The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1907-01-31
CHAPTER xxVIII.-(contInued.)

sumed the counsel for the crown, the
confession Of the criminal-the true
murderer Of Aloysius Brangwyn. l
shall call before you three witnesses
h will swear to the handwriting in
which 1t appears. l shall call the
first commissioner Of police, who will
tell you that the prisoner handed this
document to him only as a proof of his
W innocence of the crime with
which It was the intention of the po-
lice to charge him, and not in fulfil
ment OF that duty as q citizen which
made It incumbent upon him not to
conceal that crime, the more especial.
ly considering its magnitude. shall
draw your attention to the date Of the
document, which proves that the pris-
oner has been in possession Of this
guilty knowledge for a year"
Alexis Brangwyn's confession, hand
ed In by the first commissioner Of po-
lice, vas brief and to the point:
During my residence in Paris in the
year - ! made the acquaintance OF
q girl, whose name 1t is not necessary
to mention, with whom / lived. l al
lowed her to confuse my identity with
that Of my cousin, Aloysius. She adj
dressed me by his name, and, although
I did not %repudiate it, | swear that l
never otherwise deceived or misled her
In respect to it. When the girl in
sisted on our marriage I forsook her
and returned to London, where | lived
in my uncle's house. Her father wrote
to my uncle, denouncing my cousin by
name. Ny cousin, Aloysius, when the
accusation was brought against him,
wrote from Paris to deny it, and de
manded to be faced by his accuser.
Before this could be accomplished l
was myself brought into his presence,
recognized, and denounced. | had no
defense. My uncle threatened to dis
inherit me. ] was desperately EN-
barrassed at the time. ! had many Ii
abilities | could not meet, and | saw
nothing but disgrace and ruin before
me.
In his first anger against my cousin
my uncle had written TO his solicitor
a letter In which he instructed him to
prepare a new will for his signature,
constituting me his sole heir. He an
nounced to me his intention of revers-
ing that will - leaving everything to
Aloysius. There was a violent scene
between us, and we were alone in the
house. | went out, intending to pur-
chase a sufficient quantity Of chloro-
form to put an end to my existence.
When l returned found that my uncle
had fallen in a VOC upon the floor.
I saturated a handkerchief with chlor-
oform and placed it over his mouth
and nostrils, and renewed 1t from time
to time, and the idea for tho disposal
OF the body occurred to me.
The frame of the statue after ward
known as Boadicea was but newly
built up In the rough that day. |
buried the body within it, and !
worked all night, all day, and all next
night and part Of next day in the hope
that it would appear too far advanced
to be looked upon as a place of con-
cealment. When the house in which
my uncle had resided was about to be
broken up, I bought the house in Agar
Row in which my uncle's body was dis
covered. purchased the statue at the
sale through an ordinary agent, and l
entrusted its removal to an old ser
want named Adolphe Grimaud, who is
now Matchmaking me.-(Signed) Alex
is Brangwyn."
Three witnesses-one the editor OF
an art journal to which Alexis Brang-
wyn had been a frequent contributor.
and two professional experts - swore
positively to the fact that the entire
document was in his handwriting.
Counsel for the prisoner did not dis
pute tho fact. 1t was true that the
document was written in the prison
er's presence, was IN part dictated by
him. and was in his possession from
the time of ito completion.
That, my lord, and gentlemen Of
the. jury. Is the case OF the crown"
said the attorney general.
II shall call but one witness" said
the equally eminent counsel who ap-
peared in the prisoner'c behalf. I'VE
admit the fact charged against us, and
We can only trust to the hope which is
strong within US that 1t will be recog-
mixed that the prisoners position was
absolutely forced upon him. l will
not shrink, in the vain hope of shelter
ing my client, behind an illusory de-
tense from the declaration that NJ man
has a right to override the law. No
heroism, no self-sacrifce, no virtue Of
his own, no pity for those who are al
lied to him by blood, no consideration
for a, friendship, however prolonged
and tender, can in the eye Of the law
justify the concealment Of q crime SO
foul as murder when once the fact is
in%disputably known. No father has a
right to shield his child; no child has
. right to shield a father. No mother
q hide her daughters crime without
participating in 1t and sharing in its
penalty. The dearest. the most sacred
ties of affection afford no defense.
Does this appear to you a barbar-
Gus provision? Not so, gentlemen. it
is alike necessary and Just. But the
law Of this land. although In itself II