New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-03
BIG MOLINEUX SURPRISE.
WOMAN SAYS DEFENDANT DED NOT
MAIL POISON PACKAGE.
MAY TESTIFY SHE SAW THE GUILTY MAN
WHEN HE DID TT-FDLICEMANS WIFE
Long KEPT HER SECRET.


A sensational arrest in the MolineuX case may
he made before Saturday. on which day 1t Is ex-
pected that the case will b. submitted TO the
Jury II a certain woman is called 10 the stand
b. the defence and her testimony is substantl-
ally corroborated. The man who may be arrest
ed is At present under surveillance. and ne could
not now escape. il is thought except by over
po,yeling his watchers. or with the aid OF con-
fecerates. To so overpower those who are shad-
owing him would be a difficult task. attended
Nvith great personal risks.
such a dramatic ending OF the second trial
Of Molineux for the murder Of Mrs. Kate j.
Adams depends on a strange episode in the ca
reer Of elderly woman. whose family connec-
lions are Of the best. which occurred on De
cember %. 1895. the General Postofice II
was learned from a trustworthy source yester-
day that this woman viii swear, if called to the
stand 10y the defence. that she saw the poison
package mailed at the General Postofice on the
afternoon of December %. 1898; that she had a
good view of the features of the person who
mailed il: that that person not MolineuN:
that in the last few weeks she has seen both
Moneux and the who she is positive
mailed the fatal package. and that something
occurred ae the time the package was mailed
10 fix firmly i'm her mind all that she did and saw
at the CeneraI Postofice on the day in question.
she knows I.out this important incident
10 free an in nocent man from the charge of
murder and bring justice TO a guilty man.
This woman was ready to disclose these
facts a week aver the death Of Mrs Adams.
hut persons closely related 10 her. who dread
ed the notoriety she and they would ac-
auire If she testified and could not prove her
allegations dissuaded her from communicating
with the authorities at once. She might be
branded as a woman suffering from terrible
halIucination they told her. She finally over
came the restraint placed upon her. it is said.
and if nothing unforeseen happens TO change the
plans Of the defence in the MOlineux case she
win be called TO the witness stand late on
Wednesday or. if not then. on Thursday or
later She will be asked 20 relate TO the jury
what she saw on the afternoon of December %
lSsgS when she came from Brooklyn TO the Cen
eral Postoffice TO mail package TO a friend liN-
ing in Western State
Assistant District Attorney Osborne laughed
yesterday when asked what he thought of the
report that such a woman would be a witness
for tho defence before the week closed or be-
fore the nresent trial ended. He said that the
story seemed palpabiy absurd that woman
stood behind the person with the poison pack
age when he mailed IT, read the inscription on
She package. so as TO remember il some weeks
later. and had the appearance of the sender OF
the package so vividly impressed upon her
mind as to be able to identify him many months
after the dav she first saw him. He further
said he thought this report was the result Of
beautiful dream.
NO surprises will be sprung, think in this
case" added Mr. Osborne. surely, I shall not,
and / do not believe the defence will.
SHE WAS AT THE FIRST TRIAL
Though this new witness appeared at the first
trial. her presence in the courtroom at that time
was not known until too late 10 be Of any value
then II was about a week after the death OF
Mrs Adams that she thought she had seen a
packaee addressed like the poison one which
Cornish received. The date on the poison pack
age refreshed her memory and she then became
convinced that she had that package and,
more important than all that she saw the per-
son who sent il mail IT, Her husband,
who Is policeman, is said 10 have declared
when he first heard her assert that she
was at the General Postofice the day the
poison package was sent and saw it mailed
that she must be mistaken. He tried to con-
vince her that she might be wrong. she con-
tnued hold fast to the opinion that her mind
WAS perfectly clear all the circumstances of
her visit TO the General POstoffice the day in
question. The time stamped on the package
which she Forwarded and the poison pack
age would show she said whether not she
her story. She insisted telling under oath
what she had seen and finding and identifying
the who sent the package.
As lawyer in the former Molneux trial was
standing before Recorder Goff 10 say that no
defence would he made. this woman entered the
court. She took seat some distance from the
place where MclineuX sat. She could see him,
however, and for some time she watched him
closely. From the moment she saw him she was
positive another person than he was the sender
OF the poison package She learned while she
sat there that the defence had closed its case,
that no defence had been offered and that the
trial vas about 10 nc adjourned for another day,
when the summing up would begin. she became
convinced she had reached the court too late
She would return next day and tell her story to
tho counsel for the defence. She kept the
promise which she made 20 herself
THE SEARCH FOR THE GUILTY MAN.
For several weeks she has been trying to dis
cover the man whom she mail the package.
She found him. and soon she him she
said.
There is the ! send the package
and l viii swear hc the man"
In tho last week she has been present several
times at the MolineuK trial. Every detail Of her
remarkable story has been examined many times
over. no thread has been found weak, and the
efforts TO cOrrobOrate her assertions have been
more or less successful. Besides her the de-
fence viii call about nineteen witnesses, ten of
whom viii be experts on handwriting
tn" prosecution expects 20 call three witnesses
in rebuttal. Barlow $. Weeks OF counsel for