The daily morning journal and courier., 1899-04-12
NANCY c UIHF0RD PLEADS GUILTY.
Sudden End of the TrinI-Sentcnced to
 Ten Yenrs Imprisonmemt.


 Ten Years Imprisonment.
 Bridgeport, April 11.--Dr Nancy A. Guilford, who for the past three weeks has been on trial in the superior court on a charge of alleging murder in the second degree in the killing of Miss Emma Gill of Southington by criminal practice, and whose trial was abandon ed temporarily this morning on account of the illness of Juror Gregory, this ar ternoon pleaded guilty to manslaugh- ter.
 The sentence of the court was an- nounced at 2:40, and by it pr. Nancy A. Gulford was fined $1 and sentenced to ten years in prison
 Upon the opening of the afternoon session of the court, presumably for the announcement of the decision of the judge as to the proper mode of proced- ure, State Attorney Samuel FesSenden caused sensation by announcing that he had consented to accept from the prisoner a plea of guilty to manslaugh- ter, provided the approval of Judge Wheeler was secured.
 Judge Wheeler said: T heartily ap- prove of the judgment of the state at torney and will accept such plea. In many states the crime charged against this prisoner is denoted by the term 'manslaughter.' and is punished as such To proceed with the trial of this case on the original charge-second de- gree murder--would disarrange the business of the state"
 Mrs. Guilford was then put to plea, and to the question of the court clerk she firmly said: Guilty of manslaugh- ter"
 Judge Wheeler announced that before imposing sentence he wished to confer with counsel for the accused and re- cess was declared.
 The recess was brief one, and when court reconvened Judge Wheeler sen fenced Mrs. Guilford to pay nominal fine of $1 and to serve ten years in the state prison. Before sentence was imposed counsel for the defense asked that cemency be shown to his client. State Attorney Fessenden stated that he had no recommendation for clemen- cy to make
 Judge Wheeler than said that he had looked over the evidence in the case and found that every claim of the state had been substantiated by the evidence from the start and that he thought that clemency enough was shown in accept ing the plea of manslaughter He then imposed sentence. During the ordeal Mrs. Guilford stood up, and when the judge concluded she sank into her chair without any evidence of emotion except a slight blinking of the eyes. She was immediately taken to the county jail, and this evening she will probably be taken to the state prison at Wethers- field.
 It was stated about the court at the close of the proceedings that the decis- ion to offer plea of manslaughter was opposed by Mrs. Guilford very strongly and it was with reluctance that she finally consented. It came about after a series of conferences between State Attorney Fessenden and Mrs Guilford, who was in the sheriff's office, through her attorneys, and the latter were kept busy acting as intermediates for up- wards of two hours. Were it not for the fact that Juror George Gregory, who was taken i'll last Wednesday, would not be able to again appear in court until some time in May, which would mean that the jury would have to be excused for at least four weeks, it is doubtful if the plea of mansaugh- ter would have been entertained by the state It is understood that the de- fendant was willing to plead to that charge last week, but in view of the later developments and the possibility of not having her re-trial until after considerable delay she was 10th to con. cede to the suggestion. pb ct victim were discovered in the Yellow Mill pond on the evening of September 12 last and the morning following. Mrs Guilford left Bridgeport September IS and was afterwards traced to Montreal, where she succeeded in eluding the officers, i then to Liverpool and to London. She I was extradited on the charge of murder in the second degree and her trial was to have taken place at the January | term of the superior court, but it was | postponed, and when the case came up | at the next term Mrs. Guilford's illness necessitated still further postpone ment The state had about completed it's case, when one of the jurors was taken ill, which indicated the necessity of a re-trial and additional expense to what has already proven a very costly trial, as we'll as seriously inconvenience ing the other business of the state, so that this afternoons denouement was quite gratifying to the prosecution.
 Harry Oxley, Eudora Guilford, Harry Guilford and Rose Drayton, who are charged with manslaughter as accesso- res after the fact, will not be given a trial until the May term of the superior court.
 
 "IDLE HOUR" DESTROYED"