The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-01-23
THE DURANT CASE sKETCHED.
Mr.. Walter P, stradley Answers the Question
Asked by MT Nat NJ. Pickett,

To the Editor:-In your issue of the
21st Mr.. Nat NJ. Pickett asks some ques-
lions about the celebrated Durant muir
der case. AS l was living in San Fran
cisco during the trial of that case, and
recollect very clearly it's main facts, l
take pleasure in replying to Mr.. Pickett S
questions.
Durant was accused of the murder of
two girls, Minnie Williams and Blanche
Lamont. He was indicted, convicted and
hanged for the murder of the Lamont
girl She was a student at a normal
school in San Francisco, and Minnie
Williams was her intimate friend. Du-
rant, medical student. was a member
OF the church of which the Rev. J. George
Gibson was pastor, and had been, if he
was not at the time, superintendent of
the Sunday School. Blanche Lamont disap-
peared. For eight days search was made
for her in vain. Then comes the discOv-
cry of the body of Minnie Williams in
the church, terribly hacked with a knife,
and outraged. While searching the
church for evidence of the murder, the
police discovered the body of Blanche
Lamont in the belfry tower. Her body
was entirely nude. She, too, had been
outraged, and on her throat were the
marks of fingers. She had been choked
to death Durant was an associate of
both the girls. On the night before the
morning when her body was discovered,
he had escorted Minnie Williams to a
party. Early that morning he left the
city with his military company. The
police searched his room and in the pock-
ct of the overcoat he had worn the night
before, found a little coin purse belong
ing to Minnie Williams. Further in
vestigation showed that on the after
noon of the very day Blanche Lamont
had disappeared, he waited in front of
the school building for her, rode with
her on the street cars out to the church,
and went into the church with her. She
was never seen alive after that. Unfor-
tunately for Durant there was young
man in the church, the organist. This
young man did not sec Durant and the
Lamont girl enter-others saw that; but,
while this young man was practicing on
the organ, Durant come up to him sud-
denly, pale, nervous and distressed, COM
planning of nausea, and requested him to
go for medicine. This is bare outline
of the case against Durant for the La
was lust murder Durant was sexual
pervert-what Sombroso and DR.. Max
Nordau would call a degenerate.
The evidence against him was over
whelming. There was no division of
opinion in San Francisco as to his guilt.
The jury was out just ten minutes. The
evidence satisfied the legal requirement,
because it showed beyond reasonable
doubt that Durant was guilty.
The newspaper item referred to by Mr..
Pickett was a canaTd pure and simple.
L read it in some paper, and recognized
it on the instant as a hoax; but to salts
fly some enquirers here, clipped 1t and
sent it to friend in San Francisco. he
replied in substance:
1T is a canard. Rev. Gibson is still
here, pastor of the same church. | rode
with him on the street car just the other
day"
The prosecution in the Wilcox case can
get no sort of consolation out OF the
Durant case. There is no resemblance
between them-eXcept it be the bare fact
that nobody saw the murder committed
in either case But even the resem-
blance assumes that the corpus deficit
has been proved in the Wilcox case, and
I do not think it has. To my mind the
evidence in the Wilcox case points just
as strongly to suicide as it does to muir
der
WALTER P. STRADLEY.
Oxford, n. c.. Jan. %.