Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1899-07-12
BARNES MURDER TRIAL.
The JUrY Finds Defendant Guilty and Fixes Penalty at Life im-
 prisonment.

The trial of Ezra Barnes for the murder of his former partner, W. Fl. HsDna, terminated last evening by the jury bringing in a ver1ict of guilty of murder in the first degree, with the penalty of life inpnson- ment attached.
 The murder was a most diabOlicsl one. Barnes and Hanna were part ners in the wood business, having come to Prescott together from Ne vada Hanna had some money wbile Barnes had none and had hIs team mortgaged to Hanna. About December lS97, Hanna disappeared and Barnes told various stories about his going away. In April, 1898, Barnes left also, going to | Flagstaff. where he sold the team, and went thence 10 the state Of Washington. In the fall of 1898 the skeiotOn of Hanna was found be meath pile of brush, about a mile and a half north of Prescott, the skull showing that be had been shot in the head from behind.
 Suspicion at once fell on Barnes and he was traced to the northern part of Oregon where be was arrest ed. Hanna's watch, pistol and var 1 ious other articles of aR iBcnminal- ing nature, were found on him and as perfect a chain of citcumstantial evidence as was ever woven around any criminal, was produced against him.
 The grand jury returned an in- dictment in which 1t was charged that Hanna came to his death from a pistol shot wound inflicted by Barnes.
 As the murderer had retained m his possession much of the evidence of his own gailt, his attorneys were put to sore straits to find some tech nical point in his behalf. First the question was raised that tGe murder had been comnitteed on the mil.- tary reservation, hence the territorial court had no jurisdiction. This be- ing successfully combatted number of physicians were called to the wit ness stand to give expert testimony in regard to the wound which caused the mans death. Two of them testified positively that 1t was not produced by bullet. but by some blunt instrument. Tue third ex- pressed the opinion that the wound was made by a bullet but would not swear positively it had not been. This furnished the only grain oI comfort found in the trial by the de- fense and this testimony was elabo- rated at great length by defendants attorneys. The strong point was raised that there was no hole where the bullet had come out of it, and fl be had been shot the bullet must still be ID the skull.
 In his closing address District At torney Ling caused consternstion to the defense and dismsy to the expert medical opinion by demonstrating that the bullet entered the back of the head at the left hand side and came out through the right eye, not only showing where the bones had been shattered slightly in its exit, but by disclosing a piece of the leadened messenger of death imbed- ded in the skull bones surrounding the eye. The discovery was made by him by accident. While attorney for the defense had been handling | the skull he held it in such a posi- 1 tion that a gleam of light shone through it from the wound in the 1 back of the head, and on mak- . ing a closer examination be dis 1 covered the shattered bones and the . piece of lead.
 Despite the cold blooded nature of the crime the jury returned the verdict as above, which according to | the history of such sentences in this territory means from four to five years n the penitentiary. Sentence Of Barnes was set for July 10.