The San Francisco call., 1898-12-29

- matter with her until Dr. Wolf had ana lyZed the contents of the box of candy and found therein arsenic
 lie then hinted at the possible enemies olo MT. Pennington might have developed m lifetime as an attorney and as Con- gressman. If he had made no enemies then his life had been in vain He direct Sd suspicion toward the Postmaster and finally upon all the women who at one time or another had been the companions of Cunning in his revels. He railed at the "fettered fingers of the press and asked that the fetters be removed and that all said in the courtroom be spread broadcast to the world.
 Throughout his address MT. Knight claimed that no motive had been shown. That Mrs. Botkin had Cunning to her hearts content without the death of his wife, and there was no reason to stoop to murder, He attacked Dunning bitterly, saying in mock heroics: They attacked Mrs. Botkin's character because of her life with Cunning. This was only per mtted in such case to show motive. What say you of the other nine women who have shared his bed and charms and whose names have not been mentioned? We don't know whom he has defended, this fine man, who would go to jail rather than tell the names of these women That It talking about gentlemanly conduct and pearlng. Because this woman shared his bed she murdered his wife. Could not that be said of the others?"
 The courtroom was thronged during the afternoon.i Judge William ,P.,'Lawlor oc- cupled seat upon the bench as the guest ot Judge Cook, while Garret McEnerney, D. M. DelmaS' and other celebrities lent thelT presence to- the brilliancy of the as- Semblage.
 Whatever the result of the present trial Of Mrs Botkin may be, an acquittal or a disagreement, she will not be brought be- fore the bar of justice again. In the event of a verdict of guilty, which the de- Tense declares is not possible. the case will go to the Supreme Court and the juris- diction of California courts will be denied. In such contingency Mrs. Botkin will necessarily remain in jail until a decision is rendered
 Should the jury disagree the defendant will not again be placed on trial, because the Delaware witnesses emphatically de- clare they will not remain here nor will they return to testify at a second trial. - 1(rs. Downs, Bishop and Wolf are exceed ingly anxious to return home, and they will probably leave for the East tonight or tomorrow They have received from Chief Lees the money they are entitled to for transportation, h0tel expenses and witness fees and have made all prepara- tions to depart. These professional gen ueInen. are not particularly impressed with the methods. of our courts, and they assert their belief that if conviction of the defendant is not secured now it never will be and they would be only wasting time and making useless personal sacri- flee by returning or remaining here.
 Dunning, the principal witness for the prosecution, also desires to get away as quickly as possible and as soon as he can do so he will depart. From here he is going direct to Havana, where he will act as correspondent for the Associated Press.
 John B. Pennington and the other Dela- ware witnesses believe it would be futile to attempt to try the case again if this trial results favOrably to the defendant.
 Before the case opened the prosecution announced that Mrs. BOtkin would be tried for the murder of Mrs. .Deane if she was acquitted of the charge of kill ing Mrs. Cunning, but the evidence in both cases is the same and if the de- fendant cannot be convicted of one mur- der it is not within the bounds of possi- bility she would be found guilty of the second.
 In opening his argument Attorney Gen. eral White counSeled the jury not to let their sympathies influence them in reach ing a decision as to the punishment to be meted out to the defendant. She was not to be considered in the matter, and they were not to think they were doing wrong in taking a human life. If she were guilty they were bound under their oaths to administer the laws. He then told of the chain of evidence that reached from the Golden Gate to Delaware, the Diamond State. and encircled. the woman then on trial. He traced the box of candy from the moment of it's. receipt, at the post office until it was delivered at the Pen nington home and partaken of by the la dies of the household and. their guests. He then told of the death of the two women with all the symptoms of arsen-
  He then turned to the various articles that form exhibits inthe case and pointed out the parts they played in the great He said three methods of identification had been given all mankind by God in his wisdom These were the features of the face the handwriting. and the human voice. The identity of the guilty one in this case was to pe shown by. the hand writing, and with the specimens before them the jury could have no difficulty in fixing the responsibility, he said. He told them not to examine the writing as eX- perts, but IS business men, and. he held they cOuIu not tell the various eXemplars one from another, as the writing was all the same.
 It was here the Attorney General made the one weak point of his argument He said Mrs. Cunning undoubtedly recog- nized the writing on the wrapper that en- circled the box of candy as being that of the kind friend who had taken so much interest in her as to write anonymously to her regarding the conduct of her hus- band. It has been testified to repeatedly that Mrs. Cunning did not look upon this writer as her friend and had given or ders that nothing in that handwriting be delivered to her. The speaker went on to connect Mrs Botkin with the purchase of the candy as another link in the great chain of crcumstantial evidence. He then reminded the jury of the statements made to Miss Livernash and to Mrs. Ruoff by the accused woman when the deaths Of these women were first made known to
 
 particular stress on the fact that Mrs Botkin discussed repeatedly the fact of there being three anonymous letters when no one except the sender of them and MT. Pennington knew there had beer three received.
 He asked how the defendant knew there were three letters and how she could de tail to Mrs. Ruoff their contents.
 At this point the speaker introduced Druggist Greens testimony, but MT Knight objected to anything being quoted from it regarding the purchase by Mrs Botkin of lump arsenic. pr. Terrill was then held up as one witness for the de. fense' who had his dates mixed, it beinf claimed he visited Mrs. Botkin either Monday or Tuesday, and not Sunday
 He spoke of the alliance between Mrs Botkin and Cunning as being born only of the devil. Take him when he lays bare his life" he said. 'It makes man. hood and womanhood hold their heads ir shame. Here was an infatuation without parallel. Why so no one knows. Ever defendant could not tell. She would no sever her relations with her affinity hence the motive of this crime" Sht had never given any manifestations o sympathy for any other mendicant nol for her own husband. He traced theil life in this city, revelihg in the haunts. o sin and vice. In closing, he made a plee for the sisterhood of States and asked tn,