud fats. She
said they were the trousers Gordy wore
the night Of the murder.
Then evidence was produced to show
that Gordy and the woman came down on
the train, that the latter admitted to S. NJ.
Reynolds, baggage agent at Milford, that
she was the wife Of Gordy and that Gordy
was going to drive her down to the farm.
Wilhcr Dickinson, the liveryman, swore
he hired team to Gordy the fateiul night,
aud Alexander Huntington, the hoster,
corroborated him. The statement of DE.
tective Witsil closed the testimony.
After the verdict had been reached
Coroner johnson committed Gordy on tho
charge of murder. 1t is the theory of the
Attorney General that tho left-hand glove
was torn from the woman hand in order
to get her diamond ring, and this glove
was found in Gordy's room, while the
other glove was on her right hand when
found.
The funeral of Mrs. Gordy will take
place at :. 30 tomorrow at the Methodist
Episcopal Church in Milton. The Rev.
George b, Hoge will preach the sermon.
The COroner's jury, at the request of Mrs
GOrdy' S sister will act rs pail bearers. In
tcrment at Milton will be only temporary
AS tho body will be afterwards disinterred
and taken to Brooklyn for burial
Ihte TO night Sherli1 johnson received
telegram saying that mob of close on to
one hundred and fifty armed men are
marching on the Jail hero in which is con-
fined james NJ. GOrdy, the alleged wife
murderer.
This dispatch, together with other re-
ports from different pa It's Of the county,
has spread so much alarm among the jail
officials here thaG Sheriff johnson has
summoned guard of twenty men for fear
of an attack upon the prison. All OF the
deputies have been armed with Winches-
ter rifles and have been ordered to defend
the prisoners life at all hazards.