The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-05-19
JURY HAS THE CASE
CHARGE DELIVERED IN PROsECU-
 TION OF CONAN.
Second Sensational Murder Trial In Dothan Tn Last Two Weeks is
 Being Weighed By HOus-
 ton County Peers.


 Dothan, May 1s.--(Special.)- .)-solicitor Parks in an impassioned appeal for law and justice made the closing speech in the case of the State against P. L.. Cowan, concluding just at night-fall and Judge Pearce ordered an adjourn ment until tomorrow morning at which time he will charge the jury. and another one of the most important cas- es in the criminal history or Soutneast Alabama will enter upon US iast stdSo
 At eight o'clock this morning court resumed its session and the examina- Notwfthstanding the fact that the evil dence is entirely circumstantial, there having been no eye witnesses 10 the death of Curtis Rogers. there IS mass of testimony seldom seen in a crimi. nal case. It had been hoped that all of the evidence might be adduced pe- fore adjournment yesterday afternoon but this was found to pc imp1sst,piet, ,a st and court recessed at o'clock last
 cowan sat in the court room all day. just back of the three attorneys Wno Near the defendant, in one of the regu- lation court house chairs, was Mrs Cowan, in her arms tiny inIant. ne babe, quiet by spells and then pratstths incessantly for few moments at time, looked with big. wondering eyes at the scene before it,, failing to un- derstand that twelve Houston County nty citizens hs sso,,ye were se 1eetHn msas a orphan.
 The case has many or those pecui'ar ~, aspects that gives so great q cnarm ,ne, .o the Conan Doyle stories. When yoqpng Curtis Rogers met his death at BE Creek, it was in the store of Cowan. The store served also as the postomce of the little town. and Cowan was tne postmaster ,S Mo %he Uhe Gas Sied and the one who. if the States version be correct was his slayer. None except God ana E. L. Cowan knows whether Cowar W whether G he is guilty of one of tho blackest crimes In the history of Ala bama. All that bystanders on the out side of the ittls w9Seea PSe door of ths store opened, Cowan's face appeareo in the opening. and they were called hnv ,nv side the building EnteTlngi. hx, 'fSs fSs side Iia of a table, dying. The death rat tie was in his throat. and by neitner word nor sign was he able to reveaI how, death had come; on btet lne ,aPie Rossrs had been figuring. On the fioor there was human blood. ,,,
 Cowan stated to the coroner Jurys was standing near some shelving in the store, and was looking under the counter for something. He was m
 stopping Pos,tiS9n on an Upper shelf
 "A. was a loaded revolver, which, becoming inc base board of the counter and was discharged. the bullet entering the brain of Rogers. The accused man says. that he, himself. reached over the fatally wounded Rogers. picked him from the floor, and carried him to the chair near the table. where he seated him . =. Alabama, in its indictment, and also say the friends of the dead man: While pen and ink, they claim. Rogers was assa sassinated by the man in whose place of business Nk was aK unsuspicious guest The pistol from which sped the deadly bullet, ayers the prosecution. was provided with a safety /appiianc,e dental %nita IH%iu discRarge. % On the paper used by Rogers in his calculations. and just at the end of a line, Is a Jerky, wavy line unlike anything else on the papeu "a line seemingly nadc involuntariiy'
 This is due to the fact, says the wound at the identical fraction of d second that he attempted to make this last figure, and that the ball from the revolver's mouth paralyzed hts mental faculties in the bat of an eye. causing the convulsive movement of his wrist that caused the broken line.
 The Cowan murder case has been 2 hard fought one from the start. and has aroused intense interest. At the preliminary examination before Judge of Probate George Leslie. after an all day legal battle, the defendant was ad- mitted to bail He remained at liberty until a few days ago, when the grand jury having returned an indictment against him. he was rearrested and in carcerated in the Houston county jail.