The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-02-18
STATE BUILDING
 STRONG CASE IN
 THE COOPER TRIAL
Much Damaging Testimony Given Already and More
 to Come.
Evidence of Threats Against Carmack Given by Sever al Witnesses - Defense Keeping Names of Wit nesseS Secret.
Especial from United Press.)

Nashville, Tenn. Feb. 18.-Confront- ing the attorneys for the defense with flood of new evidence. the state to- day called several new witnesses in the | trial of Colonel Duncan Cooper. Robin J. Cooper and J. D. Sharp. The nature l of the testimony furnished by these
 witnesses has been extremely damag-
 ing and has practically shown that the
 defendants. the two Coopers and Sharp. had applied epithets to ex-Senator Carmack and usually. with the con- l cluding statement that he fought to be dead and in TIell.'
 MISS Daisy Lee. stenOgrapher for J. C.. Bradford, uncle of Robin Cooper, l and Miss Donie Braxton. domestic in l the home of pr. R. L. Burch, son-in- law of Colonel D. B. Cooper. dealt the hardest blows to the defense Miss Lee swore that she heard Colonel Cooper
 curse Carmack and Miss Braxton heard Colonel Cooper talking to his
 daughter. One statement which she
 testified the Colonel made was to the erect that Carmack was as liable to
 ger Killed as he was and that he did
 not want to lay down his manhood It was said to-day that the state has one witness. a man from Louisianna
 Wno IS expected to prove one of the
 main supports of the prosecution. It
 deVeloped also to-day that the state
 dld not consider it necessary to call
 w. H. Bray. the Missouri banker who
 was near the scene at the time of the shooting. The defense has kept the
 names of it's witnesses secret which fact has led Prosecutor McCarn to call
 for an order from the court to have
 any witnesses for the defense dismiss
 ed from the courtroom.
 Much of She clothing worn bv Car
 mack at the time of the tragedy was
 exhibited to the jury. among the arti-
 cles being his bloodstained shirt Me-
 Carn asked that they be removed be-
 fore Mrs. Carmack returned to the
 courtroom she having been taken out.
 Tn all fifteen witnesses were examined
 during the second day. When the
 clothing worn by Carmack when he
 was killed was looked over in court in
 one of the pockets was found a small
 rubber shield presumably used to pro-
 tect the pocket from the barrel of a
 pistol. This was discovered by the po-
 lice who searched his clothing after
 the shooting iaas7e
 Finley Doris, undertaken, was the
 first witness to-day in the trial of
 colonel Duncan Cooper and his son, Robin, charged with staying former Senator Edward w. Carmack He
 testified that he had made two exam nations of Carmack's clothing once in the presence of the states attorney and again at his establishment. AI- though he thought the examinations were thorough enough to have detect ed any article that might be in the l pockets he said he did not find the pis- tol guard which was produced from one of the pockets yesterday when the | clothing was searched in the court room.
 He said that attorneys for the de- fense had searched the clothes after | the states had and also that the guard ! could be crushed in the hand, making l it invisible. The state will try to l prove that the clothing had been tam | pered with since it was locked up af- 1 ter the tragedy in the undertaker's ] establishment. The incident is made l much of by the defense, it being ap- parent that it leaves the way for the 1 contention that the delay in Carmack's | drawing his weapon and opening fire | on the Coopers was occasioned by the | interval required for the removal of | the shield from his pistol.
 Will Murray was next called and l said that the Overcoat worn by Car mack had been tried on after the tra- gedy by General Washington who stuffed his hands into the pockets and | immediately withdraw them saying; Whats in them?" He said the coat | since them. Murray when cross-ques- toned, said that he didn't see any thing in General Washington's hands when he tried on the coat. It is the general impression to-day that in the of testimony of Miss Lee showing a possible conspiracy, the state is paving the way for the impli- cation of Governor Patterson as a CO., The assertion has often been made that at the time of the in- dictment of Sharp another was drawn against Patterson as an accessory be- bore the fact, but for some reason was not served.
 That one or more shooting affairs will follow the trial of the Coopers and Sharp no matter which way the case goes, is a prediction which is daily heard. To-day the bitterness developed by the course of the states was palpable and one story heard during the day was to the effect that the police had disarmed a rela- tive of the defendants who was mak- ing threats against the prosecutors. The feeling is intense.
 Dramatic in the extreme was the tes- timony of Miss Lee, stenographer for Justice Bradford, one of the attorneys for the defense and a social protege of Mrs. Bradford, whose husband treats her almost like a daughter. On the witness stand her story was deliv- cred under a severe mental strain. As : the prosecutor put~it, "She was fav- 7 ing an unsoueht quarrel with her bread and butter.'' Is