Los Angeles herald., 1906-12-11
WILSON JURY
OUT ALL NIGHT
MEN MAY NEVER REACH AN
AGREEMENT
Assistant District Attorney Makes a
Case After Picking Flaws In
EVIdence-Denunciation
for Woman

Failing to agree on a verdict after
six hours of deliberation, the jury in
the Wilson murder case in department
1 of the superior court was locked in
the jury room last night to spend the
remainder of the night in meditation.
Yesterday when the case was called
for the last day of it's hearing the court
room was fairly packed with men,
women and children anxious to hear the
closing argument.
Maj. Donnell of the district attor-
neys office closed for the state. For
several hours he went over the evil
dence, slowly picking to pieces the evil
dence regarding possible insanity al
legged by the defense He Knocked the
allegation that Wilson was temporarily
insane at the time Of the murder of
Belden.
His denunciation of Mrs Wilson'S evil
dence was direct. He stated that Mrs.
Wilson, having admitted that she had
fired two shots at Belden for the ex-
press purpose of killing him, was a self
confessed criminal.
In his closing argument after having
attacked both the meager allegations
of self-defenSe and insanity, he threw
his last efforts into an appeal not to
be guided by sympathy and imperil the
country by rendering a decision from
the standpoint of the unwritten law.
Maj. Donnel stated that such an action
would influence many people in all parts
or the country and would create con-
dition of lawlessness.
Jurors Out All Night
Shortly before o'clock the jurymen
had received their instructions and
were sent to the jury room. At 7
o'clock they were taken to dinner by
Deputy Sheriff Harrington, and from
the determined looks on the faces of
scme of the jurors it was evident that
a hard contest was on behind the doors
of the little jury room.
BY o'clock the twelve men were
again coseted, while Judge Smith
waited patiently for the knock. Will
son, who with his wife spent the day
III the court room, paid little heed to
the proceedings and showed neither in
torest nor nervousness over the actions
of the court or jury.
His little daughter Natalie, for whose
betrayal he shot and killed Wallace
Belden August 20 at Long Beach, curled
herself up on a seat beside her father
and watched the jurors with frightened
eyes.
AS the hours passed with no call
from the jury room the spectators who
had remained, even at the night ses-
sion, to see the finish of the case, be-
| came convinced that a bitter struggle
was being held in the jury room. That
several of the men on the jury were
favorable to an absolute acquittal on
the unwritten law contention seems
certain, while others held out for
punishment of some sort for the de-
| liberate shooting.
If the jurors reached an agreement
after Judge Smith left the court house
last night they gave no intimation of
it as they were locked in their rooms
at II o'clock.
This morning the murder trial OF
Constant Lilly, a 7-year-old lad,
charged with the killing of Alexander
Gonzales, will be taken up in depart
ment 1, and the jurors in the Wilson
case, If they have already failed to
reach q verdict, may be allowed the
entire day in which to deliberate be-
fore being discharged as hung jury.