The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-04-04
Self Defense Pleaded by
 Defendant.
THE ARGUMENT ARE HEARD
HaE a Hundred Witnesses Were
 Examined During Day.
No Allusion to the Love Affair of the Sister-in-Law of Hancock, and Professor Troutman Who
 Was Killed.
By Bruce Kennedy.

By Bruce Kennedy.
 Brewton, April 3.-(Staff Correspon- dence. )-The evidence is in; eloquen' words of argument have been spoken In behalf of the State and of the defen- dant and in all probability Fred L Hancock will know early tomorrow whether the shackles of the law which have bound him fifteen months are to be burst or whether he is to be pun- ished for staying Jesse A. Troutman an afflicted school teacher. near Canoe Station, Sunday afternoon. January l. 1905.
 The examination of half a hundred witnesses consumed all of the day light hours of the circuit court of Escam- bia county over which Judge Samuel E. Brewer is presiding. The night session was given over to four hours of argument The court adjourned at II o'clock, Judge Brewer announcing that he would charge the jury tomor- row morning.
 Contrary to expectation Hancock made out a case of self defense. The name of Miss Winnie Weaver was not used in the trial of the case. There was no allusion to the love affairs of the young sister of Mrs. Hancock ana the dead school teacher, which affair aroused the bitterness of the Trout man and Weaver families, the affair which is said to have been the indi- rect cause of the tragedy.
 Miss Weaver Not on stand.
 Miss Weaver. with the other wit nesses, was under the rule and was not in the court room during the day. As it is not the duty of the State to show d motive for murder and as the de- fendant, elected to plead self defense the family affairs of the Troutmans. the Hancocks and the Weavers were not pried open and little Miss Weaver was spared the embarrassment of d cross-fire of poignant questions.
 The defendant rests his case on the evidence of Roland eWaver, his broth- law. who was with him when Troutman was killed. and his own tes- timony. These two swore that Trout man snapped pistol three times in the face of Hancock before Hancock fired the fatal shots.
 The State says that the, dead man did not have pistol and was so in- firm that he could not have fired 1t if he had had one. To support his con tentjon the defendant brought for ward J. A. Davison of Georgiana who swore that unknown to anyone he was within thirty feet of Troutman and Hancock. and saw Troutman present DlolOl anu SHdppcu flt. ASdlu JUG Burlington of Castleberry swore to finding a pistol near the scene of the tragedy two days later. The defendant says this was the missing pistol of the school teacher.
 The State declares broadly that Da- vson and Burlington are perjurors. It charges that Hancock went to Canoe station that Sunday morning, hunted the afflicted school teacher, threatened r .Xas.a l. lay in wait for him and shot him in the back closing the sunlight from his eyes forever.
 Only Inference as to Motive.
 There is only an inference as to the motive. for the crime. Judge Brewer refused to allow the letter, said to have been written by Troutman casting doubt on the percentage of Hancock, to go to the jury. Mrs. Hancock ap- peared first by the side of her hus- band at the afternoon session of court. She was attired in deep black. and wore a veil over a black straw hat. Slender and refined, with wistful face. she made pathetic picture.
 Interest in the trial reached its cli- max tonight when the big room was filled to overfowing to hear the speech es to the jury by J. NJ. Rabb and Jesse F. Stallings for the defendant and IL. ICISH anu COllCltOT 6TlCk6H for the State. The most prominent peo- pie of Brewton were in the great au- dience, more than one hundred of them being stylish1y dressed women. The audience was well rewarded Four eloquent and impassioned speeches were made.
 Tense and dramatic was the scene. Just inside the bar rails sat Fred Han- cock holding his baby girl fast asleep Tn i.i with a fiaxen haired baby boy nestling in her bosom. They are pretty children, these Hancock babies, and they wore dainty frocks.
 Children of the Hancocks,
 Now and then while lawyers were struggling for a life on one side and justice on the other, the babies would open their eyes and cry plaintively at the strangeness of the scenes moving before their innocent vision. The young mother, with quivering lips, quieted them to rest.
 Miss Annie Weaver. accompanied by her father, John D. Weaver. a prosper ous farmer of Conecuh County, sat near Hancock and his wife and children, touching shoulders with Hancock. and on the same bench were W. J. Trout man. Teve Troutman and Charles Trout man. brothers of the dead teacher.
 MT SPOhS lTSJ to the JurX to- night. He was followed by Mir. Rabb. MT Stallings and Solicitor Bricken were the last speakers. They swayed the great audience. among whom were many bound by ties of blood to the principals in the tragedy, with their earnestness and eloquence. MT. Bricken closed at II o'clock and the court ad- journed until o'clock tomorrow.
 Judge Brewer Is Business.
 Judge Brewer has a way of despatch ing business while presiding over a court. He is punctual and he requires lawyers and court officials to be pune tual.
 The court recessed to meet at S:SO o'clock this morning. and at S:30 o'clock the proceedings moved off.
 Not guilty" was response of MT. Stallings when Solicitor Bricken had read to the jury the indictment charg- ing Fred Hancock with murder in the first degree.
 The State went right into the examin- ation of witnesses. All of them were under the rule and this had the effect of reducing the size of the audience in the court room.
 Solicitor Bricken first put on the wit ness stand W. J. Troutman, Justice of the Peace at Canoe, and a brother of