The times and democrat. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1881-current, 1906-01-10
THE CRIMINAL s DEFENCE
Trialsin Which Attempts Were
Made to Prove Allbls.
CASE OF GORTON TWINS

Favorlte pele!lSs'
The alibi has always been a favor
,te defence with calculating Grim
inals. It has, on the other. hano' III
hundreds of cases, extracted the lhno'
cent from the meshes of'a net OF cir
cumstantial evidence which must
otherwise have inevitably dragseo
them to unmerited doom.
Clocks have played an important
mart in these defences. Lives nave
depended on their accuracy or mac
curacy. In the case Of man nameo
Hardy. who was accused OF having
taken part in q murder with others'
one of the murderers, after the crime
was committed, made his way nome
as fast as possible. II was nlght anu
there was no one in his house but
servant. Putting the CLOCK ID the NAN
hack two hours, the man went to bed:
and rising shortly atterWard aWoke
the servant and ordered her to go
down stairs and see what was the
time. The. girl did so, and once moro
letired to her room, when the muc'
derer. stealing softly downstairs, Ia
his bare feet, once more put the CLOCK
right. The unsuspecting girls evt
dence that the prisoner was in bed at
the time when the crime was conl'
1nitted secured his acquittal on his
trial. The truth was made known
oy a deathbed confession some years
later.
Witnesses who come forward to
rrore alibis by the clock sometimes
prove very unsatisfactory. In a muir
der case at tho Central Criminal
Court two witnesses swore most per-
sistently to the prisoner having been
in their company at the hour when
the prosecution contended he was en-
gagged in the crime:
Are you quite certain of the exact
time?" asked the counsel for the pros
ecution.
Certain" replied the first witness.
"How are. you so sure about ltf'
asked the barrister.
"We were in the Bear public house,
and saw the time by the clock in
the bar" replied the witness. 1t was
?7 minutes past g."
"You saw that time yourself"
asked the counsel.
Yes"
One of the detectives engaged in
the case here whispered something to
the barrister, and he turned to the
witness once more.
".You see that clock he said, point
Ing to the clock in the court. What
is the time by it?'
The witness turned ghastly pale,
scratched his head, gasped, and was
silent. He could not tell the time.
The alibi bubble was burst. The pris-
rner was condemned. :
A young girl who lived with her
parents in a lonely part Of Kirkcud-
bright was one day left alone in their
we're harvesting. On their return the
girl was found murdered. A surgical
examination revealed the fact that the
injuries inflicted must have been the
work Of left-handed man, and the
police discovered in the soft ground
around the cottage the imprints of the
boots Of running man. These inn
pressions corresponded exactly with
the boots of young laborer named
William Richardson, who was ac-
quainted with the dead girl, and who
also was left handed. Richardson, on
being asked where he was on the day
IF the crime, declared that he was
employed the whole day in the work
of his master, a farmer, some dis.
tance away. This fact was borne
witness to by the farmer and Rich
ardson's fellow servants, and the po-
lice were baffled.
The alibi, in spite Of all the other
suspicious circumstances against the
prisoner, appeared SO strong as to be
unassailable. But the police perse-
vered, and at last one of the detec.
lives discovered that Richardson and
his fellow servants had that day been
employed in driving their masters
carts. These carts had been driven
in a direction which took them close
to the scene Of the crime, and while
they had been passing through wood
Richardson had requested his com.
rades to stop few minutes while he
IAN to a smiths shop and back. They
did so. and one of the drivers remem.
tered that Richardson, when he re.
turned, had been absent half an hour
~ his watch. This was ample time
for him to run to the cottage, commfr
the murder and run back again. He
had not been to the smiths shop. The
a.ihi thus broke down, Richardson
was found guilty. and. before his exc.
cution. he confessed the justice Of his
sentence.
An ingenious system Of proving an
aiibi was that Of man named Cor.
ton-at least, that was one Of his &c
names-convicted Of various clever
frauds in the north Of England. He
had twin brother, and while he was
engaged in a robbery the twin kept
himself in prominent evidence in
another far removed place. When
Gorton was arrested. the persons who
had met the twin trOoDcd into the wit
neS box.
Their evidence was Of course given
In oil hannct halinf thaf L n.au r,nr