The Savannah morning news., 1902-02-16
ASHBY FOUND GUILTY.
Continued From Sixteenth Page.


a tremendous public sentiment and in
dignation existing against this indi-
Vldual who committed an act so vile
so bloody, so cowardly, so revolving.
frall, helpless and delicate woman-this
mans wife-was brutally shot down in
cold blood. Few men have passed upon
such case, and few have heard such
details of thirst for blood; such
stained, hideous and unusual features.
Under the midday sun, in broad
daylight and in the heart of brushing
city, poor, frail wife was shot to
death by the hands of the prisoner at
the bar. The motive theory advanced
py the prosecuting attorney is utterly
ABSURD. L am representing a crazy man.
he mas passed from the stage of insan-
lty to that of idiocy. He knows not
what is now going on as he sits there
with bowed head, toying with his fin
gers. He is an idiot and has not real
lied that devoted woman, a cousin
whom he loved, has come from far
away Boston to testify for and assist
MIN. IL this man was sane he was
guilty of a most diabolical deed, for
which no excuse could be offered" said
counsel, dramatically.
DeIved Into Medical Law.
Judge Twiggs went into
lengthy argument on medical
jurisprudence and of the laws relative
to mental disease. The discussion was
exhaustive and innumerable authori-
Ties We're cited by counsel. The tech
nlcal points advanced by the defense
We're followed closely by the solicitor
general. and those in the court room
heard more opinion on mental disease
IMAM they will probably ever hear
again.
Counsel ridiculed the idea that
man can be wholly deprived of reason.
He compared the mind to a many
strlnged instrument. One string
strained or rent asunder, the others
would still make their own peculiar
tones and there would be harmony un-
I'll the damaged string should be
touched. Then the wild. weird sound
would come forth, the sign of insanity.
Counsel scoffed at the thought of total
obliteration of the mind.
Judge TWiggs recalled historical acts
Iof winch insane men We're responsible.
he declared that many sublime inven-
tlons have sprung from distempered
and disordered brains and that the
most magnificent stauary sprung up at
the base of insanity. He declared that
the bloody and tragic deed itself made
1t plain that the prisoner was a crazy
as to be almost inconceivable. The
acts of the prisoner after the homicide
and the absence of CONSERVATION. re-
morse, excitement and surprise, with the
coolness evinced, were commented
upon. This horrible killing of a de-
fenseless woman" said counsel. "alone
stamps upon this poor wandering crea-
lures brain disease"
The motive advanced by the state
was rldiculed. God in heaven" said
Judge Twiggs, "any port in a storml
There was a time when this poor man
read and worked and displayed only
some symptoms of insanity. He has
grown worse and worse, until he is no
longer insane, but an imbecile The
disease has so intensified in the iail
that to use the happy expression of the
solicitor his reason has been totally i'm
paired, and he is now before you an
idiot. That same vacancy of express
sion and Unconditional nature was visi-
BILE in childhood"
Word for the Doctors.
Judge Twiggs tore the states experts
into shreds and declared that their evil
dence could not carry any weight. Their
tests were of no more value, he said,
than the microbes that float in the air.
He declared that they know no more
VI HoJ LHdu uOSS I00 f1OIIenIOI.
Judge Twiggs said that on this sub
ject Rev. Mr.. Scully has more in his
little finger than all of the physicians
who roam the streets of Savannah, and
give our quinine and calomel. He
stood over the prisoner and described
the cowardly shooting in a dramatic
manner. After declaring that such
hideous depravity as evinced by the
prisoner had never before been seen by
mortal man, and tossing the usual
bunch of flowers at the prosecuting at
torney. Judge Twiggs closed his case.
The Solicitor Generals Arraignment
The argument of the solicitor general
occupied two hours and not a single
point in the case escaped his attention.
He followed the career of the prisoner
from his boyhood days in Sunday
school until his arraignment at the bar
on a charge of murder. Calmly the
prosecuting attorney took up each
claim made by the defense, and with
his eloquence endeavored to break the
facts and theories asunder. He was
particularly severe in dealing with the
Boston cousin who testified for the de-
fense. There were some things that he
confessed he did not understand in
connection with the testimony of this
witness and that they would probably
never be known. He felt justified he
said, in his attack upon the witness He
spoke of her attempt to besmirch the
character of the prisoners father;
now in his. grave. but during
life an honored and respected citizen.
The Prisoners Cousin Again.
The solicitor general referred to her
as this woman who comes here from
1000 miles away with the alleged con-
tents of certain letters which she
claims to have destroyed twenty years
ago to whisper away an upright and
good life; the life of a man who in
the language of a competent witness,
never uttered an unchaste word. Does
not good life count for anything"
asked the prosecuting attorney. He
declared that the cruel, bitter attack
upon an old mans character, was an
unjustified attack on the grave.
The solicitor general had much to
say of the Sc a week job secured for
Ashby in Boston by his cousin, and of
the letters that passed between them,
only one of which was admitted as
evidence. 1t is not true, he said, that
he contended that the homicide
had been committed with
the Boston position as the only hope
of reward. The prosecuting attorney
could not tell what there might be in
Boston. He did not know. He did
know that Matte had been reported
dead in Boston before she had been
slain. He ridiculed the explanation
in connection with the letter admitted
as evidence and printed in the Morn
ing News.
The solicitor began with the states
witnesses and, with their testimony