The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-03-23
COMING TO
Be HANGED

The trial of Morito Kaizo, the Jap
anese lately convicted of murder al
Hilo and who will come up to Homo
lulu on the next Kinau, to be hanged
was one that was filed with sensa-
tional incidents. 1t was conducted to
a successful conclusion by the ability
of Deputy Attorney General Milver-
ton, who had the able assistance OF
Chester A. Doyle in handling the evil
dence for the prosecution. The mur-
der was committed in Hilo on the first
of January, 1905, the victim being one
Moriyama, who had gone from Ho-
nolulu to Hilo to take the place OF
big boss of the Japs, In lieu of one
Funikoshi, heretofore holding the
place of leader. Funikoshi murdered
a Japanese merchant who would not
stand for blackmail by these high
binders, which seems to be about what
the gang of gamblers at Hilo amounts
to, SO could not tlonger hold his job
He had an appointment, indeed, with
the Warden of the Territorial prison
Morita wanted to be leader of the
gamblers hui himself and so with a
party of his friends went one night
and killed the aspirant from Honolu-
lu, cutting his head open with an axe
When Morita was first brought to
trial. his attorney. Carl Smith, raised
the point that the Portuguese jury
men had no right to sit in the case
as they had been naturalized in the
Circuit Court, which the lawyer claim
ed could not make citizens. This con-
tention raised a big sensation at the
time, but was knocked out in the Su-
preme Court.
Then Smith withdrew from the case
and Irwin & Wise were appointed by
the court to defend Morita. One OF
the gang that had helped Morita tc
do the killing, Sake by name. turned
states evidence and the territory had
in addition the wife of the murdered
man, who was in the room out OF
which he had been enticed by Morita
to his death. The defense, however
put on a barber named Hiura, who
said that he had no interest in the
case, who testified that he had seer
the murdered man try to kill the de-
fendant once before. The plea of the
defense was self-defense, and Mori-
yama was known to be a bad man.
AT this stage. the case was ad-
journed for a day to enable the de-
fense to get a witness from Kau who
it was claimed. would swear that the
woman, wife to the murdered man.
had not been in the house, but at a
bathing place a long ways off at the
time OF the killing. Chester Doyle
learned the name of this witness-and
saw him first. The witness and Doyle,
in fact, came in on the train together
from the Volcano House, and on the
train this man was met by the barber
who had no interest in the case and
instructed as to what testimony he
should give.
He went on the stand and gave it.
accordingly, and after he had sworn
to his story, that the woman had been
at a bath with him at the time of
the killing, the territory put on Doyle
in rebuttal-and that particular wit
ness was squelched. The witness had
previously, on CROSSE examination, ad-
mitted his meeting with Doyle. The
case was then argued and submitted
and the verdict of the jury was guilty
hanging, in all probability, on the
High Sheriff's list. The men charged
with Morita are now being tried, and
there are some Koreans also to be
tried for murder in Hlo at the pres
ent term of court.
SSSSSSSSSSSsSSsSSS SSSSSSSS>SSSSSSSSS:
wise have arisen, to dispose of half
hf II rifnn AnTa ttThf fn1, ln In
whose profits numerous subjects OF
Great Britain We're more than anxious
to share
wYLLIE'S NOTE.
Among the Wyllie annotations to this
interesting document is one which
states that, prior to the visit OF
Thomas ap Catesby Jones TO the Soutl
Seas in the Peacock the natives o1
all the South Sea Islands, and of Ha.
wall, generally supposed the United
States to be no more than a colony
of Great Britain. The impression was
! probably spread by traders, and while
the missionaries would perhaps com.
bat it, they do not seem to have beer
able to remove the impression until ar
American warship came into Soutl
Pacific waters with a man who knew
his trade in command of her.
Jones, by the way, in the document
now seen for the first time in half {
century, tells among other things OF
how he frustrated a scheme of tn,
British to make descent upon the
coast of California. Which is history
for Americans.
The original of this Thomas az
Catesby Jones report must be in the
archives of the Navy Department al
Washington.