The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1905-01-26
VERDICT OF GUILTY
Charles l.. fuckers Trial
Ends at Cambridge. y
PRISONER UTTERLY COLLAPSED
Was Condemned ON Purely Circum-
stantia1 MISUNDERSTANDING state
Attorney Overcome by Strain.
Will BE Sentenced Later.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Attorney Overcome by Strain.
VIII he Sentenced Later.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Jan. 25.-Aft-
ter the jury in the Tucker murder trial
had come into court and asked for in
formation regarding the exact legal
meaning of the word ''mgice," in the
expression malice aforethought" and
for information concerning the differ
ent degrees of murder and what con
stituted manslaughter, which was ex-
planned by Judge Sheldon, they retired
and in Il short time returned with a
verdict of guilty of murder in the first
degree against the prisoner, Charles L.
Tucker
The last words of the trial of Tucker
for the murder of Mabel Page were
spoken when Judge Sheldon closed his
charge to the jury which has been con-
sidering the case since Jan. I.
The day was long one and to many
in the courtroom very trying one
Attorney General Parker closed his ar
gument about an hour and II half after
court opened. Then came one of the
most dramatic incidents in the trial, for
most unexpectedly the young prisoner
accepted his constitutional privilege of
addressing the jury in his own behalf.
Rising In his cage, he asserted at first,
trembling, but later with considerable
confidence, his innocence Of the crime.
He spoke about ten minutes, and when
he concluded Judge Sheldon began his
charge.
The case was given to the jury about
> p. M, and they Immediately retired.
The penalty for murder in the first
electric chair at the state prison in
Charestown, about mile from the
scene of the trial. Tucker will be SEN
fenced later.
Tucker collapsed utterly when the
verdict was announced. and his coun-
sci were unable to revive him for some
time.
The announcement of the finding of
the jury, which was made at 1910
o'clock last night, was followed by one
of the most remarkable scenes that has
been witnessed in a Massachusetts
courtroom for many years. Tucker col
lapsed utterly in the prisoners cage
when the foreman uttered the fatal
words, being completely overcome by
a verdict which had apparently seemed
to him to be an impossibility. He was
led from the courtroom across the
street to the Jail in an exhausted con-
dition.
But perhaps the most remarkable
feature was the effect of the announce
ment of the verdict upon the attorneys
not only for the prisoner. but for the
commonwealth. James II. Valley. the
senior counsel for the prisoner, was
greatly affected, and when he left the
Herbert Parker in the corridor The
leading counsel for the commonwealth
showed the result of the strain to such
a degree that he threw his arms around
Mr.. Valleys neck, and both men wept
on each others shoulders, the attorney
general expressing in broken words his
sympathy for his brother attorney.
These two men were not the only
ones moved to tears. Philip Mansfield,
one of the associate counsel for the
youthful prisoner, became hysterical
and fell into the arms of Il reporter.
The murder of Miss Mabel Page at
Weston, Mass, on March 81, 1904, for
the commission of which Charles H.
Tucker was tried, attracted wide atten-
ton because of the unusual and mysti-
flying circumstances surrounding the
case
Miss Page who was forty-one years
of age, lived in a small country dwell.
ing house with her father, Edward
Page, formerly prosperous Boston
merchant, and her brother, Harold. She
was stabbed to death with a knife
Basing his examination upon the ap-
pearance of the wound found in the
neck, the only wound at first visible
the medical examiner reported that
Miss Page had committed suicide, and
it was not until an undertaken had
discovered other wounds that 1t was
established that the woman had met
death at the hands of an assassin.
The governments case against Tuck
er included the charge that a slip OF
paper containing the address u. l.
Morton, Charlestown, Mass" found be
side the body of Miss Page, was in the
handwriting of the defendant, that 9
stickpin found in his pocket had beer
stolen by him from the Page home and
that hroknn nipcps of blndp fnunI In
his home We're parts of the knife will
which he had stabbed Miss Page.
The evidence against Tucker was en-
tirely circumstantial.
Carl Phelps Missing.