Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1905-09-15

and how she had promised to marry him
and how he was afraid she was not true
to him and was deceiving him, but says
In the letter that she had that day
| promised that she would marry him as
| soon as she got a divorce. Rice left this
| letter on the bureau in his bedroom, as
| he didn't have time to mail It the day he
wrote it, and it had lain there a few
days until after dinner on the day of
| the murder
The morning of the day of the murder,
Linnie had finished work at the hotel
and was spending the day at her home.
! After dinner Mitchell, for some reason,
! went to Rice's room and saw this letter
! and took 1t and opened 1t and read it,
| then came down stairs very much ex-
| cited and told Mrs. Murgatroy what he
| had found and read.
The letter was found after the murder.
and on the back Of one sheet was writ
ten these words, Prepare for the worst.
for all is over"
Mitchell Quilted down after his talk
with Mrs Murgatroy about this letter of
Rices and he and Linnie and Mrs Muir
| gatroy were sitting in the front room
| in the Murgatroy house and were talking
about photograph album which Linnie
had and produced there. She turned to
her husbands autograph and Mitchell
took the book and wrote his own auto
graph opposite the husbands and then
'''iN " itls presume you VIII nave
John Rice right over here (on the next
page) so when anybody looks at one,
they can see all three" About this time
Mrs. Murgatroy stepped to the next room
to the sewing machine, which stood right
near the doorway leading into the front
room, so she could easily see all that
took place by turning her head. She
heard a shot, turned her head; heard
l-innie say, Don't; don't" Linnie was
sitting in a chair. and at the instant Mrs.
Murgatroy looked. Mitchell was holding
the revolver close to her head and fired
the second shot. which killed her
The respondent ran through the house
into the barn. Mrs. Murgatroy ran out
and gave the alarm and the neighbors
came, including the doctor and the con-
stable. The constable. Rickett. gave di-
rections for the search for Mitchell and
went into or toward the barn and heard
a report of revolver This report must
have been about % minutes after Linnie
was shot. The constable with his as
sistants went into the barn and found
blood dripping from the high scaffold and
they went up and found the respondent
senseless with the revolver in his hand
They took him down TO the floor and he
soon recovered his senses
He had shot himself in the right temple
the bullet cutting off the optic nerve Of
the right eye and going through the ball
of the left eye and out at the outer cor
ner of the right eye. AS a result. the
left eye has had to be removed and he
has lost entirely the sight of the right
eye and will always be totally blind. He
is also nearly deaf in one ear and is in
very low physical state
He has told the story of his affair with
Linnie several times and talked freely
about it. He does not deny the shooting,
but says he does not remember about it
and does not know why he did it: that
he must have been crazy. 1t is doubtful
whether he lives very long
In view of the facts as stated. and par
ticularly since the respondent has in
hicted the terrible penalty upon himself
and can never do anybody any harm;
and in consideration. too, of his own
Willingness 10 plead and take the penalty.
we are inclined to recommend to the
court that his plea of guilty of murder
in the second degree" be accepted. be-
lieving that the ends of justice will be
served, If that is done