The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-02-10

common hotoricty. IT. was also declared
that these relations had caused more than
one Violent scene II, his own household.
From this point 1t was easy to picture Ut!
d scene somcwhnt more violent than us,,tl
IN which Oh accusing wife was str ucls,
beaten and Killed. by her husband. at-
.,nittcdly q man OF overpo werit1g r,lssiors
This was, Ill fact, the picture that pre-
scented Itself 10 many, and III That came
gradually to BIO generally accepted. 4 Il The he
Srnutterings OF theSpeople, ct first vas Nc
and indefinite, sweled IN volume until
they became a verltablc roar. g
Ex-Mayor Arrested. s5
Meanwhile events were proceeding rapid
ily. Behind closed doors a. coroner & jury
was sitting ard carefully inspecting every
scrap OF evidence Some 5of the testl-
il,ory wns sensational. notably that Of
Ernest Crawford, d brother OF the MIR
Slered woman. on Tuesday afternoon.
September, 9th, Mrs. McCue was buried
and on the following afternoon her l1lis-
band was locked up in Jail charged with
the murder. Twenty extra constables
were sworns.tn and stationed mt the jail.
"A supply Of firearms sufficient to furnish
n small army was placed at their disc
posal. THEY were given orders to shoot
In case OF tho slightest irifraction OF the
law. The va1or OF the constubulnry
was not put to test. There was much talk,
but abso utely no violence. rho morning
Of Thursday broke QUIET " with McCue still
safe in HIS cell. On this day the coro-
lner's Jury issued It's verdict charging tho
'prisoncr with the murder OF his wife.
10 the people OF charlottesville, familiar
with facts not MS vet generally ~ known
expectation had robbed the event Of sur
prise, but throughout the State at large,
less prepared e, the ifnprisonment#of tho
iex-mayor created a profound sensation.
The accused himself took the matter with
the stolcnl calnness that marked his nj.
ittude throughout the trial "a calmness
that, despite many unconcealed tears and
much protestationEof innocence at times,
amounted almost to ca1ous Indifference.
Preliminary examination was waived and
tho prisoner was formally indicted on
September 18th. On Tuesday, September
27tf, he was arrai gried and pleaded mot
guilty." Tho effort OF the defense to
have the indictment quashed on the
ground that ono OF the members of the
grand Jury was a nonresident. failed.
b The case was called for trial at "a.
NJ, Of X October 18th. but thc hearing Of
evidence was delayed a week by the diff;
.ficulty5 III securing a Jury. ycnlres were.
chosen succ cssively ~ from Petersburg,
Richmond, fredericksburg and Warren
ton. but It was not until Tuesday, Octo-
Der 18th. that the court, witha panel COM
pie te, was read y to proceed. The pre-
siding Judge was George Watts Morris,
young, but splendidly qualified, as time
abundantly proved. The prosecution was
conducted by CommonWealth's Attorney
Gilmer, Captain Mlcaja jan Woods and Cap
tain r. s. Ker. Tho attorneys for the
defense after the withdrawal OF Mr..
MI yJo, Trt<
we're Mr.. John y. Lee, OF Lynchburg; Nj.
J "a Tinsley Coleman OF Lynclburg. and
Messrs. g. 3. Sinclair, George W. Walker
and Ed ward o. McCue. OF Charlottesville.
The trial jury was made UP OF "a X.
stockdeil, aof Petersburg; W. B. spiers,
of Petersburg !; A. j. Saunders, OF Peters
burg; James B. Prentis, ofPetersburg;T.
y. Parsons, of Petersburg; "a. s. Johnson,
OF Petersburg; Shelton Chldes. OF Peters,
burg; John a. Traylor. Of Richmond; s..
B. Quinn, OF y fredericksburg; Nelson
Decker. OF Fred cksburg; W. a, Fewcll,
of 3Warrcnton, and L.. p. Holmes, of War
rcnton. IA j$S tS 81
Whole State Absorbed. ).
For the next two weeks q the entire
State was absorbed In the trial. Tho in :.
terestg in the case was confined to no
one time. or place.. It extended alike to
large cities and small, distant and near.
until the Commonwealth was aroused as
perhaps 1T had never been before. The
belief In the guilt Of the accused, which.
had encompassed the Immediate vicinity
OF the crime, rapidly found place else
where. and eventually, and before the
trial was one-half through, 1t became
the universal condemnation that was one
OF the mos t remarkable features OF the
case. Outside Of McCue's circle OF rela-.5
lives, there was not ! q man in all Of
Charlottesville or Albemarle willing to
lift his voice In the mans behalf, and
practically the same condition prevailed
at large Coupled witllTth feeling was
q quite general demand for the punish-
ment OF the alleged criminal to the full 4
est extent OF the Law.
OF the trial itself It is possible here to \
give but cursory glance. The case OF
the Common wealth was not what many
had expected itSwould be. Men skilled In
the law and familiar with the ways Of Y
juries foresaw a conviction. but the lay
mind In reaching this conclusion found
itself in need OF seeking support from
alleged facts and conditions that were
never brought before the jury at ALL
The woman In the case. was as much
a mystery at the end OF the trial as she
was at the beginning. A momentary
thrill was caused in the early stages Of
the case by the exploitation OF want be-
came known as 54.theg EMQrSlaIli AFFAIR."
but this quickly subsidized. In the COURT
room itself there was scarcely any refer
ence to the yelled female. Ernest Craw-
ford referred briefly to certain violent
scenes between McCue and his wife that
had grown out Of the alleged relations ]
of the accused to other women, and there
We're one or two other casual references,
But no names were called, and, In fact,
this element In the tragedy gradually
dropped from conspicuous notice except
in the public mind. where 1t found firm
Judgment. The ''woman's side" Of the 1
case. as 1t appeared In court, finally cul-
minated In the bold declaration Of one
OF the prisoners attorneys that McCue'ss
character was ''lmmnou)ate ana spotless.
and that the Investigate ton had only served
to show how "spotless and immaculate
1t was. ISL 5
Had Quarrels.
y Elsewhere tho Commonwealth was
more successful, 1t introduced witnesses
TO show that tho domestce rela lions be-
tween McCue and his wife were anything
INT ,,niformlv 3nleasant re drew q piC-