The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-12-18
Jury Returned Verdict After Midnight. TRIAL CONSUMED
 TWO WHOLE DAYS Slayer of Railroad Engineer Was Confident of
 Acquittal. Aged Defendant and His Housekeeper. Maggie Hickman, Made an Os- tensibiy Poor Showing on Witt ness stand-sesny Persons
 Were Examined.

OultSS LII coupIoIue SouTt OL hlds bama sets aside the verdict of the City Court of Montgomery, W. c. Sanford. whose trial consumed two days in that court. will serve ten years in the peni- tentiary for the murder of James A. Achers, a locomotive engineer, on the afternoon of May 24 last in the saloon of Sanford at 901 North Court street. Vesuvius.
 This was the decree of the jury. which took but thirty minutes to con sider the law and the evidence. It re- turned the verdict at l2:15 o'clock this morning.
 It was pathetic. pitiful, this midnight scene in the court house. The aged defendant. who had been surrounded by his friends throughout the two days of the trial was there alone save for the company of his loyal friend. Jesse Wadsworth. keeper of hotel in vesuvius. Sanford had been confident of acouittal and it was evident the verdict of the jury. the sudden an- nouncement that he was to be deprived of his liberty. was a shock to him.
 Judge William H. Thomas finished charging the jury at 1o:20 o'clock last night, and the twelve men, accompanied by a deputy sheriff, went to a down town restaurant for supper. the court having declined to recess for this pur- pose earlier in the evening.
 The jurors remained at supper over an hour They did not return to the courthouse until .11:25 o'clock, when they immediately went into the jury room and began consideration of the case. Judge Thomas, Sanford. MT. wadsworth, two deputy sheriffs ana a room.
 At 12;25 o'clock the jury indicated that it had reached a verdict and Judge Thomas went on the bench.
 Verdict of the Jury.
 Foreman J. D. McKeithen handed the slip of paper to Deputy Sheriff S. S. Belser. who read 1t aloud as follows:
 We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of murder in the second degree, and fix his punishment at ten years in the penitentiary."
 As the words fell from the lips of the Deputy Sheriff. the grey-head of the defendant bowed and tears trickled upon his face. MT. Wadsworth, who sat by his side, was motionless.
 MT. Sheriff." said Judge Thomas. S"bring the defendant in court Mon- day and I will make an entry of this matter
 This was the only indication of the fact that the verdict was received on Sunday morning.
 Foreman McKeithen announced to the court that he had been requested by the jury to express it's appreciation of the courtesies shown by the court during the progress of the trial.
 Judge Thomas dismissed the jury and Sanford, still accompanied by MT. Wadsworth, was led away to the coun- ty jail. where he spent last night. My trouble" he said. Ifs frightened by the thought that I have friends. good ana true, in Montgomery, who have stood by rue."
 Mr. Wadsworth said the case would be appealed to the Supreme Court.
 Great interest was manifested in the trial of Sanford. and the five lawyers interested contested 1t warmly. Achors was a we'll known locomotive engineer in the employ of the South and North Division of the Louisville and Nash vile Railroad Company. His home was in Birmin gham where his wife and two children reside. whilue in Mont- gomery he roomed at the store and saloon of Sanford in Vesuvius which was presided over by Maggie Hick- man, a handsome young woman em- ployed as housekeeper there. The theory of the State was that the shoot ing between the two men was due to jealousy about this woman.
 The court room was crowded again yesterday many persons remaining there throughout the day. The Hick- man woman was not in court except when she was on the witness stand. as all of the witnesses were under the rule.
 Defendants Poor Defense.
 The remarkable feature of yesterdays s trial was the weak defence offered by Sanford. His conduct on the witness stand was little short of astounding, and Solicitor Dent in his closing argu- ment to the jury did not fail to empha- size the fact that the defendant utterly failed to prove his contention that he killed Achors in self-defense.
 Sanford could not remember the most essential details. He even swore that he knew nothing of the preliminary hearing; that he did not know that he testified at that hearing or that he was represented there by a lawyer. He claimed that he did not remember that he signed his own bond for $75O on which he was beld to answer to the grand jury.
 The witness Maggie Hlckmon. was another poor witness for Sanford. She