Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1905-09-28

to compassion for the defendant, who
for the first time since the tria
had commenced, showed visible emo
ton and had to gulp hard to keel
back the tears. Judge Liddell wa.
heartily congratulated by the attor
lneys present upon his masterful eff
fort. But whatever impression he
made upon the jury was counterbal
anced by the passionate arraignment
! iof The defendant by District Attorney
Alexander Read They were sledge
hammer blows which he delivered and
before he had concluded he had the
lilimsy structure of the defense in tat
ters; there was no longer getting away
| from the fact that John Conley was
guilty of cold blooded deliberate mur.
der, and that there was no longer any
possibility of acquittal.
1t was at the evening session that
Judge John R. McFie delivered his
charge to the jury. 1t was minute and
covered the law of murder and self
defense very thoroughly. 1t was made
SO plain and simple that every juror
could understand it and yet so com
plete that it might be used as a text
book for the law student. The diff
ferent degrees of murder were de-
fined, the law of evidence as it was
related to the case in question, was
touched upon, it was explained what
might constitute Justification for q
deed like that committed by the de
| fendant and what constituted self de
tense. The phrase a reasonable
doubt" was dwelt upon and the injunc
tion given that the defendant mus
have the benefit of every reasonable
doubt"
The murder for which John COnley
was convicted was most brutal one
On the morning of January 16, 1905
he started out for the Guadalupe
placers. six miles from Questa
Taos County, accompanied by two OF
his friends, James Redding, aged 10
years, son of E. S. Redding, hotel
keeper at Questa and in whose home
Conley was regarded as member
of the family, and James Purdy. q
miner seventy years old. The purpose
of the trip was to do assessment work
upon six placer claims owned ty a
man in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Con
| ley alone was armed, with a revolver
that had been in the safe keeping OF
Mrs. Redding, mother of young Red
ding. Upon arrival at the placers, the
trio sat down to meal in the tent
that had been pitched upon a previous
occasion at the camp. A quarrel
arose which resulted in Conley shoot
ing James Purdy, the first bullet shat
tering the jawbone, piercing the brain
and clipping off piece of Purdys ear
The second shot pierced the forehead
and was apparently fired after Purdy
was down. In the meanwhile, Redding
made for the horses to escape. Con
| ley pursued him for he did not want
the only eye witness of his deed to
get away. He shot Redding through
the forehead and after he had fallen
sent a second bullet into his throat
Conley then went back to the tent and
laid one axe at the side Of Purdy, then
washed his bloody hands in a
bucket Of water and carried a second
axe to where Redding lay in three
feet of snow and placed it on Red
ding's right arm. He was so close to
Redding when he shot him the second
time, that Redding's beard was sing
ed and the snow about it was blown
away by the blast from the pistol.
Conley then went for his horse anC
rode to Questa and from there to Rec
River, with the idea of leaving the
country. He made various statements
to those he met to account for his
early return from the placers and up
on arrival at Red River told one OF
his friends to take care Of his papers
as he would be gone four to six
weeks. Conley, knowing that the
Guadalupe placers were in an isolated
part of the county and that apparently
no one else was in the vicinity, had
not counted upon his crime being dis
covered a few minutes after it was
committed. In fact, however, two
shepherds who had heard the shots
had ,sseen him ride away from the
scene and had recognized him. They
gave the alarm. 1t was stunning
blow, when a deputy sheriff at Red
River, informed Conley that he was
accused of the crime and that posse
had arrived to arrest him. Conle,
showed signs of abject fear but de
nied the crime, saying that the Mex
leans" had shot Purdy and had attempt