The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-03
IN DEFENSE
 OF HIS SISTER Finley Howard Puts in
 His Plea. THE TRIAL AT ANDALUSIA Young Mans Fiance Gave Testi-
 rnony. Cruel Gossip Caused Murder and Put . Young Man on Trial for His Life-shst When His En-
 gsgement Was Broken. 


 .ha court ndiourned at noon today the defense had. with the exception Of one witness completed the, taking or us fastimony in the case o< the State vs Finley Howard. charged with the Kill ing of George W. Bagley last summer.
 The evidence of Miss Howard. sister of the defendant. is yet to be given then inc case will be submitted to a jury of twelve men good and true who have been selected to pass upon the guilt or innocence of the accused
 Late yesterday afternoon the state rested Witness after witness had oe- tailed from the stand the circumstances of the killing. There was no mater fal difference In the testimony as re- lated by the States witnesses Only about i've had seen any of the dlm- cuity at the time of the shooting. Dat otlife a number of others related ciF- ctimstances that had occurred in diner- ent parts of town on the morning ot and just prior to the occurrence. The five witnesses who saw part or the shooting were Steve Taylor. w. s. Hart. John Parnell. w. J. Manning and Bird Taylor. a negro. These men were working at the blacksmith shop of w.. S. Hart with the deceased at the time of the Killing None of them was in the shop at the time the difficulty be. gan, and none of them saw any or U untiI AlIef IHe HTbl biAOt WAS AASeAs
 Each of them was attracted by the first pistol shot and looked Inside, when then saw the deceased advancing in the direction of the defendant with his hands raised above his head and the defendant backing towards the door Some of them testified that the deceas- ed had a small Carpenters pencil in one of his hands--a pencil which the deceased had been using in marking on some wood work which he had been doing in the shop. Others testified that deceased had something in his hand. hut they could not tell what 1t was. They say that as the deceased was ad- vancing in the direction of the detend- ant and the latter backing toward the door fthe second shot was fired. and that then the deceased picked up 2 tvvo-pound hammer and raised 1t as IT to atriIxe the defendant when the third shot was fired and the deceased dropped the hammer. exclaiming: I'm dead man. fell backward and died almost instantly.
 that thev heard no words pass between the parties before the shooting-that thev had seen Howard go to the snop where BaRIey was that same morning and about half an hour before the XIII ing and call Bagley to one side ana have conversation with him' .nat fheV hnt maid no attention to him till they heard the first pistol fire. Parties then teatlfled to the wounds which produced aaglevss death They were three in number, In the left side, one or the bullets going through the wrist before entering the body With tne prouuus p.l.l tion of this testimony, together with q faw other minor and preliminary matters. the State rested it's case.
 Tha drst witness for defendant was zsh Tclerce. He swore that he was working for a livery stable, ana tnat on the morning of the killing he droVe dafendant to a saloon where defendant ana witness got a drink: that he saw something was radically wrong with tha defendant and asked him what u,as tbe matter with him; that defend- ant told him that Bagley and family or Bagley's wife. had been circulating slanderous reports on his (defendants) sister and he wanted 10 pc urIVen 70 Bagley's house and get a retraction: The witness suggested that defendant set Raeley and that they all go to- erefber and settle the matter, which course was decided upon. Witness tben drove defendant to the side of the shop; defendant got out and went in- eide. that he heard Bagley say
 ssvvbateyer my wife says is all right"
 Ire saw Bagley advancing on defend- ant with some object in his hand that 1nnl,ea to he about twelve or fourteen Inches Ione> and that the shooting LOOK place. detailing about the same cir- cum stancess as had been related Dy State witnesses. .. au,a,a-
 nt then testified for the defense. He told ahout the mental condition or the ,sather of the defendant before and s,nca the defendants birth; about an aunt of the defendants mother who waq for years confined in the danger n,,s ward of an asylum at Columbia, S. &arS gus nat she finally died in that in s.itntion: that defendants mothers mental condition had been much worse Sar tbe mast eight or ten years; that a6 had been nervous. irritable. cross and hysterical; that the defendant had always been delicate. quiet nervous morose and melancholy -
 A showing was then introduced for 0r IJehtfoot of Macon County who had been family physician for the How ards for many years. The showing was to Inc affect that the defendant was af- hicted with paranoia and was incapa- ble of distinguishing right from wrong or that he did not have the ablllty 10 oh oose between right ana wrong.
 Dr l.. E. Broughton then testified +o defendant's afliction that he had acute naranoia; that under certain hyp- othetieal circumstances laid by counsel for defense the defendant could not distinguish between right and wrong; nr that he did not have the ability to choose between right and wrong.
 Miss Mamie Lou Hartley of Green vile then took the stand for the de- fense She appeared pale and ner- yous. She looked as If she could hard ly undergo the ordeal. and spoke in tones hardly above a whisper. being frequently requested to speak in louder tones She stated that she was en- gagged to Howard. the defendant. that for some months before the killing she worked in Andalusia and that Howard frequently called on her at her board ing place. She stated that some weeks before the killing the lady with whom she was boarding told her that Howard was not a it person for her to asso- clate with because of reports deroga- tory to the character of his sister and that she must not permit Howard to come to her home. Witness testified that she forbade Towards calling at Tr..a.