New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-19
BOTH SIDES CLOSE CASE.
STICKS TO DEMON TALE.
Woods Defence mistaken If Mac
Is Real, Says Counsel.

| cerned took the form Of battle royal eet"eeh
experts, those for the defence striving 10 esIao-
| lish the insanity of the accused ana Ilose 4oi
| the prosecution doing their mightiest TO prove
that Wood before and at the time OF inc coil-
| mission OF the crime was in his right mind ana
had full possession Of the sense OF right ana
wrong.
The astonishing assertions of Wood Whne on
| the stand yesterday were but slightly touched
| upon by the prosecutor in his summing up
| speech 1--WE have shown" he said, that Wood
was sane when he committed this crime. With
great cunning he has constructed careful story.
| Cunning and consummate acting have character
lied his attitude all through the trial. lie mas
| left no link unforged to establish his lapse of
memory during the time in which the crime was
| committed"
The prosecutor further declared that Wood
| committed the. crime for money. He said the
accused able to distinguish right from
wrong, as had been shown by the best experts
and that he was not victim of epileptic In
sanity. He asked for a verdict Of guilty OF
murder in the first degree Mr.. Roger talked
about ten minutes.
| When he sat down it was thought that the
case would go to the jury this afternoon. but
| Mr.. swackhamer, counsel for Wood asked that
| his summing up might go over until tomorrow.
| His request was granted He has not been well
| at any time in the trial.
The aspect Of the courtroom all through the
trial. until to-day considering the interest that
has attached itself to the case. has been I'M
| usually calm. To-day, however both the wife
of the accused man and the widow Of the muir
| dered man became hysterical and were oohgeo
| TO leave the room
Early I'm the dav It was rumored that Prose-
| cutor Roger had announced that Mac" one Of
| the supposed demoniacal companions Of Wood,
was real person and would be put upon the
| stand. Sheriff Cooper said that mac" vas
| really William D. Mack. of Long Branch. The
| Sheriff said Mack had known Wood casually,
but never well enough to have loaned him Sl'COo'
as Wood said he promised to do. This the prose-
outor denied.
The defence, on the other hand, asserted that
| even though Mac" was proved to be a real
| person, it nevertheless would not shake the
wall of fact and expert testimony to the effect
that Wood was actually possessed OF an hall
lucinary derloniacal second self, who Influenced
| his actions and whose power him had been
strong since his boyhood, when he first became
acquainted with him" while gazing in mirror
| Just previous to an epileptc seizure.
The afternoon session was brief The Stats
surprised the defence by calling fewer witnesses
than was expected and then Prosecutor Roger
made a brief statement as to what the State
| asserted II mad proven. IL was eApSCteu nc
| would make an extended address.
The last testimony taken related to Woods
actions and appearance on the day preceding
! the murder and the morning of the crime. Sew
| eral witnesses swore they met him both days
| and saw nothing in his manner TO indicate he
was not in his right mind. While Edward Mar
! fnz was describing Woods action when Wood
was asking him where he could hire rig, Mrs.
! Williams became hySterical. wood watched
| her unInoved. A little later Mrs. Wood became
excited and wept silently on her husbands
| shoulder. He paid attention TO her.
| Mr.. Roger in announcing the close OF the case
! for the State said the testimony made it plain
! without any chance OF a reasonable doubt that
! Williams had been shot and killed by Wood,
| The only question at issue was the mental state
! and capacity Of the defendant. Was Wood sane
| or insane2 Was he responsible or irresponsible2
! Mr.. Roger contended that Wood was
| when he murdered williams. and that after kill
| ing the man he skilfully and quickly made his
! way back to New-York and to his home. Every
! act, the prosecutor said, had shown shrewdness
and calculation which were not 10 be found in
Wood left New-York to get money. the pros
ecutor said. and. failing TO obtain it, killed
! williams in hopes of getting 1t from him.
| The case will probably be given TO the jury
! by o'clock tomorrow.
THE MORNING SESSION.
| The statements made by Wood yesterday that
! he was under mysterious influence of little
black demon seemed to have made an impress
sion the jurors. as indicated by their serious
faces when court opened this morning. Mr.
Duffield, who complained Of being sick yester-
! day, was in his place in the Jury box.
The defence continued the testimony of nedi-
cal experts to show the responsibility of Wood
at the time Grocer Williams was shot in the
sleigh 1t IS evident that the testimony of these
experts will go far TO decide the case. The
Jurors closely followed the testimony.
The first witness this morning was DR.. Sidney
! Wilde. of New-YoTk. He said he examined
| Wood shortly after he arrested in the
| Tombs. in NewYOrk He said at that time
| that Wood was in a sub-conscious condition,
and was not able to distinguish between right
and wrong. He said that Wood had recovered
from this attack, and was able to tell the diff
| ference between right and wrong now.
Mrs. Sarah Polack. the grandmother of the
defendant, was again called to the stand. She
was asked If she ever knew that Woods father
had nlegitimate son. She said that she did
not know of such a son.
Mr.. Swackhamer here announced that the de-
fence rested.
The State then called several physicians in
rebuttal. The first Of these was DR.. Sttllwell
He said he had thoroughly examined Wood IN
the jail here. and found him little below the
| mental standard. He said. however that he
was able to distinguish between right and
wrong.
The prosecution called DR.. Mcclure of New
York, who said he had examined Wood on
February last and at that time Wood was
able to distinguish between right and wrong
DR.. Pierce Bailey said he had examined Wood
He said he believed that Wood had mental
trouble but said he did not believe he was an
eptleptic subject. Jacob Blimm testified that
while Wood was staying at the Farmers Hotel.