Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1905-09-27
REMARKABLE
TRIAL ENDS
Able and Exhaustive Arguments
BY Counsel In Con|ey Murder
Case Today
AN EFFECTIVE SPEECH
R. H. Manna Weavss Net Of Evidence
Around tho Defendant j. B. Lusk
Makes Strong Reply.

The trial of John Conley, of Red
River, Taos County, for the murder Of
James Redding, a nineteen year old
boy of Questa, in the same county, is
drawing to close in the court OF the
First Judicial District for the county
of Santa Fe, upon change OF venue
from the county of Taos. 1t has been
an intensely interesting and remark
able trial, in which the prosecution,
step by step, has sought to wiring evi-
dence from witnesses, all former
friends of the defendant, with which
to make a strong chain to convict him,
while the defense has done it's best to
minimize the effect of the testimony
some of which was of startling and
dramatic nature All day yesterday
and during the evening session, the
defendant, Conley, was upon the stand
and told minutely his side OF the occur.
renee and was cross-eXamined mercl-
lessly. His cross examiners asked
him again and again to explain what
seemed irreconcilable differences in
the story he told on the stand yester-
day, his testimony at the preliminary
hearing at Red River, and the facts
as they had been testified to by vari-
GUS witnesses. 1t was a severe ordeal
for the defendant and it was quite
natural that he hesitated repeatedly
and that his counsel objected again
and again to the questions, probably
more to give Conley time to collect his
thoughts than to gain a legal point.
This forenoon, court convened at 8
o'clock, an hour earlier than usual, in
order to give time to complete the ar
gument by this afternoon, and to
have the case go to the jury before
adjournment is taken this evening.
Judge John R. McFie was upon the
bench and the court officials were all
present. r. H. Hanna opened the
argument for the prosecution and
summed up the evidence very ably. He
was eloquent, almost terrible in his
scathing arraignment of the defend
ant, who sat as immobile as mar
BILE statue, betraying no sign OF emo
tion. Piece by piece, Mr.. Hanna put
together disconnected parts of the
evidence to prove his theory that Con-
ley had murdered James Redding, the
nineteen year old boy and Charles
Purdy, the seventy year old man, both
smaller than he in stature and in
weight, with generalization and in
cold blood. He sought to prove Con-
ley's motive and endeavored to show
how improbable it was that Conley
had committed the deed in justifiable
self defense. He quoted DR.. David
Knapps expert evidence that it was
out of the question for Charles Purdy
to retreat 65 or even rs feet to the
tent after a bullet from Conley's re-
volver had shattered his cheekbone
and cut off part of his left ear, for a
bullet that had taken that path must
necessarily have pierced the brain, and
how even less probable it was for
Purdy, after receiving the wound, to
stand in the tent with axe uplifted
when the tent was scarcely high
enough for him to stand without
touching the ridge pole with his head.
he showed how unnecessary it was to
put second bullet through young
Redding after the first bullet had
pierced his forehead and how unlikely
it was that after receiving the first
and mortal wound, that Redding had
kept on moving toward Conley with
uplifted axe. He argued from the
testimony of two of the witnesses who
had testified to having heard the four
shots, two each at five minutes inter
val, that the defendants statement,
that he had fired the first three shots
in rapid succession and the fourth and
last shot after he tightened the girth
of his horse and returned to the tent
to aid Purdy, must be falsehood. He
tried to show, how the defendant had
convicted himself by his own testi
mony, even if no other witness had
been heard; how absurd it was that
this strong man, who claimed to have
been sober, could have been threat
ened by two men, one youth, the
other in old age, both, as Conley
claimed, under the influence Of liquor
and without revolver or gun, so as te
justify the defendant to kill both o1
them, when facing them separately
and after an appreciable interval. Thus
logically, step by step, Mr.. Hanna
drew vivid picture of the crime az
the prosecution desired the jury tt
see it; how Conley angered at the
nagging Of Purdy and Redding, hat
murdered them in cold blood, shoot
ing each second time in order t.
make sure of his job, how he had frs
murdered the old man and left hin
weltering in his blood, and befor'
mounting his horse to get away, HI
had shot down Redding not only to sal
isfy an old Crude but also in orde
to get the only living witness Of hi
crime out of the way, how he invent
ed three or four different stories t
explain the killing; how he sought t