New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-02-10

Gnras OF the knckerbocker AthIetlc Ciub urging
NotIilshs immediate dismissal. can conceive of
ne stronger motive against man than that which
possible, Of his livelihood What is the next
p peSious thing to mans ifeY Is It not MS bust
MSS and reputation? OF course; and that Is what
f Molineux endeavored for two years to take away
You must not regard the death of Barnet as a
CRIME You must look upon II merely as a transac-
dice your minds against this defendant But the
ma who was responsible for Barnets death sent
ticaIy agreed upon in the beginning by Mr.; Weeks
married on November eds 81 SsS that Barnet died
on November 10 of the same year. and that he
GhesebroGsh since the first of the previous January
endant e h 9e the a a
woman TIL Barnet's body cold in the grave. and
he had been trying to marry this woman. But
another man intervenel. | say that this woman
killing Barnet. If the facts not as I stated
h 1@ ing wGId prevent this Woman from the tax
70 the District Attorney If / have lied. God knows
this bs P say that tn M WEEKS hoHd
heartily ashamed of himself for allowing the woman
TO come to listen to what | am here compelled to
say
FINDS A SINISTER MEANING.
Mr.. Osborne devoted considerable time to
comments on the letter which MolineuX sent to
Mrs. Sadie Scheff1er, wherein he informed her
that he would be unable to take the usual Sun
day tea with her because he was to be married.
In that letter the defendant made of the
expression, in referring to his forthcoming mar
rfage 1T is all so sudden" On the word "alI"
Mr.. Osborne played for fully half an hour. Be
hind that word he maintained there was some
sinister meaning although he did not attempt
to explain just what the meaning He said
to the jury that the only person able to
pound the mystery behind the words "all SO
sudden" the defendant himself. Mr.. Os-
borne went on TO urge that the letter demon
strated that there had been no proper engage
ment between the defendant and his wife, that
the marriage, in fact, had been sudden trans
action following the death of Barnet MolineuX,
the Assistant District Attorney pointed out
testified before the Coroner's jury that he had
given his hancee an engagement ring but Mr.
Osborne asked why the jeweer from whom the
ring was purchased had not been called as a
witness. Mr.. OsbOrne'S remarks in this Connec-
ton were extremely disjOinted, and it not
for some time that one could grasp the point
he was bent on making. What he intent
upon conveying to the jury that there had
been no thought of marriage between MolineuX
and Miss Chesebrough until after the death of
Barnet, and that then the arrangement to wed
had been made so suddenly as to preclude any
Idea OF an engagement.
REASON FOR ENMITY TOWARD BARNET
Then Mr.. Osborne passed on to the question
OF motive as 1t applied to the Barnet case. He
asserted that relations which existed between
the defendant and Miss Chesebrough before
marriage severed and that the woman,
moving to another house received the visits of
Barnet. This supplanting in the affections of
MISS CheSebrOugh, the prosecuting officer
tended supplied adequate motive for wish on
the part of MolIneuX to take Barnets life And,
he added, If he could supply the motive in the
case Of Barnet il would apply with equal force
in the case of Cornish although he did not ex-
plain why the two motives should be naturally
concident- Mr.. Osborne did however. point to
the fact that MOlineuX had been instrumental
in removing Cornish from the superintendency
of the Knickerbocker Athletic Club and rele-
eating him to the minor place of director of
the athletic department Molineux. in fact, the
Assistant District Attorney urged, had taken
the bread and butter from Cornishs mouth, |
AMI had in many ways demonstrated that he
held the bitterest inimical feelings toward Cor |
nish
Then Mr.. Osborne found his way to the blue |
letter paper, and pointed |
to the circumstance that while of the dis |
puted letters had been written this'kind of |
had at least on one occasion used this sort of |
paper to write to remedy company. In this |
admitted letter, Mr.. Osborne commended. there |
was proof that the defendant was an abnormal |
man. individual wanting in virility and |
strength. physical shortcomings that were not |
suffered by Barnet and Cornish.
DEFENDANTS PHYSICAL CONDITION.
In the effort to show that Molineux's physical |
condition such that he required certain |
Mr.. Osborne referred to the defend |
ants private life and described his apartments |
in the Newark factory as den of iniquity. The |
revels that were carried on in those rooms. Mr. |
Osborne commended, were explanation Of why |
Zeller had not been permitted to take the stand |
or to come within the Jurisdiction of the court.
Mr. Osborne cited the evidence of Mary Me- |
lando as proof of possession by the defendant Of
the trl,crescent crested paper Miss Melando, |
he said, had deposed that she found six sheets
OF this paper In MolineuXs rooms. which she |
was employed to clean Three Of these sheets |
she took for her own and left three sheets
in the bureau where she found it. Why, asked |
Mr.. Osborne were not these three sheets pro-
duced by the defence, and then he answered his
own question by charging that the defence
could not produce them because Molineux
had them IN rift foT
that they were the identical three cres-
cent crested sheets which in the pos
session of the prosecution. In vehement
tones Mr.. Osborne maintained that although
the signatures on these letters different,
the same hand wrote them all, and that the man
VINO wrote them had also penned the address On
the poison package. That man, Mr.. Osborne as
serted was the defendant.
Anxious to neutralize the attack which Mr..
Weeks made upon the integrity of Hickman the
letter box man, Mr.. Osborne contended with the
greatest vigor that Hickman had not been mis-
taken In his identification of Molineux as the
man who had hired a letter box from him in
the name Of II. c. Barnet. Heckmans identff-
despite the fact that when Hickman was sent
10 the Sinclair House to recognize the defendant
the latter had removed his mustache The man
who hired the box from Hickman Mr.. Osborne
insisted, was the man who used the three cres-
cent crested letter paper, the man who hated
Cornish. That man, Mr. Osborne said was the
defendant the man whose physical makeup
fitted In every way the description in the an
swers given upon the diagnosis blank
THE CRESCENT CRESTED PAPER.
I'VE know that the pOisoner hated Barnet :"
Mr. Osborne added, "and Molineux had good
reason to hate Barnet. We know that the pois-
oner had three sheets of three crescent crested
blue colored paper, and we have here these
three pieces Of paper. We know that the
poisoner hired a box at No. 1920 Broadway, and
we know that Molineux inquired at that address
about hiring box We know that the poisoner
hired a letter box Of Hickman and Heckman
has identified Molineux as the man who did rent