The Sentinel=record., 1911-08-27
LOST
 COMPOSURE
WHEN DETECTIVES TESTIMONY BORE ON HIS RELATIONS
 WITH 6lNFoRD GIRL.
Boys Corroborate Testimony of De tective and Dairyman as to the Couple in Auto on Lonely
 Road Night of Murder.

Chesterfield Courthouse, Aug. 26.-- Considerable progress was made to- lday by the prosecution in the case Of llienry Clay Beattie, Jr., who is on trial for his life, charged with the murder of his young wife at lonely spot on the Midlothian Turnpike last month.
 l IA number of important witnesses. Including one of the detectives who has been prominent in the case from the beginning and several boys, the proscutions strong cards, we're heard.
 Those were many tense moments for the prisoner as the prosecution uncoy. cred fragments of conversation DeLac- tive William Sherer is alleged to have had with Beattie concerning Bemlah Binford, the girl in the case.''
 Plainly evident was the hand of the prosecution today in endeavoring to show the underlying motive for the murder, the fear of Henry Clay Beat | tie, Jr., that his father might learn of the resumption of relations with | Beulah Binford and an alleged phy sical ailment of Beattie at the time of the murder. The court, in fact, discerning the intention of the prose lcution to unfold this part of the mystery, asked permission from the lawyers of both sides to defer the dis. cussion of this point on the stand until another occasion when orner witnesses, including pr. Mann whose information in this connection was stricken out four days ago, might be recalled.
 l The commonwealth drew tight the lines of circumstantial evidence when | 1t brought to the stand consecutively half dozen youths who were return ling from a dance on the night of the murder and stopped to look at the sta tionary car, the man working on the hood and the woman standing on the running board.
 All six boys told the sand story of the young woman on the running board and fixed the hour of their pas sage as almost coincident with the lhour of thd murder and the prosecu- tion through Detective Scherer's tes- timony later in the day. added to thls trend of proof the claim that Beat ties wife was not shot while seated beside him as the prisoner ayers, but while standing in the road.
 Closs upon this was Defective lScherer's testimony laid the founda- ling conversations with nim in endeav. oring to explain thel presence of the pool of blood in the road. Detective Scherer's te stimony laid the founda- tion for the future contention of the prosecution that Beattie shot his wife lwhile standing either in the running board, or in the roadway and that the pool of blood did not oze through the hfootboards or lower part of the ma chine, but resulted from Mrs Beat. ties fall when she was shot near the car.
 The testimony of Scherer, inasmuch as 1t so frequently introduced the name of the Binford girl, excited in Iderest on the part of the prisoner and his usual nonchelance gave way to a determined, tiger-like crouch over the bencn as he strained forward to catch every syllable uttered.
 Not infrquently did Beattie forget This composura and the muscles in his Sace pulsated as he grohnd his teeth.
 Besides pointing to the culminative } testimony of the six boys as to the
 presence of Beattie and his Wife on
 the secluded road, the prosecution
 through F. B. Adams, another boy l scored a point when the youth told oi seeing a man alone beside a machine similar to the Beattie car on the } lself same road three hours before the
 murder is supposed 10 have been com 1 mibted. Adams testimony bore out the charges of the prosecution that [ Beattie could have taken the shotgun f Ito thel place where few hours later
 he conducted his ill-fated wife. The commonwealth let 1t be known outside the courtroom. too, that it had } discovered a witness, negro named Wilkes, who would testify that he 3 saw two machine loads of boys, as
 well as Beattie and his wife. but nc