The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1902-11-13
FORCETS He
SHOT her
William D. Grady on Trial
for the Attempt to Mur-
der his Wife,
INSANITY THE DEFENCE
Prisoner Sobs on the Witness
Stand and His Brother
Swears He Was Crazy.

Il did not intend to shoot my wife.
don't know that I did shoot her. I
saw her leave one car and run for an
other. I ran after her. 1 wanted to
speak to her and make one final attempt
towards reconciliation. l remember
nothing that occurred after that until
| heard a pistol shot,
This was in substance William D.
Grady's story, told on, the witness stand
Of the Court of General Sessions yester-
day afternoon of the occurrences at
Congress street and Summit avenue,
Jersey City Heights, on the afternoon of
September II, last, when the young wife
fell to the street, victim of q bullet
fired by her husband.
Between loud sobs and with fearful
eyes the prisoner told story of his al
legged love for his wife,. How she had
left him and instituted divorce proceed
ings, accusing him of shocking practices;
how child had been born after their
separation, and how he had become al
most crazed over the matter. He said
he did not know where he had obtained
possession of the revolver with which he
had fired the almost fatal shot; that he
had left his home on the afternoon be-
fore the shooting and wandered aimlessly
all that day and night through the streets
OF New York. He could not recollect
having eaten anything and did not re-
member that he had drank any liquor.
BROTHERS. STORY.
A brother of the prisoner named John
Grady testified that ever since his wife
had left William the actions of the lat
ter had been strange. On one occasion
when the. witness returned home he
found William reading "Dr. Jekyll and
Mr.. Hyde" William said to him that
he thought every man possessed the dual
nature Of the remarkable character in
Stevenson's book.
Il asked him if he was going crazy"
said the witness, ''and he then told me
of things he had done himself at Flat
wandering about aimlessly to forget his
troubles
The witness was not permitted to tell
what these things were, but told of one
occasion when the prisoner had attacked
him without cause at their home, called
him vile names, struck him with his fist
and a stove litter, and afterwards ex-
pressed surprise when he learned what
he had done and said he thought he had
been fighting with Bob Mccormick" !"
presumably a brotherin-law.
THE WIFES VERSION.
Mrs. Grady, slight and girlish, with a
scar on her right cheek showing where
the bullet from her husbands revolver
the story of her unhappy married life
which terminated in her instituting di-
vorce proceedings. She afterwards OBJ
tanned a position as a school teacher, and,
about $3.50 o'clock on the afternoon Of
September IT, she had left Rutherford
car and was transferring to Summit
avenue car, on thesway to her home when
her husband came behind her, and as she
turned on feeling the touch of his hand
on her shoulder he fired a shot from the
ASNOANCA He lSiu lutO Hci lace. After
that she remembered nothing.
Other witnesses, trolley linemen and
others who were in the vicinity at the
time Of the shooting, corroborated this
story and told how the onlookers wanted
lynch Grady; how the prisoner had
said, If you know my side of the story
you would not blame me for shooting
her. and how Policeman Nolan was
obliged to take Grady into a nearby sa-
loon as a refuge from the angry crowd.
THE PRISONERS ATTITUDE.
During the entire proceedings, except
when testifying himself Grady sat inside
the rallied inclosure with his eyes closed
and apparently oblivious of what was go
ing on, except when his brother was on
the stand Then, at the reference to his
assault on the witness, the prisoner sew
eral times put his handkerchief to his
eyes to wipe away tears.
Grady told his story as above under
examination by his COUNSEL Mr.. William
n. Speer. He was cross-examined by
Prosecutor Erwin. He said that he
was ,thirty-one years of age, and had