Phoenix weekly herald., 1898-01-13


and among others was Theodore Dur |
rant, who had often acted as Miss La |
mont'S escort.
He seemed greatly distressed on &C
count of Miss Lamont'S absence, and
at last expressed the belief that she
had Joined the ranks of fallen women.
The theory seemed plausible to the
police, and a search was made among
the places where it was believed the
girl might be found. Durrant assisted
in the inquiry which came to naught.
Ten days had passed since Miss La
mont, disappeared. and her friends
had almost given up hope of ever
knowing her fate. when Il discovery
was made which led to the finding of
Miss Lamont's body.
The ladies of Emmanuel church were
engaged in decorating the edifce pre-
paratory to the celebration of the
Easter Sunday service, when the
mangled body of Minnie Williams was
found, almost naked in the library.
A number of ugly knife wounds and
some rags that had been forced down
the young WOman'S throat told of the
unequal struggle she had made to pro-
tect her honor.
Miss Williams body was discovered
in the afternoon, and late the same
night the first clue to the murderer
was obtained. From some of the young
Woman'S friends it was learned that
she had been seen the evening before
with Durrant, and although there was
nothing else to show he had any con-
nection with the crime, the police de-
cided to arrest him. Durrant'S home
was visited late at night but he was
not there. His parents said that he
had left at midnight with the signal
corps of the National Guard to make
some heliOgraphing experiments on
Mt. Diablo. The next train carried two
detectives towards the mountain, and,
after completing their journey by
stage. Durrant was found late in the
afternoon and arrested But the news
that he was charged with the murder
of Minnie Williams was not at first
impaired to him by the officers.
message was flashed on the rays of
the sun by the photographers in this
city who were taking part in the eX-
periments of the signal corps and
Durrant knew that he was to be ar
rested before the officers arrived
While these events were taking place
on Mt Diablo, sixty miles away.
discovery had been made in this city
which filled the streets with men and
women crying for vengeance From
the first the police associated the find
ing of Miss Williams body with the
disappearance of Miss Lamont, and a
search was at once begunin the church
for her body Men worked all night
tearing up floors and breaking down
partitions, and at ten O'Clock Sunday
morning the body of Miss Lamont was
found A broken door knob and Il
turned bolt excited the suspicious of
the searchers and the door leading to
the belfry of the church was broken
down. Up the winding stairs the po-
licemen grouped their way, and at the
third landing, lying in the corner of
the darkened belfry, the naked body
of the murdered girl was found. No
knife had been used to commit the
crime as was the case in the murder
of Miss Williams, but the imprint of
five fingers buried in her throat re-
vealed the manner in which the young
woman had met her death
The post mortem examination show
ed that the murder was not the only
crime that had beencommitted. The
news of the discovery of the second
body in the church had spread with
incredible velocity, and at six o'clock,
when Durrant, in custody of the Off
GERS, aIighetd from a ferry boat at the
foot of Market street, in this city, he
was met by a dense crowd that was
ominouS because of its silence. The
police We're prepared for an outbreak,
however, and two companies of armed
men We're present. Durrant was plac
ed in a closed carriage. surrounded
by fifty men armed with WincheSters,
and driven to the city prison Dur
rant then protested his innocense, as
he did to the hour of his death. but
the evidence against him accumulated
rapidly, and ON April 21st, an infor-
nation was filed against him by Dis
trict Attorney Barnes. charging him
with the murder of Blanche Lamont.
The trial which began on July 22nd
and lasted till November LIST. was one
of the most celebrated in criminal jur-
isprudence. Nearly 1900 taliSmen were
examined before Il jury was secured,
and six weeks passed before the tax
ing of testimony was begun. The evil
dence throughout was circunstantial. |
Il chain so strong as to admit of no
reasona bic doubt. The prosecution
produced witnesses who traced Dur
rants movements on April 3rd, from |
the time he left Cooper medical col
lege until he entered the church with |
Miss Lamont To all this testimony
the prisoner entered a denial. and in /
rebuttal produced the roll call of the |
college, which showed that he was at
tending Il lecture at the hour when /
Miss Lamont was murdered.
The prosecution disputed the relia- |
bility of the roll call and showed that |
students were accustomed TO have |
classmates answer for them when they
were not present As the case be-
came more hopeless Durrant went on
the stand himself, and. although he
Il remarkable compoSure
his testimony, on num-
Der of important points, was palpably
false. The case was submitted to the |
Jury on the afternoon of November 1.
1898, after having been on trial over
three months. Twenty minutes after
they left the court room the jury re-
turned and rendered a verdict of
guilty in the first degree. The Cali
fOrnia gives the jury power to fix the
of the criminal, but as no
recommendation of mercy was made,
Judge Murphy, Il few days later, SEN
enced Durrant to be hanged on Feb
'uary u, 1896 II
Then began a fight for delay, vigOr
Dusly maintained for almost twenty
months. not even ceasing with the eX- ;
.cution of the death sentence. Dur I
ant appealed from the Judgment to ;
he Supreme Court, but his appeal WAS
lot perfected for many months. y
proceeding was the settle
lent of the bill of eXceptionS-a very
angthy document. l
The defendants attorneys first pre-
AIRED their bill of exceptions; the dis
riot attorney added amendments
hereto, then followed frequent meet \
i