Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-07-03
ALEXANDRIA AFFAIRS
TRIAL OF THos. BLANDHEIM FOR
MURDER.
Several Witnesses for the Prosecution
Examined Today - General
and Personal Notes.
Evening Star Bureau.
701 King street,
Poll TeleuhOne 1O7,


ALEXANDRIA, Va, June 8. Jus.
In order to expedite the trial Of Thomas
H. Blandheim. colored. charged with the
murder of John Green, also colored which
was commenced yesterday in the corpora
ton court Judge Barley convented the court
this morning at o'clock, an hour earlier
than usual The whole of the session yes
terday having been consumed with the Sc
lection Of sixteen veniremen. the first ousi-
ness today was to impanel the jury. The
following are the twelve men finally chosen:
p. Goldsmith. 8. Bendheim, s. b. F1sher'
C. B. Swan. John H. Bartlett. w. d. Wood,
L. Kraft, F. Klaus, w. L. Allen, ]. X. N.
Curtin, Frank Spinks and ]. w. Carter. AS
was the case yesterday, the court room
was filed to the walls with spectators the
great majority of whom were negroes.
Judge Barley this morning remarked upon
the sweltering heat. and directed SergI
Cox to clear the room of all those not con-
nected with the business OF the court Com
monwealth Attorney Samuel q. Brent then
proceeded to outline the case for the state
He asserted that the crime under fnVesu-
cation was a willful. deliberate ana pre-
meditated murder. and as such. he declared
that 1t came under the head OF murder IN
the first degree. Mr.. Brent explained Ine
law of the state relating to the various de-
grees of the crime of murder He then out
lined the evidence which he promised to IN
troduce.
Attorney Lewis H. Machen of counsel for
the defense followed, giving a sketch Of the
case as his side intended to present II 10
the court. Lizzie Ford, the colored woman
about whom Green and Blandheim quar-
relied Just before the shooting, told the
story of the trouble between the two men.
She said she was standing. In company
with John Green. near the saloon OF man
named Ben Lucas, in Upper Queen street,
the night of June IS. when Blandheim ap-
bod nd rod har RI 90
street with him. Green objected to this,
and the two men, one on each side pulled
and tugged at the witness. each trying 10
get her to go with him. Finally. she said,
she saw Blandheim pull a pistol from his
pocket. when she ran down the square I'm.
mediately after that she heard several
shots, which she supposed were hred Dy
Blandhem. but she did not see him In the
act Of firing. A little later she ran back
to the scene and found Green lying on the
pavement. She said she saw Blandhefm
kick the PROSTATE form before he ran OF.
In detailing the circumstances which occur
red just before the shooting. Lizzie Ford
stated that a colOred man named William
Thomas had advised Blandheim to shoot
Green. Thomas is not under Indictment for
criminal connection with the murder.
Under cross-examination, conducted by
Mr.. Machen, the woman said she did not
call BlandheiIil, nor did she tell him to
wait to accompany her down the street.
She declared that she had nothing at all
when she was In company with Green. In
reply to a question by Mr.. Machen, she
said she did not want to go with either OF
the men. but was anxious to get to her
home. She affirmed that Immediately be-
fore the first shot fired there was no
conversation between Green and Bland
helm. and she declared that the latter had
not asked Green to step aside and talk the
matter over. Green. she said, appeared to
be in good humor throughout the contro-
versy, but said that Blandheim was evil
IDENTIFY angry. She did not see Green draw
any knife or make any demonstra ton
toward the other man.
William Porter. Colored, was the next
witness called. He said he saw the two
men quarreling over the Ford woman and
said that he heard Green say: I'll see
that she does go down town. to which
Blandheim replied: viii your" and step
ping back he drew pistol. the witness
said. and commenced to fire. Porter de-
clared that he fired three times and then
after Green had fallen kicked him twice
in the face, declaring with an oath that
he would kill him. Porter saw Blandheim
run off, and then the witness assisted in
getting the dying man into house nearby.
Porter saw nothing In Green's hand nor
did he see any weapon on the pavement
near the spot. Under cross-examinaton
by Attorney Cation the witness did not
materially alter his testimony. He said he
was not drinking the evening in question,
but could not give clear account of the
places which he had visited before seeing
the shooting.
Dr. William NJ. Purv1s, the city coro-
ner testified to having conducted the In
quest over the remains Of Green Monday,
June Is. He said that there was bull
let wound in the left side of the neck of the
dead man, which had evidently been the
means of death, and his chin and arm
were bruised. DR.. Purvis thought that
these bruises might have been caused by
have been inflicted by boot or shoe heel.
Dr. e. A. German, who assisted in per-
forming the autopsy, testified about the
same in substance He had also observed
a slight bruise on the dead mans fore
head. Mr. William Wilkerson testified to
having seen Blandheim. firing at Green,
who was attempting to get away. Lewis
Jackson, a colored youth stated that ne
was close to the men when the shooting
commenced. His testimony did not differ
materially from that already given. Ella
Henson. colored, swore that IT., she he, saw soS
that the prisoner had kicked his victim
after he was on the ground The case was
in progress this afternoon when this re-
port closed.
Brief Mention.
A public installation of the recently elect
ed officers OF Alexandra Council. No. 3D.
Junior Order United American Mechanics,
was held last evening before a large gather
ing in Sarepta Hall. Among the officials OF
the order present from out-of-town points
were State Councillor Vowel, State Secre-
tary Smallwood of the District of Columbia
Past State Councillor z. l.. +. Bouton OF
Virginia and several others. Subsequent to
the exercises in the hall the visitors were
entertained in the Hotel Rammel.
The ways and means committee Of the
18th Virginia Regiment Chapter. u. D. c..
will give a lawn fete this evening on the
grounds of Lee Camp Hail. There will be
refreshments and an interesting program
will be rendered.
The case of Charles Quayle, charged with
assaulting Elsie Brown with razor, was
called before Mayor Simpson in the police
court this morning and was postponed until
Monday morning.
The regular monthly meeting of the city
school board was held last evening In Pea
body Hall. but the only business transac te6
of routine nature.