The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-05-15


Irving's weapon was Of 8s-eaiibre. The
pistol-three chambers Of which had
been discharged which Porter had in
his hand when he was arrested was
32-calibre smith & Wesson.
Porter was tried for the murder Of
Walsh before Judge Davis in Novem-
Der. The theory Of the prosecution was
that Porter came with Irving to The
side door of the saloon, and remained
outside while MS companion went i'm
to look for Walsh, there being bad
blood between these two and Porter
being known to side with Irving; and
that when the shooting began and
Hope, Vosburgh, Fay and Leary
rushed out. Porter had slipped in the
door as they opened it without attract
ing their attention in the panic they
were in, and, standing just inside the
Threshold, had fired the three shots
into Walsh. and Immediately followed
the others into the street. reaching
Jhe sidewalk not T. second behind them,
the door into the saloon from the hail
way being only six or eight feet from
the door from the halfway into sixth
avenue.
Porter placed his defense solely with
Mr.. Howe. He claimed that ne had
not been with Irving at all on the
night of the murder. He said that he
had come down to Diapers saloon that
night TO see the proprietor. as he was
thinking about opening a saloon him
self, and wanted to get some iufOr-
nation about the business.
He had tried the front door, Por-
ter said, and finding il locked, had gone
into the hallway with the intention
of entering by the side door. How
ever, before he reached this door he
mad heard the pistol shots, Hope,
Leary5 Nosburgh and Fay had run out,
and he had Immediately followed them
into the street, without stopping 10
enter the saloon. He explained that
he had his pistol in his hand because
he had drawn it in the commOtion
with a view to self defense ia case IL
became necessary.
Mr. Howe claimed, further, on be-
half Of the prisoner, that it would
have been impossible for him to have
gone into the saloon and fired three
shots and returned to the sidewalk at
the same time with the men who had
run for the street when the shooting
began, al which moment il was ad-
mitLed that he was in the hallway.
TO FULLY comprehend the situation it
should be borne in mind that the seven
pistol shots We're fired IN less than sew
en- seconds. Fosburgh testified, when
asked some details on the witness
stand: 1T all happened So quick that
1 couldn't tell what was going on. 1t
was the quickest thing / ever saw"
Leary was the only one Of the three
men VINO, IN rushing from the saloon
10 the street, seems to have seen POT-
/ ter ia the hallway. He testified that
he saw him and asked him where ne
! was going. but that the other made no
reply A number Of witnesses In the
street however, saw Porter come out
of the hallway into Sixth avenue Just
as soon as the door could be opened
+ again after Hope, LeaTy, NOsburgh
and Fay burst through.
And here is where the question of
I circumstantisI evidence, remarked by
Judge Davis In summing up the case.
( came IN A district messenger boy had
| stopped outside the saloon az the sound
/ of the pistol shots, and he saw Leary,
/ Fosburgh and Fay bolt from the hall
/ way into the street. The passage was
I lighted at the further end, and, for the
/ fraction of a second as the three men
+ emerged, and before the door closed
+ after them, the boy was able TO com
mand a clear view Of the hallway from
/ end 70 end
That quick glimpse showed him the
I hallway empty.
| Then the door closed. and was opened
again Immediately for Porter to rush
/ through. pistol in hand
/ Porter had therefore been out Of the
/ hallway, and hence inside the saloon
/ for the brief moment that the door into
! the street was open to allow the egress
/ of Hope, Nosburghs I4eary ana Fay, and
I iJ was easily demonstrated that he had
[ had time during that short period to
I fire the three shots one of which had
! killed Walsh.
! However. Mr.. Howe managed TO OBJ
/ scure the issue 50 we'll that, much to
( the surprise of everybody who had
Z heard the evidence taken at the trial
/ and of Porter himself he was acquit-
/ ted. Mr.. Howe made a point of the
I fact that the number on POrter's 80
/ Caliber Smith & WessOn revolver was
/ 36,411, proving by Captain seldom A.
/ Day of the United States army, who
] had been called as an expert on arms
/ by the prosecution. thar that meant
/ that more than 36,47I revOlyers Of that
/ particular caliber had been sent out
/ from the Smith & WessOn factories.
j Mr.. Howe also, as on a sudden inn
| pulse, asked every person in the court
I room who happened to have "a ,32-csli-
/ Der revolver in his pocket TO make
/ the fact known. Twenty or thirty men
/ came forward in response to this re-
/ quest, and it was limited that Mr..
( Howe had planted" them in the first
/ place.
/ Mr.. Howe brought out the fact. also.
] that some OF the witnesses in the case
could positively swear that there was
! no other person in the saloon or Dill
lizard room besides Hope, Fay, Leary
: and NOsburgh at the time of the shoot
I ing. He argued that with more than
I So. 600 .32-cahber revOlvers about and
nobody knowing how many We're in
I the saloon when Walsh was killed. it
would be an injustice TO find Porter
guilty of the murder on the evidence
/ before the jury.
According 20 Mr.. Howe the term Of
+ imprisonment Porter had just COM
( pleted I'm the Queens county peniteu-
[ JiaTy had reformed him. He had been
I left s. 600 By his mother, who had died
( while he was in prison, and he had de-
cided 10 adopt the only vocation ne