The Washington herald., 1908-08-23
By LEGAL EXPERT.

Is there sufficient evidence 20 convince
twelve unprejUdiced jurors that Mrs Gun
ness is dead and thai Lamphere killed
her. OF viii the evidence submitted by the
States prosecutor simply becioud the
minds Of the jury and the public and
leave the vanishment OF the woman
slayer q more ineXpuCabIe puzzle than it
IS now2
There are seven Indictments against
Lamphere. Four Of these charge him
with the murder Of Mrs Guinness and her
three children One charges him with the
murder OF Andrew Helgelein- one charges
that he was an accessory with Mrs Gun
ness in the murder of Helgelein. and the
seventh charges him with arson IN the
burning OF the Guinness home
But an Indictment IS not an evidence OF
guilt The Jaw expressly SAYS So In
dlcJueuts are often returned on the
merest suspicion of guilt and often sim
ply as a means TO hold a prisoner in the
hope that more evidence against him may
be obtained
The jury which goes into the box 10 Try
Ray Larnphere for his life VIII be in
st-ucted by the court that the Indictment
is 10 evidence Of guilt and that he is pre-
suued 20 be innocent until proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt, and that this
presumption Of innocence accompanies
the accused throughout the trial or until
It 3 removed by evidence Of guilt which
the jurors cannot II reason doubt
Guinness Case First.
The prosecution viii undoubtedly elect
10 Try Lamphere first upon the Indictment
charging him with the murder OF Mrs.
Guinness. for unless he can be convicted
OF that he cannot be convicted Of any OF
the other six alleged crimes
The prosecution must first prove what
is known in law as the corpus deficit. "
which means The body, substance, OF
foundation of the offeuse" which IL this
case is the dead body OF Mrs Guinness.
Before the case against Lauphere can
have any standing III court the prOsecu-
ton must first prove thai Mrs Guinness
IS dead and IL must establish this fact
beyond a doubt II the prosecution should
fail 20 prove this the defense would. at
the end OF the States case. file q denur-
-er asking that the case be thrown out
Of court and the prisoner discharged for
want Of proof OF the corpus deiictL"
The State undoubtedly has enough evi-
dencc Of the death OF Ms Guinness 10
warrant the judge in allowing the case
10 go 70 the jury Il VIII introduce Dr.
J. S. Norton, the dentist who put the
gold bridgew0rk in the mouth Of Mrs.
bridge work found near the body in the
cellar Is The same The rings found upon
the hand Of the dead woman viii be intro
Guced in evidence. and the state VIII
Try to prove that they were hers by the
engraved initials p s 10 J. s. and P
G. 10 J. s" She went once by the name
Ot Jennie So7enssn-
Must show Motive.
Before Il can prove its case the State
must also show that Lamphe-e had a
motive for TIE death OF Mrs. Guinness
The State wiz try 10 prove that he was
very jealous Of her and that she had dis
Carded him and that he thought she kept
a large sum Of money in her home and
wished 10 rob her But the sIranEest the
orv Of the State viii be that Lauplere
assisted her in the murder Of HelgeIein. f.
that he knew this death was 20 be inves-
Jigated. he knew the body would be
found buried on the murder farm. and
that he would be jointly accused with
Mrs. Guinness for the crime. and that If
he killed her and her children and
burned the house he would stop the in
vestigation.
The State VIII attempt 10 prove that
he said he would burn her house 10 get
even with her that he came 10 town the
night before without good reason. and
that he followed Mrs Guinness into a
grocery when she bought coal oil. and
that he knew where she kept the oil on
a porch where he could reach IL easily.
The State viii attempt 70 prove that
Lanphere might have slept al the home
OF Lizzie Smith. and yet have time 10
get 10 the Guinness house and Kill them and
get away Il viii attempt 70 show that
he was near the Guinness home soon after
The fire burst forth, and that he did not
keen IN h. in F----
across fields, and that he ran part OF the
way. going ten miles without breakfast.
g suspicious circumstance in itself
The State viii show that Mrs Gun
ness loved her children, and viii argue
the improbability Of her numbering them
and OF committing suicide simply 10 es-
cape prosecution for murder
Turn of Defense
Then Will come the turn OF the de-
fense- II VIII first dispute the death Of
Mrs Guinness. introducing numerous wit
nesses who knew her well and who viewed
The dead body OF the woman found IN the
ruins, and who viii testify that the dead
body was much smaller in every way
II may admit that while the rings
and the gold bridgewOrk might have
been hers. she might have placed the
body OF another woman there 70 deceive
the public. and in that case. she would
naturally have put the rings on its finger
and she might easily have taken the
brldgework from her mouth and placed
Il there. toe. The fact that the head Of
the wcman's BODY W. gone VIII be
strong evidence for TIE defense IN cast
ing doubt upon the identify Of the body
The defense viii snow her motive for
disappearing either by suicide OF by sub
sr-tUung a body for hers and then es-
Gaping IN the darkness It viii prove
-Ezt the day before her death she re-
CeIved letter from Helgeleln saving
he was coming TO investigate the disap-
pearanCe OF his brother. She had mur-
6ered that brother His body was buried
= her dO0ryard- and she knew discovery
was al hand
II she fed. she could not take three
children with her; that meant detection.
and they knew something Of her crimes
and might be strong witnesses against
her Her love for them would not keep
her from killing them She loved Jennie
Olsen with equal fervor. and she did not
hesitate 10 XIII her when the girl showed
that she knew too much about murders
IN the Guinness house
The defense will show that the dav be-
fore the murders Mrs Guinness made her
VIII. leaving her real estate 10 charity.
evidence that she intended 10 kill her
ChIl1ren- II VIII prove that she told
that she feared Lamphere would Kill her.
thus preparing the way for suspicion to
ne directed against him when the bodies
were found and making II easier for her
&c escape That she bought an unusually
large amount Of coal oil the day before
her house burned VIII also be proven