The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-12-01
GLLETTE'S STORY INPEACHHD.
ADMITS THAT HE LIED BEFORE
AND AFTER THE TRAGEDY.

Tctum0uy-VH NFVr~E4AuhMAu 1uu inc
Prisoner Confesses That He swan
Ashore and Left tho Girl 10 DIE.
HKRKIMER; Nov. 3o.-After calling only
ten witnesses to support the story which
Chester Gillette had Just finished telling
on the stand, his defence to-day rested so
Unexpectedly that it fairly took away the
breath OF the crowd that packed the court
room. cor these ten witnesses i've were
called simply to prove 0illette's good char
acter in Cortland before this affair and the
other i've to show that Grace Bro wn was
dependent and often seen crying before
she left Cortland for her home in South
Otselic.
Except for these witnesses the fate OF
Chester Gillette seems to rest almost entirely
upon his own testimony, and that testimony
was SO impeached by the cross-examlnatior
which the prisoner underwent to-day that
there is at least a possibility OF doubt as
to its trutbfulness in the minds OF all who
heard IL. Out of his own mouth Chester
Gillette was made to acknowledge that he
had lied both before and after the tragedy.
and other parts OF his testimony were to
a great extent impeached by the witnesses
the prosecution called In rebuttal. The
continuation OF the Stats's rebuttsl oase
should end tomorrow. The summing up
will come Monday and the case should 20
t. the jury some time Tuesday.
onLETTE SHOWS ANGER.
All through the long days session, until
after 8 O'Clock in the afternoon, Chester Z.
Gillette was on the stand, subjected to one
OF the most clever and merciless cross-ex-
aminations that have been heard in a capital
case in this part Of the State in a long time.
Through II all, until the very end, after he
had been on the stand for nearly eleven
hours, Gillette showed no sign of weakening.
His face was as blank as II has been through
out the earlier part OF the trial, and only
once did he show any emotion at all-thAt
was anger which came out against the
prosecutor when he asked him II he thought
that his testimony on the stand was helping
his case any. While his counsel were OBJ
jecting to the remark the prisoner him
self broke out in an angry tone and said:
Il will answer questions that ! can UNDER
stand and l won't answer any other kind
Toward the end, however, when his case
had been finished and all the witnesses
who had been called had failed TO bring
out any material fact in his favor. Gillette
seemed for the first time to realize thor
oughly the seriousness of his position.
He sat in his chair, hunched up even more
than usual, and on his face was a worried
look, which might be almost translated as
indicating despair. just before court adj
iourned a messenger boy brought him a
telegram. He signed for it listlessly, read
l l.. $500. Lo-1aA IL &c hAA 1a,,,..l .-1
then resumed his pose. with his head in his
hands and his back bent.
GRACE BROWN SAID SHE WISHED TO DIE.
The witnesses the defence called bore out
rather than contradicted the statements
which the States witnesses had already
made. William ~Steinburg. Ella Hoag. Mrs.
Maggie Mcmahon and Mrs. Nave Wilcox.
all from the Gillette skirt factory, testified
that Grace Brown was always apparently
respondent before she left the factory and
often cried at her work. Most OF them
had heard her say that she wished she would
die and never live to see the sun rise again.
and they testified that she often went 10
talk with Chester Gillette during factory
hours.
Mrs. Maggie Mcmahon testified that when
she asked what Grace was crying about
another woman near by had said: .Biliy's
fellow had another girl last night" and
that the statement that there were other
fish in the sea as good az had ever been
caught did not comfort her. Il know
she said, but 1 am afraid that this ash Is
the only one for me-"
II the character of this testimony aided
the defence in the theory Of suicide II also
aroused in the minds OF almost al who
IaouI - -nzaNAv -, khn i'll - 49,.
as to be dangerous to the defendant's
chances. On cross-examinaSion all these
witnesses said that they did not know the
condition the girl was in or why she cried
as she worked and wished that tho sun
would never rise on her again, nor did they
more than half realize what IL meant 30 hev
when the only fish in her sea had left II 10
sport in other waters.
TESTIFY TO orLLETTE's COO cHARAcxEs.
Otis Patrick, county clerk Of Cortland
county: Frank J. Tyler. q Cortland manu-.
facturer; Fred B. Crook, editor OF the Cort-
land Standard; the Rev. Albert Clements.
pastor Of the Presbyterian church there.
and Prof. Charles q. Robertson Of the stats
Normal School we're all called 70 testify
that Gillette's charaoter. Is far 90 they
knew, was of the best. The clergymap
SalU OnaJ OlLleLJe was n constant
at his church, going on an average three
times a week.
On oross-examination all Of them had
to confess, however, that they had never
known Of Billy" Brown, the girl who
worked in the factory Of Gillette's unole.
n that his only companions Of the oppo-
site sex that they knew were girls who
moved in a higher class OF Cortland society.
THE DEFENCE RESTS.
When they had finished the defence
rested its case. The move came as q great
surprise to the crowd that jammed the
court room, for it had been supposed that
Gillette's counsel would call some medical
testimony to contradict that which The
prosecution had brought forth. In fact.
in his opening address Mr.. Thomas had
said there was a physician who had ex-
amined Grace Browns body when It was
brought to the Glenmore Hotel, and that