Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-18
William NJ. Alexander Placed on Trial
in Criminal Court.
9
ACCUSED OF MlnG MATTHEW SNOW
Governments Witnesses Placed on
the Stand Today.
DEPUTY CORONER TESTIFIEs

alley the 10th Of last August. Attorney
John E. Laskey Of counsel for the defense
declared that Snow came to his death from
injuries resulting from a fall. and that
the fall was caused by push given by
another man. not Alexander. 1t was fur
Their announced that Alexander had moth
ing to do with ending the life of the de-
ceased.
The explanation was made that Alexander
and Snow had slight difficulty, and that
the third party mentioned went between,
ostensibly to separate them. He showed
the men apart according to the contention
of the defense. Alexander was pushed
around a corner and Snow fell. His head
struck against a rock on which he had been
sitting. and according to the defense, in
juries We're sustained that resulted in death
several hours later.
The first work of the day was the COM
pletion of the jury, begun yesterday. Ihis
resulted In the selection Of the following:
Messrs. Albert Wood Charles F. Mills, Will
liam Y. Gibson. w. J. L. Dyer, John
Herath, George w. Wells, James E. Cham
berlain. Philip M. Riley, L. M. Cornwall.
Emile Brown, Clinton D. s. Walcot, II. 3.
Thrift
Defendants Relatives in Court.
The defendant is young white man.
we'll dressed and Of respectable appearance.
Beside him throughout the day sat his
young wife and little child, and his aged
father. blind man, sat Immediately be-
hind him. Other :. relatives including his
mother, were in attendance. Considerable
interest is manifested in the trial. the spec
tators taking complete possession Of the
seating capacity Of the court room.
Assistant United States Attorney Taylor,
in an opening address to the jury, stated
briefly what the government expected to
prove. This in substance, was that Alex
ander met Snow In Marble Hall alley and as
saulted him by striking him a number Of
blows on the head, probably using metal
knuckles. Snow was removed to the Elmer
gency Hospital, where he died within few
hours. After the affair, 1t was stated, AL
exander gave number of excuses for his
action, saying Snow had robbed his grand
father. that he had insulted some ladies,
and the like s,s,in
The jury was informed In behalf Of the
defense that the evening of the unfortunate
occurrence SnewrfwaB seated on rock at
the base Of al lamppbst in Marble Hall al
ley. where theyrnenI had stables. AS Alex
ander passed by Snow grabbed him around
the legs and tflre W,his head forward and
against the lamppost Snow bit Alexander
on the left legs Alexander struck Snow
several blows m the head in order to make
him release his hold. The hold was loos-
ened and thee Two men arose. Just then,
the attorney said, George W. Tillman.
stalWart colored .nnn. came between the
two men. He showed them apart. Alexan-
der was forced around the corner Of the al
ley, and Snow, fell from the force of the
shove. In falling his head struck on the
rock. and the force was sufficient to crush
in his nose.
Alexander used no. brass knuckles, nor
any form Of weapon, the jury was informed,
and the injuries sustained by Snow were
not caused by: Alexander in any way. When
he arose Snowu was bleeding profasely. The
rock was covered With blood. but no blood
was found ON Alexdnder's hands or clothing.
Snow walked off. , Later Alexander was ar
rested = -.4"' - 81
The First witness.
The government called as a witness Geo.
H Robinson, colored man sixty-four years
of age He witnessed the occurrence in
Marble Hall alley. 80 he testified. Snow
was sitting at the base of the lamppost. ac-
cording to the witness. when Alexander
brushed against Snow. Snow said several
times:
moment later Snow caught hold of AL
exander and began striking him on the head.
Somebody said:
Are you going to let him kill that
MANI"
Tillnan thereupon, the witness said. took
hold OF Alexander and pulled him off Of
Snow. Alexander remarked;
IN kill the --; he robbed my grand
father" - - So
Robinson further said he saw something
dark on Alexander's right hand. Somebody
said the object was brass knuckles.' but
Robinson said he could not swear that such
was a fact. At. the time Alexander APP
preached. so the witness testified he was
near Snow, conversing with the latter.
TilIman's Testimony.
The next witness was George w. Till
man. colored Among other things. he
stated that he did not remember seeing
Robinson near Snow when Alexander ap-
proached the latter 1t was not until after
the coroner's inquest that the witness heard
for the first time that Robinson claimed to
have witnessed the alleged assault.
Tillman went on to say that Alexander
accosted Snow and the latter remarked:
..Go away, Buck; I'm feeling SICK
Alexander began striking Snow, so Till
man declared, and the witness took hold Of
Alexander's collar and pulled him off, AL
exander said to the witness:
..TlI kill the -; he robbed my
grandfather" r.
Later the defendant said to the witness:
II cut him with a mug have in my hand
can strike stronger than any man of my
size" There was a dark mark across the
fingers of Aiexanders right hand.
The witness did not see any brass knuck-
les.
Deputy Coroner's Statement.
DR.. Glazebrook. deputy coroner of the
District Of Columbia, appeared as witness
for the government. He explained that he
performed an autopsy on the body Of Mat
thew Snow There were no bruises below
the head, except one on one arm. The
face was in a bad condition. The lips were
swollen and one OF them cut. Both eyes
were bruised. The. pose was greatly dis
torted owing Is the fact that the bridge
was broken apd pushed in. surgeons
wound above the right ear was noted The
area beneath this wsHnd, on the right side
between the skull and the scalp, was con-
fused. No fracture was found.
The witness removed the skull cap and
found that a considerable hemorrhage ex-
listed on the left side,af the brain. In the
opinion of DR.. Glazebreok, death was due to
conclusion Of the BRAIN
John Rose, also called as a witness, gave
a recital Of thee occurrence In Marble Hall
alley that agreed In 5all important details
with the testimony OF Tfllman.
Thomas Carter colored. the next witness.
made a statement toI the effect that after
the ARRAY between Alexander and Snow
the witness saw Alexander coming along
the alley. He was In company with Ttli-
man and Rose! 1.-The witness declared that
he saw steel siknucxles on Alexander's
hand. The latter exclaimed:
IT hit him with these"
He then slipped the knuckles off his
hand and put them in his pocket Both