The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1905-03-24

this jury has given a most patient an,
attentive interest to all the evidence
Not only are the rights of the indl
vldual involved; not only Is his lif,
ana liberty at stake. but the safety o.
the country depends upon the Intelli
gent and conscientious actions of the
| juries impanneled to try the great
issues involved between the rights Of
the citizen and the rights of all the
citizens of the State. To execute the
law was the manifest duty of the
juTies; to give respect to Law and the
courts of the land, juries must rise W
and punish murder. The State does
not seek. the law does not contemplate
vengeance. Tue law is not founded
upon the old Jewish law of IAN eye
| for an eye, and tooth for a tooth. =
And yet it is writ, that whose shed
deth man 8 blood. bv man shall his
blood,,be shed. " And the purpose of that
| the law O. the State is, that when a
man Sheds the blood of his fellow man,
felonlously and unlawfully, by the
State will his blood be shed, that other
criminal minds, AMI wicked, bloody
men, seeing his fate may be deferred
for following in his footsteps.
No man, he said. saw the defendant
do the bloody deed with which he
stands accused No eye save the eye
of the Almighty and John Reaves
saw the brutal blow and the strike of
the cruel knife; and not John Reaves
eye, for the blow, by whomsoever 1t
was struck, came from behind. And
yet If the circumstances pointed un
erringly to the accused, the case was
as fully mace out as il there had been
any number of witnesses to the act.
He cited as case of clIcumstantial
proof. the case of State VS.. Galloway,
which occurred in this county years
ago. In that case 1t was only small
part of the body and little of the
clothing of the deceased that was
found. 1t was only by circumstance
that it was shown that any killing had
taken place at all. And it was even
proven that the alleged men had said
few days before his death--if dead
he was-that he intended to flee the
country or commit suicide: and the
defendant In that case stoutly main
tanned his innocence to the very last,
until he was on the scaffold, and then,
rather than go into eternity with lie
upon his lips he broke down and con-
fessed his guilt But for the fact. said
Mr.. Flguers. that the law not only
admits but recognizes the force of cir
cumstantial evidence. many and many
a man would go unwhipped of justice,
and many murderer go unhung.
"The theory OF the murderer, whoever
he was" said the speaker, "was that he
would make it appear that it was case
of suicide; and the defendant in this
case had prophesied several weeks be-
fore the killing that the deceased would
suicide before Christmas. That was
one circumstance The further facts
showed that the murderer knew all
abolt the surroundings and habits of
the man; where he was used to hanging
his bride, ETC., and no man knew that
better than this defendant. l have 10
sort of unkind feeling against the de-
PENDANT in this cause, said Mr..
Flguers. ION the contrary, his old
father, now stone deaf from the firing
of heavy artillery in the face of the enc
my 10 the COS, has been my life long
friend, and many of his large family
connection have been my friends, while
on the other hand | had slight acquaint-
ance with the parties on the other side;
and if | were moved by human interest
ana sympathy | would not appear
against him in this case. And il | did
no. believe this morning that Lee Roun
tree murdered John Reaves, | would
not now stand before you. But, believ-
ing that as 10. [ have duty TO per-
form. And, as | say to you, If he is not
guilty. he is the victim of more unfor-
tunate circumstances than any man
ever knew.
.One of the remarkable circumstances |
of this case is that the father and moth |
or of the dead mans wife, and the |
widow herself, are here standing cheek |
by iowl with the defendant. And an
other most remarkable circumstance is
that no sooner was the accused Informed !
that he was under suspicion, than he
PUSHES to inform the widow of the fact |
Why did he do that? Was it natural |
actY II their relations were proper |
would he expect to find sympathy and |
from her while he stood |
aud accused of the murder |,
of her husbandI
1.-The widows part In this case is . |
most remarkable one When she walked |
Boyd Mcknight just before day that
morning. what did she ssyY |
Johnnie has not come yet Wasn't /
she long time finding out that John
ME had rot come in? And what next? |
Directly she brings Mcknight the dead
man g hat and elbows it to him, to con
firm her suspicion that something was |
Where did she get itP How
could she find it, black hat, in the
blackness ST that night, cut at the wood
nile. if she had not known where it was |
and how it came thereY
1.-THE murderer knew all about those
land he knew, too, that he had a