The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1899-09-13
ACQUITTAL
Mccormick is Released by the
Jury this Morning.

Verdict Rendered Promptly when ceaTt
Convened at sine O'cIeck-Great sur
prise on the Part OF the Public-He
Is NOW Free Sensational close
Of the Sensational Case.
UNIosrowS, Sept. 9, ? Pm.
The jury in the Mccormick muir
der case brought in verdict when
court opened at nine this morning OF
acqnittaI. They had been given the
case last night and had been out all
night
Two ballots were taken. The first
was standoff and the second made
the blind councilman a free man.
He was at once discharged and is
now out of custody.
The verdict was received with
great delight by his friends who
have stood by him in the fight and
by great surprise on che part of the
general public.
UNIoNTowN, Pa, Sept. s.-After
four days OF combat between the
prosecution and defense in the trial
Of William c. Mccormick for the
murder of Mrs. Minerva Monaghan,
the case went to the jury at 10 o'clock
this evening. The forenoon session
was taken up to-day with testimony
by the prosecution in rebuttal and
counter contradictory evidence against
the last witnesses of the prosecution.
This afternoon Attorney William G..
Mexican made the argument for the
defense. He attacked Mrs. McGogan
fiercely, alleging that she admitted on
the witness stand that she had de-
ceived and lied to Mccormick, and
that her story OF the incidents attend
ing the murder was Inconsistent and
wholly unreliable. He also scored
Diffenderffer for endeavoring to clear
his own skirts by duplicating McCor-
mick as deeply as possible. District
Attorney w. e. Crow, for the prose.
cution, pointed out that Mrs. McGog-
an was corroborated in every point in
which it was possible. The only
point in which there was no corrobor-
alton was the fact of the killing, and
there could be none, for of the per.
sons present at that awful moment
one was dead and the other. McCor.
mick, is blind. District Attorney
Grow riddled the theory Of the defense
that other men we're in the house and
and were seen leaving immediatel,
after the tragedy. Judge E. II. Rep
pert's charge to the jury was cleal
and fair presentation of the law ant
evidence of the case.
The concluding bits of testimony
were contradictory enough to keep III
the interest at the morning session
The prosecution attacked the Theory
Of the defense that other men were II
the house at the time Mrs. Monaghan
was stabbed to death and that mar
was seen escaping from the rear win
! dow and down over the porch. Ii
| turn the defense endeavored to dis
credit the testimony of Richard Diff.
enderffer.
The defense had proved by William
Cornish that he had seen man climl
out the window, slide down the roo
of the porch and run down a bacl
alley In the direction OF Main street
Other witnesses testified TO the pres
ence of muddy shoe prints on the win
dow sill and on the porch roof. /
was also shown that Frank Monaghan
had painted the roof of the porcl
since the tragedy, for the purpose th'
defense alleged, of covering up tn
tracks and thus destroying VALUABLE
evidence. The commonwealth to-da,
produced the man who climbed init
the window the night of the murder
This man is Harry Bogus who testi
fed that at Mrs. McGugan's reques
he climbed up over the porch to tn
window in the rear. The screen wa
still in the window, which the prose
cution pointed out, contradicted tn
story of the defense that man es
capped out the window immediatel,
after the fatal scrimmage. Boggu
entered through the window, wen
through Pickard's room and saw thu
old man and Gert's child lying on th
bed. They appeared to be asleep
He also strayed into the bath room
County Detective Alexander McBetl
was put on the stand to controyer
the testimony of the defendant, Viii
liam G. Mccormick. The latter, OF
cross denied that he SO
licited the county detective to raft
the Monaghan house and send Mrs
Monaghan to the work house. II
also denied that he furnished the de
tective with list of persons, some 0
them prominent men, who would b
in the house, and that he (McCormick
would give the signal for the officer
to make the raid, and that Mccormick
and Mrs. McGogan were to be permit
ed to escape. McBeth testified tina
Mccormick had approached him las
winter and asked him to ''pull'' tn
house, and furnished list of name
of men who would be found in tn
building, together with list Of wit
nesses to prosecute the case. Tn
prosecution offered this as showing
the bad feeling existing between Nc
Cormick and the murdered woman
and which was the probable motiv
for the murder.
On the part of the defense, Charlie
J. Wares, a colored man, and Consta
BILE Msrphy denied that, at Lynch
stable, the morning following th
murder, Mccormick had called Diffen
derffer aside, or had said to him to fl
up the story of the murder to the ef
feet that they had general row il
which Mrs. Monaghan was accident
ally killed.