Evening star., 1909-05-08
HELEN BOYLE GUILTY
Convicted of Conspiracy in
kidnapping Case.
JURY IS OUT 20 MINUTES
Verdict Based on Second Count of
Pennsylvania Indictment.
COURTROOM CROWD APPROVES
Prisoner Defiant as Buzz Goes UP
Among Spectators-Points Made
by Counsel and Judges Charge.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
MERCER, Pa, May S.-Helen Boyle
was found guilty Of being James Boyle's
accomplice in the KIDNAPPING of Willie
Whitla, the efght-year-old Sharon boy.
at 1884 this afternoon, the verdict being
read Immediately after court convened
| after the noon recess. The jury was out
only twenty minutes.
| general buzz Of approval went up
from the throng of woman spectators in
the courtroom, but there was no disorder.
Helen had been brought to the court
room and was sitting between Sheriff
Chess and ex-Judge S. H. Miller. her
chief counsel
She threw back her head defiantly as
the jurymen took their seats and pressed
her lips firmly. She made not a sign
with head back. fixing her eyes on the
ceiling, at which she stared for a mo-
ment until the sheriff attracted her at
| tention
| Judge Miller. Mrs. Boyle's attorney
announced that he will make a motion
| Monday for new trial. IT is believed
! here that the motion will be overruled
| and that both Boyle and his wife will be
| sentenced Monday. The penalty in
Boyle's case is from one year in the
| penitentiary to a life sentence, and in
/
| ty-five years.
Judge Miller's Points.
| Nothing but the attorneys arguments
and the judges charge remained to the
| trial when court met this morning. For
mer Judge Samuel H. Miller Mrs. Boyle's
chief counsel, made the opening argument
| for his client. He had chairs cleared
| back. so that he might have a good-sized
| alley to tramp up and down in before the
| jury box. First he offered to the court
number Of special points, which he asked
Judge Williams to include in his charge.
| The defense made no objection to them.
The points were as follows: That crimes
| are punishable exclusively within the ju-
risdiction of thecourt where they are COM
| mitted. ana that It must be proven n-rhat
the defendant committed a crime in Mer-
| car county. That the jury must be con-
vinced beyond reasonable doubt that the
defendant planned and conspired with
James F. Boyle to kidnap Billie Whitla.
and that there is no evidence to show
that Billie was secreted or held In Mer-
Ger county. That she cannot be convicted
in Mercer county for anything she did in
Cleveland. and that not sufficient evidence
has been offered to prove her connection
with the case.
Il am not saying the defendant is not
guilty. but I say she is not guilty in
Pennsylvania" he declared. after warm
Ing up
| He had opened by saying the judge had
given an impartial trial and telling the
jurors they were an intelligent lot of men.
| This defendant should never have been
brought to Pennsylvania for trial. said
Judge Miller.
Not Guilty in Pennsylvania.
'She may be guilty, but not here. The
| judge will tell you that you cannot con-
v1ct her unless you fined her guilty
of crime in this state. Even the writing
of letters by her from Cleveland to Sharon
as testified to by Billie Whitla is not an
overt act In this state. Billie's entire tes-
| timony must be thrown out. 1t can only
| be applied to James Boyle, and he is not
| on trial.
When arrested, the testimony is. Helen
| Boyle declared, am the frail little
| woman who planned II ALL
| She did not say what she had planned.
| or that 1t had been done in Sharon. You
may intend to commit a crime. but IL you
1 convict this woman you must be satisfied
/ beyond reasonable doubt that she had
an intent formed in her mind TO aid Boyle
in the kidnapping when she left Sharon six
/ days before.
"The commonwealth says she told her
| mother and sister that she was expecting
| to get $7OO from her father, and wants
| you to think that she had arranged the
kidnapping. Well. that Is long shot
How would you like to be convicted on
| that sort of testimony. on deductions that
will bear an inference of innocence just
as much as 1t will bear an inference of
| guilt"
Where Is the Evidencep
1T may be that Boyle and Mrs. Boyle
talked about the kidnapping" continued
Mr. Miller. Il am only guessing. as you
will have to guess II you find her guilty.
Where is the evidence that she concocted
the scheme? Guessing doesn't go. If she
did get up the scheme. If she did lay
plot in Cleveland. she cannot be convicted
here"
Judge Miller concluded his argument in
forty-five minutes. When he finished. At
torney Quincy Adams Gordon began the
argument for the prosecution.
There are but two crimes higher than
kidna ping" he said. When 1t comes to
man to either lose his child or to part
with his money. the law makes kidnap
ing one OF the gravest OF crimes. The
criminal who will do this has no ordinary
human sympathies and he is In grace
far below the criminal who steals or as
saults a fellow man.
THAT is the kind of criminal James
Bowie is, according to the admissions you
Il have hearO. InlS Is one OF the most
1 atrocious kidnapping cases on record. To
steal child and then recover a ransom.
which go to make up the crime. is one of
the most difficult feats. A ROBBERY or mur-
der can be planned in an hour or a mo-
nent. The burglar gets his plunder when
he commits the crime, but the kidnaper
must wait days to get his ransom and
must then make his escape after being in
communication with the parents.
This case required careful planning.
and was not worked out in a day or
week. II took time.
Points Accusing Finger.
This woman and the attorney point
ed his finger almost in the face Of the
defendant, said in Cleveland: I am the
frail little woman who planned It ALL and
later to another officer. We expected this
when We planned it. These statements
show that she planned the crime.
This included several things. How the
boy could best be secured without at
tracing attention was the first. and they
hit upon calling him out of school. Then
sonnet hing had to be done TO keep the lad
from making a demonstration. and the
smallpox story was concocted. Next