The Sentinel=record., 1911-08-25
IN
 BEATTIE CASE
YOUNG VIRGlNiAN ON TRIAL FOR WIFE MURDER ON WEDDING i, ANNIVERSARY.
Love Letters to BeuIah Binford intro duced and Detectives Tell of Beat ties Seeming Indifference
 to the Crime.

| Chesterfield Court House Aug. z4. Ion this, the anniversary of his mar riage to the woman he stands accused lof murdering, Henry Clay Beattie, Jr. sat in the stuffy court room today and heard seven witnesses called by the commonwealth give testimony on which the prosecution hopes to send i him to the electric chair. On the court house lawn only few feet away stood the bloodsoaked automobile in which the young wife is supposed to have met her death. Beattie him self calmly inspected the car when it arrived today and not once during the proceeding did he show any signs of blanching. Twice during the cross examination of two detectives he | flushed with amazement and struggled to hold back his laughter. Of the seven witnesses examined, two were physicians, Dr, Herbert Mann and Dr. Wilbur Mercer, who examined Mrs. Beattie's body on the night of the murder. The others were Thomas owen, a court stenographer and uncle of Mrs. Beattie. Detectives Wren and Wiltshire of Richmond, wno investigated the case; Coroner Loving of Chesterfield county, and May Stuart  stout, middle aged woman, who told Of Beattie's associations with Beulah Binford.
 1 None Of the witnesses except MT Owen recalled that Beattie had dis played any grief over the tragedy. Others said they had not seen him With the first witnesses called mere. Shed tear.
 with the first witnesses called mere y to establish the death of Mrs. Bet tie. their testimony was largely review of what came out at the in quest and it was not until the Stuart woman took the stand that the prose- cution began its attempts to disclose the motive for the crime. She swore to being the proprietor of ques- tionable resort in Richmond and that Beattie mad appeared there With the Binford girl four times within two, months preceding the murder and for the last time the night before the cr.;i;s5 31Suiiah B';ffoTdd, 5iie testified she had known for several years.
 Alter having the witness descrieD how Beattie and his IT year old com. panion visited her place the common wealth introduced in evidence a let. ter written by the defendant to the Binford girl and identified as such at the inquest. Penned on his fathers business stationary, Beattie wrote in part:
 Dear Kid: Pay this on the furni- ture and make him give you an item ized account of what you must pay each week. We'll. be good. With oce- ans of love, brimming with kisses.
 Yours,
 "(signed) "Hon."
 The boy showed no emotion when the letter was read but the elder Beattie held a palm leaf fan in front of his face.
 Doctors Mann and Mercer described the wound in Mrs. Beattie's head ana both said that, in their opinion, death was Instantaneous.
 Did you see Henry Beattie shed any tears when you were at the Owen homeY' Dr. Mercer was asked.
 No sir. His first request was for whlskey, but brandy was procured first and later some wniskey. About one o'clock could notice he was staggering and I recall that hesask- ed me to have a drink'
 | Detectives Wren and Wiltshire went over in detail their visit to the scene of the crime in the early morn ling hours after the murder.
 Both insisted the bloodstains in the road could not have been made by blood dripping through the automo. bile and they were at loss to ex- plain how they came there unless the victim was out of the car. The com monwealth pursued this line with view to showing that Beattie shot nis wife after he mad knocked her down and then had lifted her body into the lear.
 Neither detective was an expert on automobiles. however. and both were easily entangled in cross examinauon