The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-09-29
JUDGE DECLINES ID
 HEAR EXPLANATION
Miss Crawford Has Shown
 No Emotion as Yet
SHE HAS NO ATTORNEY
All Relatives of Girl Accused of Hor-
 rible Crime Fear Her-Have Made No Provision for i,4Giih Her Defense
,...........s........sssss........

New Orleans, September 2S.--When An- nie Crawford today attempted to further
 unburden her conscience concerning the
 sudden death of her sister Elise whom she. is charged with murdering through the administration of poison, Judge John
 B. Fisher, before whom she was ar raigned, declined to hear her The pris-
 oner, without the slightest show of emo
 ton, heard the reading of the affidavit
 which alleged that she did wilfully and
 maliciously put to death7 her sister. She
 was not represented by an attorney and
 after moments hesitation she looked appealingly at Judge Fisher and asked that she might be permitted to explain what part she had in putting her younger sister out of the way.
 Judge Fisher sterny refused to hear the woman and ordered the clerk to en- ter plea of not guilty for the prisoner l She was then rushed back to her cell in | the parish prison.
 | After arraignment at Il o'clock, Annie Crawford was left alone for the rest of I the day. What she wanted 70 tell Judge
 Fisher will not be Known fc, while. 1 The police will not tnqIs 'e~ to talk further on the cast Bss heir firm belief that the crs 'g of inc confirmed dope fiend for the ustomed potion of morphine will soon 9- eak her spirit com pletely and result il full confession. She has been without morphine since last Saturday. she told the district attor- ney. She has been accustomed for years | to take from one to three grains week. | Thus the police calculate. by Saturday, a. week from the date of her sisters | death, the craving for the drug will bring 1 from her lips the true story of Elise's death. Up to tonight the prisoner had not manifested any desire for the drug. Further evidence tending to support l the theory of the police that the father,
 mother and still another sister who died last wear were victims om Annies mys-
 terious murderous designs, is said to have
 been secured by the police today To might, however, following a conference I with the city chemist. District Attorney Adams had about determined not to or der the exhumation of the bodies Of the 1 prisoners father, mother and sister Agnes
 All three have been dead now more than a year and chemists expressed the opinion that if there had been traces of poison in the stomachs It would be impossible now to so oe- termine Without such evidence the police realize that the deaths of these members of the Crawford family may be eyer shrouded in mystery unless the lips of the prisoner should be un- sealed.
 Annie Crawford has not asked for an attorney and her relatives have taken no steps to see that she is properly represented by counsel in defending herself. Annie Is not liked by her two living sisters Her uncle and her aunt, with whom she and Elise and the youngest sister Gertrude have been boarding, likewise have not exhibited any spe- cial love for the accused member of the Crawford family. sinister fear of Annie seemed to pervade the Craw. ford household Gertrude, the young est said Annie had some kind of pe- culiar influence over her and over her dead sister Elise.
 Today not a relative or friend was present when she was arraigned. The proceedings were held in Judge Fish CTS private office and even newspaper men were excluded Without a lawyer. relative or even the matron of the prison near, and except for the court. with only those present who have worked day and night to weave about
 her a net of circumstantial evidence that might condemn her to the gallows, the frail little woman listened calmly to the slow reading of the affidavit that charged her with murder.
 Left alone for another day with only her thoughts of the recent horrible past and without the stimulating tablet of morphine, this, the police hope, will result in further clearing the myste- rious deaths in the Crawford home.