The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-01-08

10y DuiTdnt lawyers. but now thdt Inv
courts have shown that 1t is possible 10
hang q murderer In California they have
given up hope.
WASHINGTON. Jan. Almost imme-
diatciy after the members Of the Supreme
Court took their seats to-day Mr.. Board
man sought To present his petition for a
viii Of habcas corpus in the Durrani
case. lie had not been admitted TO the
bar. and to save time he presented per-
FIVE minutes the court denied the appli-
cation. The opinion was unanimous.
THE CRIME.
II was Easter morning Of 1885, that San
Francisco was horrined by the find-
isg of a beautiful young girl dead
~ Of Emanuel church. The girl
had been choked smothered in her
own clothes. and then almost hacked to
pieces with a case knife borrowed from
the church kitchen. The motive OF the
murder was revealed by physical evi-
dence that murder was not the only crime
wrecked on the girl
For ten day another young girl had been
missing from her home IN the city. She
was also n member OF this church. No
clew had been found TO account for her
disappearance. but the recovery of the
body in the library closet gave the police
an ltttf dNu tNfl hAtathfA FFtlN GRANNY
and corner OF Emmanuel church.
The first days search I'm the body OF the
edifice discovered nothing. but the next
day they broke down p barred door that
gave access TO the belfry and high UP in
the steeple they found the bocy OF the
missing girl The body was lying on the
floor the hands folded across the chest
the head resting on a block Of wood
on the throat were the prints Of nails
of fingers that had siransled her. The
girl in the b5lfrv WAS Blanche Lamont
the cirl in the library was Minnie VII
liams.
HE KNEW THEM
Durrant knew them both. He was the
assistant Sunday school Superintendent
of ,he church. and had offered marriage
% the girl in the bclfry and possibly the
other one also. though she told her guard
Ian Of another proposal from him.
Durrant had been prominent IN the
search Tor Blanche Lamont during the
days OF mystery. On the day Of her dis
appearance he had escorted her 20 school
Her leaving school that afternoon was
tho last known about her AZ the time
until the finding Of her body I'm the bclfry
tower.
Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams
were both pure. pretty young girls; they
had no acquaintance except the home
and the church circle. Their utmost dis
siDati0n was a Christian Endeavor meet
ing. Th0ir pastor was their ideal man.
and they hardly knew other men than
those belonging 10 Emmanuel church.
Durraut was n medical student. poor
and obscure. one OF their circle standing
well In the little church and most in
tcrcsted I'm church work small.
coarse featured young man IN appear
ance like thousands Of others. Little
by little the police forged n chain Of
circumstantlal evidence around Durrant
until they fcit justified in causing his
arrest and indictment. II took a month
TO get jury 10 try him in san Francisco
and three months 10 bring he evidence
out.
THE CHAIN OF EVIDENCE.
Blanche Lamrnt's schoolmate identified
Durrant as the man who met her when
school adjourned. one old lady. also a
member OF the Emmanuel church, recog-
nized him as they rode toward the church
together. Others turned up who had seen
the pair at places along the route from
the school to tho chapel Another old
woman watching from a window directly
across the street from the church. for her
NAuEMllI. whose nUiit fNlullE was uH-
laycd saw Durrant and the girl enter the
church about { O'Clock that afternoon.
4 friend Of Durrant. the organist OF the
church. practising there at o'clock was
started TO see Durrant appear pale and
dishevelled lie explained his appearance
by stating that he had been overcome by
gas above the ceiling while looking for a
leak. Durrant was the handy repairer
about Emmanuel church, a. well as the
assistant superintendent Of the Sunday
school Among the mysteries IN the case
was tho returning Of three rings the
girl had worn when she disappeared 10
her home. These were wrapped I'm
paper. on which the names were written.
Durrants friends say, in the writing OF
the pastor; his enemies. that the writing
is his own disguised Pictures OF the
rings were published In the papers, which
were printing pages about the case at the
time When Durrant was undergoing his
preliminary examination. man rose up
i'm the body OF the court room and told
the prosecutor that he recognized Dur
rant as a man who had come q HE
pawn broking establishment and tried 70
sell him one OF these rings.
Durrant was only tried on the charge
OF numbering Blanche Lamont but the
other case against him was equally
strong. He was proved 10 have waited AZ
the ferry for Minnie Williams, the day
before Easter when she came to the city
20 attend a meeting OF Iohng's PeO-
ple's Christian Endeayor Society, Of
Which she. Blanche Lamont and Durrant
were members. To people who saw Dur
rant at the ferry and asked him what
he was doing there, he explained that he
al uF u
disappearance had already been reported
was trying 10 leave the city and he
was trying 10 intercept her on his trial.
when asked who told him that he could
only say that a stranger had met him
IN the street and given him the inforna-
tion. Durrant attempted 10 prove that
he attended the lecture az the medical
school on the night OF the murder, but
failed.
TWO YEARS AGO.
Durrant was convicted on Novemoer l.
1895. An appeal TO the state supreme
court prevented the judge from hAlne
the date Of the execution. new triai
was denied on a hearing ~ tho appeal
in March. 1891, and DJrrant was sem
fenced 10 hang June ilth. a stay OF exc
cu,lon was granted on an appear to inc
United states Supreme Court on the rul-
ing of tho United States Circuit Court OK
California, which refused 10 grant 4 WITT
Of habeas corpus.
The United States Supreme Court dls-
missed the appeal November SIN iast'
The California Superior Court before the
arrival OF the remittur Immediately or
dered Durrant TO be hanged November
11th but she State Supreme Court grant
10