The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-07-24
The DEFENCE OF FOOBURGH
Conclusion of the Address in Be
half of the Accused.
Mr. Joyuer Explains Matters Intro
duced as Evidence OF Guilt by the
ProseCuffOn--yYi illnesses for the
Prisoner Give Testimony Today.

duced as Evidence OF Guilt by the
Prosacuffon--W itucsses for the
Prisoner Give Testimony Today.
PITTSFIELD Mass. July 2f-The IaTg-
est crowd since the beginning Of the tria!
of Robert. 5. FGsburgh for the alleged
murder Of his sister presented itself in
court today Judge Stevens went on the
bench at s.I5 O'Clock It was obvious that
Che Increased attendance had been
brought about by the prospect that mem
bers Of the accused-s family would take
the stand before noon.
When the defence,s map Of the Fos-
Burgh house and surrounding streets had
been tackled up over q fey Of the charts
and diagrams put in evidence by the pros
ecutfon. Herbert Joyner resumed his ad-
dress for the defence.
He said: The prosecution said III his
opening that the pistol that did the murs
derous work was admittedly that of the
defendant. l hardly think he meant that
It has not been admitted The defendant
called attention Of the police to the fact
that his revolver was missing. and that
he thought this pistol had been taken and
used by the iatruders. Il is probable that
it was his pistol, but the State does not
know and the defence does not know that
it was.
Why was this pistol in this house of
peace? The defendants firm had large
payroll and every fortnight disbursed
nearly 5000. The men who received this
sum were not usually EngIish-speaking
they were the kind that you know usually
work on such jobs as these contractors
had in hand 1t was the custom Of Mr..
Fosburgh to pay their men in money, in
bills. and the money was carried from
the bank to the Office from which the
disbursement was made The chief Of po-
lice has himself remarked that if any
body needed a pistol these Fosburghs did.
Up to a few nights before the tragedy
the defendant and his wife occupied what
has been called the spare OF kitchen bed
room In the bureau in that room, under
some clothing, the defendant kept his re-
voIver. He and his wife moved out Of the
room because the girl who was killed
careful housekeeDer that she was. thought
she detected an odor from the sink there
This defendant dealt with a class Of
men. I want you TO remember also. Of
whom he had TO exact strict discipline
They needed 10 be pushed and they had
to obey Men were sometimes dismissed
and perhaps they were net in the ut
mood when they went away"
Picking up the screen in evidence in the
case. the one that was on the balcony
window through which TWO OF the intrud-
ers were said to have fed. Mr.. Joyner
said:
"PerhaTs We viii Introduce evidence to
show that active young men, who had en-
tered the house with the double purpose
perhaps Of robbery and revenge. would
have no difficulty in going out Of the win
dow, although the screen was raised but
twelve OF fourteen inches, rs quickly as
dog and they would have broken the
lower corner Of the screen, too, proha-
bly,
As for the pillow eases DurpQrting to
have been used as masks, Mr. Joyner
said We maintain that the pillow cases
c0rrobOrate the faUiIy-s story We do
not believe that the iutruders were pro-
resSioual burglars such as would break
into a bank They entered hurriedIy and
disguised themselves after they got
there Why We have a theory about the
socks, too, that were found that bears
out this idea These socks may. perhaps.
have been used bv the intruders TO con-
ceai their hands. You VIII notice too that
FaE a ont rEs
have been drawn over shoes to rnufIIe
footsteps one Of the iutruders. it seems
too, probably drew on the pair Of the de
feudauts trousers in the case for dis
euise- Naturally When these men fed
they threw away everything that they
had taken from the house We VIII in
trodIce some evidence, too. about the
barefoot marks on Dalton Avenue and tell
something about the length Of the stride.
We Will also show you that the iutruders
were seen running down the Benedict
Road into the city and when the alarm
bell rang they probably joined the hue
and cry and 50 averted suspicion"
Broken. overturned. and displaced fur
niture in the elder FOsbUrEh-s room and
the spare bedroom was easy 10 explain
SAID Nj JOyneT- Why. there were five
men lighting there that night he deCIar-
ed. earnestly "The elder Fosbursh
fought the intruders in his room. the de
fendant fought intruderss in the spare
room"
Because the white shades were drawn
down in the room in which Miss Fos-
bu-Eh and her sister Beatrice slept il
was easy. MI J0yuer said for the defend
ant TO see the form of Il man between
him and the window
1T woAd seem" the lawyer went on,
that 1t Would have been necessary for
the Commonwealth to show that there
was discOTd and a fight between members
Of the family that night We VIII show
that this family has done all that II can
to find the men who broke into their home
and killed this young woman They have
employed skilled detectives who have
searched this country They have been
hampercd because all the evidence
against the offenders was in the hands of
the police When you free this man. as
believe you viii, you viii put in our
hands this evidence and We viii relax no
efforts to find the guilty men"
Mr. Joyner closed with a feeling cUI0-
gy Of the woman who was killed She
had no enemies. he said He quoted
bit Of sympathetic verse and, then after
a pause. asked the defence's witnesses. all
except the family, to be sworn There
we're seven OF them, including Miss Ber-
tina sheldon. OF Providence, who was in
the house at the time of the shooting
Edward + Simth, civil engineer. who
explained the big map of the Fosbu-gh
premises and surroundings prepared for
the defence, was the first witness