The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-06

40 POINT in criminal Jurisprudence
IN ever has created such divergence
of opinion as the value OF cfrcum-
rstantial evidence. and so long as there
Is crime and the criminal court men
viii differ in opinion concerning the
proper Importance to attach to this
kind of evidence. Especially Is this
true IN cases involving the death PEN
atty. In the minds of many men no
chain Of circumstances can be forged
strong enough TO justify making
moose OF il with which TO choke the
accused to death. while, per contra, an
equally large number believe i'm the
conyicting value of circumstances
above that of human senses. The
detective, necessarily accustomed to
use circumstances as stepping-stOnes
in crossing the stream Of crime, nat
uTally attaches the greatest import
ance to circumstantial evidence. and
A Conan Doyle, reducing Imaginative
circumstances almost to science,
thereby voiced Tor all working detec-
tives their appreciation of the value Of
genuine circumstances in practical
work.
The elder generation Of Chicago po-
licemen and others probably viii recall
the I<ean Higgins murder mystery of
1872. This was a case in which the
evidence was purely circumstantiaI. No
nor did the murderer reveal himself
in that sanguinary role until after he
was dragged to prison by an unbreak-
able chain of circumstance, but the
case viii remain a historical argument
Cor the value Of circumstant1al evil
6ence.
I<ean Higgins. weII-to-do Irish far
Tner Sc years Old. lived with his family
on the north shore of Lake Michigan
near the town of Winnetka. On the
r,r F,a
left his home TO attend . O'Clock mass
IL the Roman Catholic church at
Crosse Point. three miles from Win
netza- About 8 o'clock that evening
u farmer named William Mcfarland
follow ing the same path. stumbled over
the body and thought Higgins had
fallen drunk. He attempted TO rouse
him. only to find him dead. He gave
the alarm, the few neighbors quickly
gathered. and the body was removed.
There was a cut in the back of Hig-
gins head and three bullet holes in his
neck.
The scene of the crime was seven
teen miles from Chicago. The local po-
lice at that time was administered uu-
der the metropolitan" system. the
control being vested in commissioners
who IN the year of which I am writing
were Mancei Talcott, Mark Sheridan
and Jacob Rehm. President Talcott OF
the police board paid q great deal of
partment. and frequently attended roll
call at the different stations. The Hig-
gins murder had created a sensa ton.
having taken place I'm & suburb that
vas just beginning to be popular. the
victim was inoffenslve and We'll on
and the entire case was shrouded in
the deepest mystery. Two Chicago Of
hcers had been detailed on the ca s.
but 7 did not know then nor dil
even learn later what progress they
-
the murder Mancel TalCOtt apDea. ID
at roll call at the Lake street station
and. as my name was called. Ordervd
me out OF line to report 70 Chief Wash
burn the next morning. The chiefs
purpose in sending for me was 60 de-
tail me on the Higgins case. OF Hhicr
had read in the Chicago papers This
was my first meeting with Chief Wash
burn. who a week later promoted me &c
a detective nsergeancy.
Near the Northwestern railroad sta
ton and west Of IL was the store o.
Oliver :. Gross. Travelling eastward
from Gross through the scrub oal
timber one followed a trail that wa
used as a wagon road, and foot path
Less than half a mile westward owe
this road one came 90 a set Of bars il
a rail fence. and about one mile ives
of Gross. standing on a hill. was tn
home of William Swigert and his fam
fly. Half a mile south of Swigert'
house was the home OF the murdere'
man. After visit to the Higgins hom
and other preliminary investigation
found the facts concerning the muir
dered man and the crime TO have beel
substantially as follows:
Higgins was devout Catholic am
made Il a point OF pride never to mis-
early mass on Sunday. He owne
eighty acres OF land near his HON
and had lived an the region for thirty
Der one followed a trail that was USE
five years. lie was wornout MAJ