The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-06-05


1t is scarcely too much TO say that the
majority OF persons who are accused of
murder and against whom is nothing but
circu.nstantial evidence are convicted. Call
over the great murder cases Of the last
TIA years which have occupied the public
mind and pages Of the newspapers In the
United States for months-Carlyle Harris,
DR.. Buchanan, Theodore Durant, Mr.. May
brick, Mrs. Fleming, Mrs. Mack and Mar
tin Thorn, Lizzie Borden. Harry Hayward,
William Holmes, Lretgert-all these cases
were based on eircur.stantial evidence and
conviction ensued IN all Of them, except
two. Lizzie Borden and Mrs. Fleming, who
were acquitted
In the summer Of 1892 jury in Waldron,
Ark. found Abner Ray guilty of the muir
der Of John Potts. The convicted man rose
to his feet to protest his innocence. His
limbs trembled, his face flushed and he
fell forward dead OF heart disease. mo-
ment later John Potts entered the court
room.
In the essential details OF this case his
tory simply repeated Itself. for in 1s41, at
Gibraltar, a case strikingly similar oc-
CURED. James Baxwell, a rich merchant.
lived in a small house near the base OF
Mount ST Michel His daughter. EIezia,
was of SURPRISING beauty and had many
suitors, all OF which she treated with in
difference. But at church one day she saw
gazing at her handsome young stranger,
William Katt, an Englishman. II was love
st first sight and soon Kat found means
10 be presented 20 the beautiful girl, and
shortly asked OF her father her hand in
marriage. But he was opposed bitterly to
the match
The lovers impIored. but in vain. Then
the girl announced that she would marry
him in spite of everything. The father
was enraged and was heard TO say that he
would kill her rather than permit her TO
marry Katt. A few days later cries were
heard coming from cave back OF BaX-
wells house After a little the means
died away. Then the daughter was missed
and after few days a search was made
In the cave were found a skirt and other
articles of her clothing elotted with blood
Bits Of hair TO which blood adhered. were
Identified as from the head CT EleZia- BaX-
well was arrested; convicted Of the muT-
der OF his daughter. and sentenced 70
death As he was being led to the seahosd
he saw Katt in the crowd and stepping
ute shall be in eternity. / wish 10 die
at peace with all men. Give me your hand
/ pardon you freely for the terrible injury
your evidence has done me-"
PaxweI mounted the scaffold and the
black cap was drawn over his face. Just
as the trap was about 10 be sprung sharp
cry was heard
I am guilty. II is ! alone."
The proceedings were stopped and Kat
explained excitedly that he had carried of
EleZia with her consent 70 be his wife At
that very moment she was not far away
IN place OF concealnent- But his further
deeds had been done without her knowl-
edge. He had aiken lock Of her hair and
several articles Of her dress. and had
6aube6 them with lambs blood and put
them in the cave and had made the cries
that the neighbors had heard While Kat
was speaking BaXwell had dropped unob-
served into chair. and as soon as the Of
fcials had recovered their wits they took
of the black cap from Baxwelfs head
But Baxwell was dead Heroic, indeed.
must have been the human frame that
could have withstocd such a strain
Convicted on the charge Of numbering
his brOtheT-in-i2w, John Crow, in May,
1855. John Van Nimman served ten years
IN Jackson prison Michigan. In some cut
of-the-way place In the world where Crow
was wandering he came across a newspa-
Per dCCuuEL OF INC NIlal u MS biCtAtE-lH-
law. he came back, and, in 1885 got Van
Nimresn cut
Two brothers Travelled together to sea-
port town in England After dinner they
got into a hot argument. at the end Of
which they retired TO a double bedded
room. One Of the brothers. seized with
violent at OF nose bleeding, rose al 3
o'clock In the morning and wandered 10 a
cliff. He was seized by smuggiers. whom
he unwittingly haC detected in burying
puncheons Of spirits. They were too amia-
bic to murder him, and merely put him on
board a vessel which was bound for the
West Indies. Meanwhile his brother, who
after his port wine and alteration, had
gone calmly to sleep. awoke In the morn
ing TO find his brothers pillow covered
with blood and his brother missing. He
hastily rang the bell and summoned the
landlord But all his protestations Of in
noeenee were Ruthless and he was scon
in the hands Of the law. Stains Of blood
were traced from the bedroom to the edge
Of a cliff, where marks OF a Scufle were
found.
The brother was tried. convicted. and
hanged Left for dead on the gaIlows. his
life was saved almost mi-aeulously by
a wandering shepherd, who. attracted by
| a low moan, cut down the hanging. chok-
ing man. resuscitated him. and he;red
him to escape on board a vessel bound
for the Barbados. The first man he met
in Roebuck Street. BTidgetown. was the
brother for who's murder he had been
wholly convicted and half hanged
Early in this century Jonathan Brad
ford kept an inn on the London road TO
Oxford. One night gentleman OF fortune
named Hayes stopped here and took sup
per with two other wayfarers. Indiscreet-
ly he mentioned that he hsd-a large sum
of money. After retiring one Of the two
travellers was awakened by a groan in the
room next to him He woke his friend
| Together they made their way into the
adjoining room. where they found Hayes
weltering In his gore. Standing over the
bed with dark lantern in one hand and
a knife in the other was the owner of the
inn, Jonathan Bradford himself
II vain Bradford protested his inno-
~ n a rT a ~E a