Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-06-15

Congratulations were extended to
Locke by those in the court room, and
he expressed himself as very happy
that the case was SO thoroughly inves-
tigated, and that he had felt right along
the deeper the case was probed the
more clearly his innocence would be es-
tablished.
The prosecution also expressed itself
pleased that the case had ended so hap
PLY for the accused man, as at first the
circumstantial evidence against him
looked very grave, and vas only dis
PEELED afterward by the expert testi-
mony of the physicians and the alibi
proven by several witnesses.
Judge McFie's decision upon this in
~teresting cast meets with general ap-
prevail. At first the strange death Of
Fred l.. Merrill, under circumstances
apparently Inconsistent with suicide,
aroused public excitement to a high
pitch, and suspicion instantly attached
to Locke, the only person who had ac-
cess to the place of death. Merrill was
found lying straight and rigid on his
bed Sunday evening, May 7 last.
Locke's pistol "a loosely placed in
his right hand, which lay across his
breast. The dead mans head was split
and fractured in a dozen places, and
looked as if it had been struck viciohs-
ly with a Ratchet or ak. Blood and
brains were scattered all over the left
side of the bed and the wall to the left,
even reaching up to the ceiling. Locke,
| without apparently IN opportunity of
knowing it's contents, indicated a paper
on the table, folded, and said: why
here is his statement" He further ad-
mitted that he had been in the adjoin-
ing room all evening from about 5
o'clock. Upon the hypothesis of MUIR
der, Locke was at once deeply involved.
The coroner's jury, containing some of
the best men of the city, upon viewing
the fractured condition of the head, at
once concluded hat death had been
caused by blows struck with a sharp
instrument. The signature to the fare
| we'll note was suspiciously like Locke's
| writing.
A preliminary hearing was had before
Magistrate j. M. Garcia, and the de-
| PENDANT was held without bail, charged
| with the murder of Merrill. All the
| circumstances seemed to point to his
guilt. Fortunately for him, however,
the body of Merrill was, after burial,
taken from the grave by orders of the
court, and under the supervision OF
Sheriff Kinsell, and a thorough post
| norton examination of the head was
made. Drs. Cruikshank, Sloan, Massie
| and Albright participated IN this ex-
| animation, and the skull of the unfor-
| tunate man whose death was causing
| such trouble was produced in court up
on the retrial before Judge McFie. Drs
| Cruikshank and Albright testified in
the case, giving it as their conclusion
that the fractures to the head were
caused by the hydrodynamic force OF
the gases of the pistol, discharged witt
the muzzle held tight against the head
Under the microscope traces Of powder
stain were shown in the tissue taken
from the inside of the head. 1t was
| clearly demonstrated that a pistol had
been discharged through the dead mans
head. Now, who had fired it? The dis.
trict attorney argued that Merrill could
not have held the pistol against his
head, discharged it, and then got it into
artistic pose across his breast; the re-
coil would have thrown it out of his
hand to the floor. But a rim of powder
stain was found on the dead mans left
hand, around the thumb and index fin.
ger; and that, it might be said, wen
farther to save Walter e. Locke thar
any other piece of evidence. There was
also SCOT on the back Of the left hand
The theory accepted by Judge McFie II
his decision was that Merrill had grip.
ped the pistol desperately in botf
hands, his left hand against his righf
temple, and around the muzzle of the
gun. That, on the discharge of the pis'
toll, the shock instantly caused
a CONFUSION of the muscles, and thu
two hands tightly held on the gun over
came the recoil; that then the relaxa,
ton that Immediately followed dropped
the arms as they were first discovered
the right hand being dragged dowr
closer on the breast by the weight O.
the pistol, and the left hand falling
farther down on the body.