Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1906-12-28
MAY FREE A. I. PATRICK.
DISCOVERY OF FINGER PRINTS ON
RICE WILL MAY PROVE HIS
INNOCENCE.
MAY SHOW WILL GENUINE.
Patrick Is Not Satisfied with Life Sen
tence Instead of Death-Wants
Pardon

NEW YORK, Dee. 21.-Thu!nb marks
on the disputed will of the late William
Marsh Rice may result in freedom for
Albert L. Patrick. \ determined effort
is now being made by Patrick's wife and
her brother to clear the name of TIE ia
nous prisoner.
To DisprOve Murder.
Patrick will seek to prove that Rice
was not murdered but that his death
was due to the causes ascribed by DIR.
Curry in the death certifcate-"old age.
weak heart, diarrhoea and mental Wor-
ry."
Following this Patrick will contend
that he did not forge the Rice will as
alleged and that because the will de
prived interested parties in Texas of Il
vast fortune he had to be put to death
to enable them to acquire possession of
it.
Without Patrick's knowledge new and
hitherto unpublished evidence concern
ing the alleged forged signatures, which
justice of the appellate division re-
garded as of such grave Importance that
he Immediately advised its diScOvcrer to
lay the facts before Recorder Golf, who
presided at the murder trial and who
three times sentenced the prisoner to die
in the electric chair, has been obtained.
Claims Signature Genuine.
Albert H. Hamilton of Auburn. n Y,
an expert in toXicology and in disputed
handwritings. holds this informat ton and
over his own signature has made the
declaration that the visible proof can be
shown that the disputed signature on
which the prosecution relied to establish
motive is the genuine handwriting Of
I,p off Iii, J,,,+
the receipt of the letter was not ac-
knowledged David B. Sill as counsel
was informed, but, as subsequently eX-
planned, he regarded the principal effort
to be made, the disproying of the crime,
before disproving the motive and he
made no answer.
As the case hinged almost exclusively
on the genuineness or falSity of Il sigma
ture the exhibits in the Patrick murder
trial were introduced as the most con
vincing illustrations of the inability of
any person to sign his or her name so
closely alike two or three times i'll a
day that they would ''superimp0se.' In
that means, if one signature were placed
over another the curves, angles ana
spaces would vary widely. SO it was
assumed that where the superimpOsing
showed that the two signatures were
identical it was an evidence OF tracing
anu ttIlSttit tItIS ii 1OIStlS'
Thumb Print May Free Patrick,
In examining the disputed Rice sig
natures-thOse which it was alleged Pat
rick Disqualification discovered on one
q faint smudge at the upper part and
at the outer curl of the n, and just
above the dot of the 81" With the aid
of magnifying glass he discovered that
the blot had been caused by the imprint
of a fOrefinger. Closer examination dis
closed the corrugatiOnS and lines of the
cuticle which, according to the BertillOn
system of measurements, are not alike
in shape, size or direction in any two hui
man hands in the world.
Without telling of his discovery to
anybody Hamilton went to Rochester
and made an examination Of the full
set of exhibits in the law library of the
court of appeals. He Scrutinized the
great mass of admitted signatures of
William NJ. Rice and after long search
found a check on which appeared a tiny
smudge over the last three letters of
the signature. The magnifying glass
made when the ink was nearly dry.
Finds Prints Are IdeNtical.
Hamilton made a measurement and to
his amazement discovered the lines to
be identical with the lines in the dis
burn This indicated that the latter was
written by Rice, as the other was known
to be.
Samuel Bell Thomas, who has had
charge of the medico-legal end of the
Patrick case and whose efforts in OBJ
tanning the signatures Of $500 physicians
in New York state certifying that the
medical expert testimony for the prose-
}cution was open to grave doubt, was
amazed when shown the statement of
the Auburn expert.
cts Importance can not be over csti-
mated" said Mr.. Thomas eff what
Prof. Hamilton says in his signed state
ment is true it destroys absolutely the
motive for murder in the case against
Patrick, without which the prosecution
fails utterly.
, Patrick May Be Insane.
ALBANY, n. Y, Dec. 21.-There is
a grave doubt in the minds of many as
to whether or not Patrick is a fit subject
at MatteWan. A report was made to
Gov. Higgins after he had announced
that he had committed Patrick's SEN
tence that the condemned lawyer would
not accept a communication but would
continue to fight for his freedom.
Patrick will have to be careful" said
the governor ''Or he will find himself
at Mattewan. He has apparently lost
his head. The strain has probably been
too much for him"
Mattewan is the asylum for criminal
insane.
1t is said that Patrick has written
many letters recently to the governor
and that some of them were so worded
that they left little doubt of the pris-
Oner's insanity.
Prisoner Not Satisfied.
Ossining, n. Y, Dec 21.-Albert T
Patrick announced that he was not sat
isfed with Communication and would at
once begin his fight for freedom \
writ of habeas corpus will be applied
for, it was said. in the United States
court making Warden Johnson the de-
PENDANT.
The first news Of the action of Gov
Higgins was made to the prisoners cell
III the death house in Sing Sing prison
by his wife.
Mrs. Patrick left New York immedi-
ately on receipt of the news from Albany
and upon her arrival here she was per-
mitted to go at once to her husbands
cell.
Patrick seemed not at all surprised to
learn that the governor had interviewed
to save his life.
AA\yTnc rINJITIAIr