The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-07-27
BBNHAM's WEAK DEFENCE.
Effort Confined TO Show That There
Is Doubt ef His Guilt.

BATAVIA, N. Y, July 2I, lST.-Mr
Mackey resumed his address to the jury
at $50 o'clock this morning. He was
hoarse and spoke with considerable diff
Guilty.
All the way through Mr.. Mackey's ad-
dress it has been his purpose to throw
doubt upon every point established by
the prosecution. No effort has been
made by Mr.. Mackey, actually to es-
tablish Benham's innocence, but to throw
doubt upon his guilt. That is the plan
of the iefence.
Mr.. Mackey first took up the autopsies.
No suspicion, he said, rested upon Ben
ham at the first autopsy No one point
ed the finger of suspicion at him until
Drug Clerk Elliott told his story. But at
no time did Benham oppose anything
that would lead to a most thorough in
vestigation. If Benham was a guilty
man why did he not have his wife's body
cremated? 1t would have been an easy
thing.
Mr. Mackey went over the medical tes-
timony, pointing out the contradictory M
features of the peoples testimony. The
men who made the first autopsy, he said:
did not know whether the heart was fun
or empty; L was as the most & bun1gillngg n1s g lon %
be licensed physicians. DR.. Townsend S
story about the odor he smelled at the
second autopsy was ridiculous. " , Why did dld
it not discovered on the first autopsy?
One of the women also got a smell like
crushed cherry pits.
crushed cherry pits? How many of you
gentlemen ever got the odor of cracked
cherry pits?''
to the physicians
What do4y think, gentlemen he
saidy4 physicians who can solemnly
swear that a woman died of heart failure
on Tuesday and swear just as solemnly
that she died of prussic acid on Friday?, ~
What do you think of such men when
they come into court here for the purpose
of swearing away the life of a man?
Gentlemen you wouldn't sloot your
neighbor's dog accused Of killing sheep
"If these doctors had not known that
Benham had bought prussic, acid they
never would have discovered anything
poisoning Dr. Showerman admitted that
fact on the stand. 1t was easy enough
for the doctors to blunder T,s but % the jurors
must not blunder. Tnelr verdict would
sorhey they could not say one thing one day
and something. else the next as the doc
Mr.. Mackey then devoted himself to
Prof Vanderbergh, the chemist, Wh9s BIB ne
Witthaus in all his tests, yet Prof. Witt
haus had zcome on the stand and, testi-
fed that syanderbergh could not make the
TESTS Ne had claimed to have made from
|krhe Wftthaus formulas.
Eanderbergh had followed the misprint
iflgWitthaus's book in his ignorance.
ssThen he had the audacity and effront-
ery to come into court few days later
with some newspaper clippings and claim
|kHd that from these he got his authority
Think of that
IsssWhich time did he tell the truth? Is
that the action of an honest man?' he
shouted, turning to where DR.. Wander
bergh sat.
There is no guess work in chemistry
IT is an exact science and no competent,
honest chemist could be excused for go-
ing on the stand and attempting to swear
away the life Of a man without reason
found under such suspicious circum-
stances show that the testimony was of
no account