Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-03-29
BEST GUILTY.
Continued from page ~

ior ten days following the discovery Of
the pody, about Bailey'S disappear-
ahce ana MS answers had been nearly
the same in every instance. Mrs. Rowe
was the only witness who said Best
had made THE statement that he had
heafC BAILEY after he came back from
dehNerlng the milk. All the other wit
nesses, said the lawyer, had testified
mat BeSt said the last time he saw
f1allcy was when the latter drove OF
with the milk.
counsel said he meant no insinua
uonS against Winfield Rowe and John
Mltchel, but it was Il fact that they
We're as familiar with the premises MS
was Best, ana could have brought the
team back and put it up as well as
could Bailey. He said this to show
that HcSt was no more familiar with
the place than some Others. "Wherever
the government has been short Of any
thing said MIR. .;isk, "Winnie Rowe
has been called in to fill the gap"
Great stress has been laid on the
evidence of Mr.. Thompson. who said
that he saw something IN Il stan which
looked like piece Of horse blanket
1t was absurd. said the counsel, that a
man tpllO ltll from Il piece TWO lHGncg
wide what material it was
1T is a fact from the evidence"
said Mr.. Sisk, that Bailey was a bad
man. He alluded to Baiiey8 marry
iHg woman and having six children
by her; then when she was broken
down ~ her hard life. to desert her
ana ms children, for young woman
OF twenty. He endorsed Rest's char
2ctcrization of Bailey that he was i
damned bad man." and called atten-
ton to the testimony of Susie Young
to show that friendly relations existed
between Best and Bailey He referred
70 Bests testimony that the cattle fled
from Bailey as from the devil"
Counsel had no doubt Best would
have told officer Neal about the watch
and money when questioned, but for
the advice Of his counsel to say moth
ing about the case. Best's testimony
was spoken of and counsel said the de-
PENDANT had faced the jury and audi
ence like 4 man.
Lawyer Sisk. continuing. referred to
Stiles. saying: IF q lawyer was ever
betrayed by a client, it was |. That
scoundrelly man was my client until
he took the stand as a witness. He be-
traYcd me and | believe he BETRAYED
his brother-in-law. He did not have
the courage to face the jury or tell
the truth. If a bolt had come out of n
clear sky ana struck me | could not
have been more surprised. l believe it
was Il creeping out of the Old hatred
of Stiles for Best
Mr.. SiSk called the attention OF the
jury TO the responsibility of Bast's
testimony about the watch and money
but said it was too bad that he had
not had the good sense TO confer with
his counsel instead of Stiles. or even
to tell Of the fact to Officer Neal. He
closed by declaring that the govern
ment had not shown when or where
| Bailey had been killed.
Mr.. Sisll'S argument was concluded
| n lo.}:,. and a recess was declared I'M
til 1885. when Attorney General Kn"tvl-
ton began his argument for the prose
cution.
Mr. Knowlton began by character
iZinS the murder of Bailey as cunning
and 1iaboIiCal and called attention to
the fact that the murderer had used
every effort to conceal his crime. think
/ ing that neither he nor the fact of the
crime would ever he known. Put, he
said il was ordained of God that
murder will out. He declared that both
Winnie Rowe ana John Mitchell had
! hcan thoroughly investigated as to
their veracity. Mr. Knowlton dealt at
length on the value of circumstantial
, evidence. citing the Stain and CTom-
well case in Maine. lie said tina. all
the work Of life is done on circum-
stantial evidence. He said il had been
shown that Bailey had been shot
through the body. cut up ana put in
the pond. This evidence was not cir
cumstantiaI. But all the Circumstan-
tial evidence makes an unbrokcn chain
Of evidence which points to the Suilt
of the defendant.
1t was George +. Bailey who went
home that night. said he. Some man
met him ana fired into his breast ana
then he was cut up and carried to the
pond. Because there We're some people
who had not heard these shots. il did
not prove that the persons who came
upon the stand to testify that they
heard them We're not telling the truth.
Mr.. KnoWlt0n declared that Floating
Bridge pond was the only pond in the
vicinity where a body could tie dropped
from sight. Most murderers commit
crime and run away. but this man
knew that it would not do for him to
do So He said Bailey did not have on
his coat when he was shot. He did
not leave the wagon alive. He called
attention to the apparent veracity Of
Susie Young. Whatever Bailey might
have been to his wife. he was always
good to the young woman.
At 1915 court adjourned for the neon
recess
Mr.. Knowlton did not finnish u2til
after 3 O'Clock.
Judge Fox delivered the charge to
the Jury. After outlining the conStitu-
tional rights of the prisoner and their
own responsibilities as jurymen, the
judge said:
! NO proof founded on human te3ti-
nony can reach the certainty of
mathematical demonstration. There
must always be Il possibility of error;
but a mere possibility OF error does
not raise a responsible doubt. There
must not only be q doubt but "ea-
sonable doubt. q doubt that would af-
feet your action as citizens and not
merely as jurors. You are not at liber-
tv to doubt as jurors when you would
not doubt rs men.