The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-09-10

IL
"a argument and all the sophistries of
law failed in their duty towards their
cnentE Can 1t be said OF them that
they left one single stone unturned
TO prove to the jury that there was a
reasonable doubt az to the guilt of tho
, accused man? Can it be said that the
jury failed of its oath we'll and trul,.
10 try the prisoner at the bar?
Men ask where il was that Beatie
,ialled TO get every advantage. every
protection which the law guarantees to
every man, whatever his class. his col
or or his creed Around every man
accused of murder the law throws its
protecting arm. 1t gives him the pre-
! sumption of innocence and it saws to
the jury that ii may not convict un-
less every reasonable doubt as to rh,.
suilt OF the accused has been remov-
Ell. And the people OF Virginia ask
IL this jury which tried Henry Beatti.
FOR his lite had any doubt as to his
quit And could they nave had any
doubt?
Convicted Himself.
lhey listened TO Henry Beattie tell
his story. They heard him DENY facts
which the prosecution told HIM while.
he was on the stand that IL could
prove. They heard him tell that story
OF being attacked by strtsngc beard-
eu hlshwayman. and of how he stop
PED on his way to Tom owens homa|
TO nix the lights in front OF his car.
"hen any other man would have gone
on oesplte all the laws as TO speed and
iishts' From his own brothers lips
they heard it told. when the party wa
out looking for the fatal gun, that the
car was stopped in order to fix the
lights Herein Henry Beattie helped
TO convict himself. a man with III.
oeao body OF his wife in hts car beside
him. If he loved her. would have said
then and there ito hi with th,
lights" But Henry said Ito HI with
the lights' when he was out looking
for the gun, when there was sons
show of reason for stopping to see
whether the lamps were lit on that
ride home. with the dead or diving
body of his wife beside him, it would
not have mattered whether his front
| lamps were lit.
No law would have punished him
for falling to have lighted lamps ON
such a ride. Here was folly in his
story, the prosecution says Here the
man made Il mistake. Here his lies.
told with such show of truth. did
not have the ring OF truth about them.
Could Not Tell Color
And yet again his conflicting stories
as to the position of that bearded
highwayman' who shot his wife down
4
he did not know whether that bearded
hiGhwayman" was white or black. Tom
owen told him that If the highway.
mans beard could he seen in the dark.
ness of night he must have been n
white man. and Henry says "Oh.
forget Why. tho iurymen asked
themselves, was Henry SO positive at
first in saying that he didn't know
whether the man was white or black,
scrubhy' beard? Beard on a black
man. they argued, could not have
shown In the Stygian darkness of that
night. But Henry was positive as to
the beard. though he could not swear
whether the midnight assailant was
white or black And then he said
at hrst that this highwayman ran OF
Trough the woods on the side of the
road 1t was pointed out to him that.
IL such had been the case. tho mans
trail would have been discovered Thor
he said that he thought the man ran
off up the road Why, the 1urymep
ask ed themselves, was he uncertain IA
to this point, and yet was able to de.
scribe the fight he had with the black
hearted assailant? That he told in de.
tai. He fought with his wife's muir
derer in front of his autom obile. where
the light was strong, but he was un-
certain as to which route that as
sassin took when he fled from the
scene of the bloody murder
Too Strong on Detail.
In some circumstances, the turvmen
told themselves. he was too strong
and certain on detail. On other cir
cumstances Just as necessary to the
case and the story he was telling
he was doubtful. And why again. the
Commonwealth asks itself and Henry
does he tell with such show of bravado
a story which In its details. does not
MT together as everybody believes n
true story would fit? And so the ,urv
tells Itself that Henry Benttie is he
trayed by his own carefulness He ,s
100 certain on some points; too uncer-
tain on others.
But after all, In the mind Of public
opinion. It was the gun which he
trayed him: IT was the gun which
proved beyond all reasonable doubt
the falsity OF his story The defense
SAID l. Q. Wendcnburg. special prose
cutor. cannot get away from that
gun. II was proved that the gun was
hought by Paul Beattie: It was proved
that this same gun was delivered "a
Henry Beattie. and how then. the ,urv
asked itself, could this gun have got
ten into some other mans hands with
out Henry Beattie knowing IT? THAT
accursed gun was as accusing as tbe
blood spot on Lady Macbeth's hands.
II pointed at him as the guilty man
Lady Macbeth cried, "Out, damned
spot and 1t Is to be believed that
Henry has said, Away. damned gum
No Way to De Rid OF 1t.
AS the prosecution showed. there was
no way to get rid of that guns mute
| testimony. Voiceless 1t spoke louder
than all other witnesses. Henry de-
nied that he got that gun, that he
got any gun. from Paul But Paul
swore that he bought that same gun
from Weinstein's pawnshop on Sixth
street and David and Jakey weinstein
swear that he bought It from them
The prosecution did not rely on Paul's
testimony alone. II had other Wit
nesses to corroborate what Paul swore
And II was testified on the stand that
this was the gun which was found on