The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-07-12
WILLIAM SCHWARz ACQUITTED
FOUND NOT GUILTY OF THE MUIR
DER OF AGNES M'KNIGHT.

That the Accused Had Been
Degenerate From Early Youth and
Had Given Many Indications of an
Unsound NIind-HOn. Pope Barrow,
Acting Solicitor. said 1t Was An
other Case of OthcIIO and Desde-
mona with the COIors Reversed.
Jury Reached Its verdict in 80
Minutes.
Wil.ie Schwarz was acquitted in the
Superior Court yesterday of numbering
Agnes Mcknight his negro mistress.
whom he shot TO death on the night Of
Dec "a, 1891
The verdict was the only one which the
jury could find under the evidence. Ac-
Cording to the great mass Of the testimony
Schwarz is and has been since childhood
q degenerate of the most pronounced type,
addicted to losthsome and vicious habits,
OF unrestrained passions and given 10 eva.
courses. The testimony Of three physi-
clans, one wing and two dead, was in
tIoduced TO prove, that as the result of
evil habits, early injuries and perhaps in
herited tendencies Schwarz had been men
taIy unsound since childhood and Is pre-
sumably SO to-day, and that he was con-
sequenty mentally irresponsible at The
time OF the killing
Dr. J. b. Read. who had attended
Sehwarz on various occasions, and who
attended him al the jail shortly after his
arrest for the killing of the Mcknight
woman, testified very positively as to his
Unsound mental condition, and stated on
the stand that he considered him insane
at the present time, and that he did not
consider him responsible for anything he
had done.
The testimony given by Drs r. C. Nor
ton and f, f. B.oodworth both since dead,
at the time of Schwarz trial on a special
plea of lunacy, was introduced by the de
Tense. Both physicians testified in the
strongest manner possible as to Schwarz's
unsound mental condition DIT. Norton's
testimony went into detail of his treat
ment Of Tie accused extending over num-
Der of years, stating that he had often
warned him of the consequences of his vi
cious habits, that he had treated him for
various diseases and that his whole eXpe-
Tience with the young man showed that
he was mentally irresponsible. Or. Nor
ton also stated in his testimony that
Schwarz, when a child, had suffered from
a fan from a window, making an indenta-
ton in his skull, which pressed upon an
important portion of the brain and inter-
1ered with its development.
The crime was very clearly proven by
the state, there being several witnesses
who saw the shooting. II was shown by
Mary Mcknight, a sister of the dead wo-
man, and by Mabel Stevens, disreputable
white woman who lived in the same house
with Agnes Mcknight, that Schwarz had
made threats against his mistress, that
he was angry because she had spoken TO
a negro man, that he threatened to kill
her. and that he had told her only a short
time before the shooting that if he had
his pistol with him he would kill her.
Mabel Stevens is the woman who left
the city and who was brought back here
from Columbus. She said she had heard
Schwarz make threats against Agnes Nc
Knight. She and the Mcknight woman
We're together only short time before the
tragedy SchwarZ came to her when he
was looking for the Mcknight woman and
demanded TO know where the woman was.
She replied that she did not know. Schwarz
cursed her and told her that he was GO
ing to kill Agnes. About that time he saw
Agnes on the street and started in her
direction. The witness ran to her house,
and a short While later heard pistol shots
When she next saw Agnes she was dead
James Robertson, coiored. testified 90
hearing Schwarz say that he was going
TO kill Agnes. little later he saw the
woman returning and Schwarz following
behind her. He saw the shots fired. The
first shot missed the woman, the second
struck another woman across the street
and the third struck the Mcknight wo-
man in the back She fell and died in
few moments Schwarz ran off
Policeman Joseph McCool, who arrested
Schwarz about half an hour after the
killing, testified that he found him in
bed asleep with the cover over his head.
Schwarz did not seem at all worried a
what he had done
Besides the testimony of the physicians
already referred to- the defense intro
nnrRA ruff nh,
the erratic character of the prisoner,
which had been brought to their atten-
zion through their dealings with him.
among the number being MIR. A X VIII
son, Mr. J. J. McGOudrick and Police
man Umbach. An affidavit was introduce
ed from Prof. r. II. Willis of Virginia,
who was at one time a Savannah teach
er, and of whom Schwarz was a pupil
testifying to the latter's weak character
and his strange and unreasonable ac-
tons. leading him 10 believe that the boy
was of unsound mind
The attorneys who spoke for the ar
cused Messrs. George w. Owens and w.
F. Morrison, dwelt upon the testimony
as to the habits and character of their
client from early youth, claiming that II
had been plainly shown that he was of
unsound mind, and was mentally irrespon-
sible.
Hon. Pope Barrow who represented the
state ridiculed the claim of insanity. and
said that IL was purely a case of Jealousy.
1t was not the first case of the kind. he
said, in which white and black had been
involved He instanced the case of Othello
and Desdemona, which he said differed
from this case only in that Otheuo was
black man and Desdemona white wo-
man. The motive for the crime was the
same. Jealousy. he contended was the
sole cause of the crime in each instance
The jury was composed of Messrs.
Charles M Gibbs, John G. Rober-
son. u. f. O'Connor. David Clarke.
Patrick Manning. Edward J. Kelly, VIII
liam n. Pratt, J. f. Nolan, Timothy Nc
Auiiffe, M. G. Register, r. S Nell J. p.
Lee
The jury was out about thirty minutes.
returning with a verdict OF not guilty.
ochwarz' VINO had taken his trial very
calmly throughout did not seem especialIv
oVerJoyed at the verdict though he left
the court room with alacrty when dis
charged. For young man who had gain