The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-08-19
MURDER TRIAL
IN FARMVILLE.
fhe Prisoners Aged Wife Testihes
in His Behalf.
n VERY PATHETIC MEETING
Her Testimony aud that of the Accused
Make Out n Case of SclfDcfencc,
but there Was No Corroborative
Evidence-DefeDcc Rests case

FARSfvILLE. VA. August ESPECIAL
promptly al 10 O'Clock this morning the
case OF the Commonwealth vs.. Thomas
NV Price for the murder Of Hall Carter
was resumed In the County Court OF
Prince Edward The court room was
crowded 10 the point almost Of suffoca-
zion. 50 eager were the people 10 see the
ageA wife Of tho prisoner and 70 hear
her testimony In behalf Of her husband
Soon after court opened Mrs. Price was
brought into the court room IN an inva-
i,6's rolling chair. and as ~ was rolled
past the prisoner-who. In point OF years
looked more ike the wOmans son tnan
her husband--there was scene when
lasted for several minutes. during which
many persons found their faces bathec IN
tears.
The prisoner jumped from his chair
and, throwing his arms about the poor
old lady sopbed bitterly. The court did
NJ. interfere with the greeting OF the
husband and wife. who had been sepa-
rated since the arrest made on the 18th
of last July.
II was one Of the most affecting and
touching scenes ever witnessed In the
Prince Edward court.
MRS PRICE TEsTlFiES.
II was some time before Mrs IIicc
rould COMPOSE herself sufficiently 70 nave
the clerk administer the oath to her
When she had started MIS-. frlee 'olu
her story with remarkaOie caihie79,
Enough every now and then she Woulu
sob and brusb away the tears from her
cheeks. furrowed with age ana trouole,
and she would say aloud: Oh Tom,
am SO lonely without you. What shan /
dop Oh what shall / do
The evidence Mrs Price gave contra
aicted that Of the negro Spencer Hll
who testified yesterday 10 having seen
the shooting. go
Mrs Prices testimony was IN part as
follows 100
"Top. (meanlng her husband came
from Farmville the day before the Sho''-
ing so drunk that De went TO pea WA
ont removing his shoes or clothes. larry
the next morning Hall Carter called HIN
nm fron, sleep before daylight and toid
him 10 get up and get breakfast Ten
,nld him II he wanted breakfast 10 9
and cook II and then asked nm Wneie
spencer Hin Che negro was. Hail then
3erked Tom up ont Of the bed and thre"
him 20 the floor and choked HIM
Tom recovered and got up when Han
threw him down again and choked nm
the second time They called each other
THE REPORT OF A GUN.
The next heard was the report of the
run They were struggling near the
stems leading from the chamber 90 the
dining-room when the gun was dis
charged.
She was very much frightened. and
could not saw exactly where they were
when the gun went Off She said she
heard her husband can the negro, Spen-
to ha n
the boys father ana tell them he had
shot Hall.
Mrs Price said she went back 10 bed
scared nearly TO death. Her husband. on
finding the boy dead was very much
alarmed. and did not leave the house
until Mr. Theo. Carter had arrived She
said she knew nothing of what passed
between the father Of the dead boy and
her husband. She denied positively that
Spencer Hin was present when the shoot
Ting was done. She also contradicted the
,negros statement. that Carter was shot
while at the breakfast table
CLEAR STATEMENT.
Mrs. Price gave clear statement, and
much better for the defence than the
general public thought she could make.
Witnesses had testified 10 various state
ments made by Mrs. Price, regarding
the shooting. al OF which she emphati-
Caly denied. The prosecutions cross-ex-
animation Of Mrs. Price was quite
severe yet the old lady was not shaken.
but stuck to every word of the direct
testimony.
The prisoner was put on the stand.
His testimony amounted TO about the
same as his wifes lie spoke of the MUIR
dered boy as the best young man he ever
knew. and several times the witness
broke down and wept He said that the
sun went of while IN a scufie that he
was very drunk ana does not remember
pulling back the hammer to the gun.
THE PRISONER SOBS.
When Hall had fallen TO the dining
room floor he went 10 the body and lift
cd It and found him dead. OHere the
prisoner sobbed aloud Garter had
choked him twice and had taken hold
Of his long beard and beat his head
against the floor II was noticeable that
the prisoner as d witness had re-
markable memory Of everything happen
ms on the morning Of the shooting ex-
cept those things which were against
him.
He could recollect nothing the prosecu-
ton asked him about lie and his wife
both made ont a csse OF pure self-deience
but unfortunately no other witness
bears their statements out
The defence called a number Of wit
LtSSrS VINO itriNt lNdt WHtN tlict was
drunk he WAS thoroughly dcransed
man.
The defence rested their case about half
past o'clock this afternoon and the
prosecution bcsSl their rebuttal.
THE FIRST EXCEPTION.
The first exception was noted this af-
tcrnoon by the defence at the court
rnlinr that the prosecution might re-
call Mrs Price witness for tho prisoner.
Mrs. Prico was accordingly brought
back into court Gnd was questioned by
the prosecution rs TO statements she
IS alleged 10 have made
One OF them was that she told Walter
Watson that her husband had killed
Carter for nothing. Al OF these state
ments she denied.
There was another scene In the court
room between the prisoner and his wife.
The prosecution win continue rehuttal
testimony tomorrow and argument will
begin probably Saturday morning.
The trial still attracts great crowds 20
town.