Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-05-27
". E. LOCKE'S CASE
The Defense Has a Swarm of Wit
nesses in Favor Of the
Accused.
EXPERIMENT ON A PAUPER
An Abb and a Claim That a Pistol Shot
Was Heard Are Relied Upon by
Locke's Attorneys,

In the examination at the court louse
his forenoon, in the Locke habeas cor
pus proceedings, the defense undeftocN
to establish an alibi, and expert testi-
mony will be heard this afternoon t"
show that Merrill met death from Il re-
wound.
The first witness, N. O. Gold, saw
Locke working at the Arcade, and left
him there at 7:30 o'clock. He knew it
was 7:30, having consulted his watch
preparatory to going home.
Everisto Lucero testified that Locke
relieved him at the roulette table wheel
at 6 o'clock, and remained until .
o'clock, to the best of his judgment.
Ernest A. Johnston testified that he
heard a pistol shot between 1880 and 8
o'clock. He would say about 7.45. The
sound came from a s%outherly direction,
and from the neighborhood of Merrilrs
room.
Henry Potter testified that Locke re-
NAMED on duty at the wheel after Ned
Gold went home.
Ireneo l.. Chaves said that he met
Locke at the post office about s O'Clock;
that Locke remained there after witness
left, and was cool in his behavior and
not excited.
r. l.. Baca testified to the same fact
and hat Locke showed him a letter he
1.l .,.1 1aan;,-oI 7 Nn1ya 1,nrro q who'd in
Spanish that the handwriting on the
envelope looked like that of a man, bu
was the writing of his niece. Mr.. Bacf
was in the post office until $3.50, an(
Locke was still there when he left.
Charles E. Beinert, of the Santa b
railroad, testified that the train on Sun
day evening, May Z, was late, arriving
about 1880 o'clock. :
Postmaster Simon Nusbaum testified
that it takes from seven to eight min
utes for the mail to come from the depo
to the post office, and forty-five minutes
to distribute it.
John L. Zimmerman identified tn
statement alleged to have been left b.
Merrill as being in Merrill's handwrit
ing.
William B. Dawson identified certail
letters as being in the handwriting o
w. f. Locke, and others as being il
Merrill's handwriting.
Harry c. Clancy testified as an ex
pert in handwriting, and that the al
legged statement by Merrill was in Mer
rill's handwriting, and that no par
| could have been written by Locke, blu
that it did not take an expert to deter
mine hat Merrill had written 1T r
a comparison with other handwriting
admitted to be that of Merrill.
This afternoon a number Of physl
| clans and Undertaken S. B. Warner Wi
be put upon the stand. 1t is expected
that the hearing will be completed thi
evening, and that Judge McFie will Civ
his decision then.
Yesterday afternoon several physl
cans and a local undertaken went t
Cedar Hill cemetery and experiments
upon the head of a pauper buried there
TO demonstrate the effects of a gunsho
wound fired close to a mans head. IN
same pistol which was found in Mer
rill's hand was placed against the hea
! and pointed in the direction that it !
alleged the bullet went through Mef
rill's head. The skull 1t is said, wa
| cracked to splinters, and torn apart
| much the same manner that Merrill
| head was torn, only that the wound
| were even more CHASTITY than those g
Merrill.
The wounds were, however, a physi
cian says, of a different character, an
| no clean cuts appeared. The face wa
| powder burned Immediately around tn
| bullet wound, and the pieces of skul
/ on the left side were sticking outward
| and one piece was blown 80 feet agains
the wind. The recoil of the revolver,
| is asserted, was such that had it bee
| in the mans hand committing suicld
| If would have been thrown IS feet, Q
| clutched so tightly that two men tc
! gether could not have gotten it out
! the dead mans hand, and it would haV
| utterly impossible for him to throw nj
| arm picturesquely across the breast an
| hold the revolver loosely.