The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-03-02
PROSECUTOR PINS
: HIS CASE TO JOE
LEACH's STORY
II Jury Believes Chauffeur's State.
ment as To Disposal of Body
Fritch Must Be Convicted, Van
Zile Declares.
Lodge Begins Address for Defense
and Announces He Will Consume
An Entire Day.

The last word has been spoken in
I 'he Fritch case. as FAR as the taking
IA 81 testimony Is concerned. Both sides
ested late Monday afternoon, follow.
IA tAg day OF rebutta, and sur-rebuttal,
ihterspersed by numerous sensational
M plsodes and not little comedy.
81 Prosecutor Van Zile. who has con.
N Quoted the peoples case without as
sistance. from The outset, began his
h opening argument TO the jury shortly
NJ nefore 10 O'Clock Each side viii have
e y day To prcsen, It's case The trial
mas lasted just month. lacking one
|~"ay was ON Feb that the task Of
ENsecuring jury was begun.
III Your duties nave been arduous."
the prosecutor but il is a case
8uat requires much attention on your
81 art most important case 10 you as
vel as 10 the people You have sworn
10 try this case tairly and impartiaily.
All OF yol have taken your oath, and
kSl need noe speak TO you as TO wha:
1 your duty is. | take II that you are
III al fair-minded, honest men, anxious
10 discharge your fdll duties as citl.
gems
IN There have been some discrepan-
M les here. and want 10 tell you .what
Eue difference H. between testimony
81 aild evidence. II may be that the evl.
Eu.nce is directly IN opposition to the
~ Nstimony in the case. The evidence
III what convinces you and what you
IA Il .iieve.
"a Il call your attention TO this at the
10 Itset, because ] shall claim that while
"a H. defense in this case is filed with
VA I stimony il is vold of evidence tina:
IA )es To the acquittal of this de.
n 4 ndant.
M Dclving into the case proper, the
IA sialwart prosecutor looking a YER
n able tower Of strength as he stood
III tefore the jury box in his froclS coat.
V Warmed To his subject and gathered
M loQuence as an engine gathers speed.
va What Prosecution Must Prove
Nj Now in this case We have TO show
S4 first that Mabel Millman was in deli
Nj cate health on Aug. ~ 1909, and that
M this defendant did then and there per
~ form a criminal operation upon her
a& he went on.
W we must show further that Miss
W Millman died in the performance OF
W this operation and that this defendant
III Is therefore guilty OF manslaughter
i That is the case in a nutshell, and.
N after all. there isn't much more TO IL.
|M There is no dispute that Mabel
|NMillman is dead. There isn't any dis
n pute that her body was dismembered
Eby SOMEONE and that IL was after
~ wards found in Ecorse creek in sacks.
|.Not single witness has raised his
"a voice against the Prosecutors claim
III 10 no IN IoI{Catn
h health on Aug. 81
III Give me an exception TO that state
ment," interrupted Attorney Lodge.
"a Take all the exceptions you want;
| and let me tell YOU right here, gen
and the prosecutor was very
y emphatic. that exceptions are not
"a proof and you can have an exception
Ito that too. Mr.. Lodge
IA Now. gentlemen. there is no dis
IA rute that this girls body was put in
ID plaster sacks OF G. II Little Co,
~ weighted down with bricks, and that
|hthis defendant had sacks and bricks
Ecxactly like these In his possession.
The only question left then. is Did
| this defendant cut up that body?'
Somebody did, that's certain.
1T isn't always necessary to show
Il that murderer was seen with
/ knife in his hand That is direct
i evidence But there Is another kind,
Ia circumstantial evidence and IL doesn't
II lie. as rule Direct testimony is
often false II we have shown in this
case that every circumstance points
TO the guilt OF the defendant then,
a YOU are at liberty to find him guilty.
No other One Suggested.
zone OF the best dcfenscs that could
nossibly have been made In this case
would have been that someone else
was guilty There isn't even an init
nation here that anyone else did this
n lob, but. in the contrary. all the cir
cumstances point TO this defendant
Wand no one else Nobody stands in
the blazing light OF these circum.
stances but Or. Fritch.
The prosecutor carefully reviewed
the history OF the case, beginning
with Mabel Milman's visit to Detroit
last summer. the visit which ended In
u her death. Touching the story OF
Mrs Messenger. he said.
IF You gentlemen have any hest.
fancy about accepting her testimony.
let me tell you that, without her testi.
i mony. our case still stands. | do not
fell YOU this because | do not believe
her story, for do believe it.
There is another witness In this
case who has been attacked, and
these are the ONLY witnesses who
have been assailed
In this connection Mr. Van Zile char.
acterized the testimony of Mrs. Bes-
sic Knott, corroboratng Frtch's yer.
sion Of the telephone conversations
With Mr. and Mrs Leach and Mrs
Drake. as most remarkable. inasmucn
AZ she had never heard of any OF
these persons before and raid no at
tention TO the conversation at the
time.
Il say 60 you gentlemen, that tesG.
mony is stamped with the red letters
of perjury. and IL is only one OF many
statements that are false in this case
continued the prosecutor Il shall
undertake 20 show that this defense
Is q frame-up from beginning to eui.
and can present proofs for that
sta-'ment | want to call your atten-
ton right here to certain ear marks