Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1912-05-02
HUMPHREY
BROTHERS
CONVICTED
MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE
is THE VERDICT OF THE JURY
"A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
HORRIBLE MURDER OF MRS,
GRIFFITH.

most year ago was the verdict o
the jury rendered at AIS o'clock yes
terday afternoon.
Judge Hamilton then dismissed th,
jury and announced that he would i'm
pose sentence at 10 o'clock next Fri
day morning. Attorney Jeffreys sale
that he would ask for 80 days IL
which to prepare bill of exceptions
and to move for new trial.
The court informed him that the
time for preparing the bill of excep.
tions would be allowed, but that ar.
gument for a new trial must be made
Friday.
Prisoners Display No Emotion.
The prisoners displayed no emotion
as the verdict was read, except for a
slight quivering of Charles body, but
as they were taken from the court
room George for moment seemed on
the verge of breaking down.
The case went to the jury shortly
after IL o'clock, noon. The jurymen
then went to lunch, and 1t was nearly
2 o'clock when they began their dellb.
erations. In about an hour they came
into court and asked Judge Hamilton
to read again that part Of the instruc.
tions as to what constitutes murder
in the first and second degrees.
The Humphrey case is Benton com.
tvs third trial for murder committed
within the present territorial limits ol
the county. The first was in 1850, re-
sulting in the hanging of Philir
George for the killing of John Clarke
The second was in 1884, when Asa
Burbank was charged with the murder
or I. j. Dennis in Alsea valley. Bur
bank was acquitted and Is living Polk
county.
Murder Committed June 9, 1911.
The murder of Mrs. Eliza Griffith al
her farm home near Philomath on
June 2, 1911, aroused widespread in.
dignant interest. Mrs. Griffith was liv.
ing alone, as her children were grown
the daughters married and living in
Portland, and George, the son. heinz
necessarily away most of the time al
his work.
On the day Of the murder Mrs. Grif-
fifth had completed the sale of her
homestead farm, receiving $1,000 cash
which she deposited, less the commits
sion, in the Philomath bank, taking a
mortgage on the place for $25OO, the
remainder of the purchase price. She
had arranged to leave for Portland in
a few days to make her future home
with one of her daughters. That she
had consummated the sale was gener-
ally known among her neighbors, as
was her habit Of keeping money in the
house. Her nearest neighbor lived
half mile away
Body Found In Mill Pond.
Early in the morning Of June 2, a
woman went to the Griffith home and
failed tn arouse anyone. Finding the
door unlocked she looked into the
front room and discovered a state OF
disorder. The nelghborhood was i'm
mediately aroused, and the body Of
Mrs. Griffith was found floating in a
mill pond a quarter of a mile distant
from the house, Near the body was
a small rope and on the neck and
wrists Of the body were abrasions into
which the strands Of the rope fitted.
The water was nearly two feet deep,
and the fact that the body did not
sink and other evidence indicated t.
Mrs. Griffith had been strangled be.
fore being thrown into the pond.
The living room Of the house was
in disorder, indicating that a strug-
gle had taken place there, and the
bureau drawers, trunk and bed where
Mrs. Griffith usually kept her money
had been ransacked. The fact that
another trunk and other places in the
house had not been searched argued
that the crime was committed by some
one familiar with the premises and
with the widows habits.
The certificate Of deposit for the
money she had placed in the bank was
found on the floor, but any money she
may have had in the house was gone.
Officers hurried to the scene, but
practically no real clues as to the
criminals could be found. Neighbors
had so trampled the ground that
there was no certainty that footprints
that might be found leading to the
pond would be tracks left by the mur-
derers.
George Humphreys Suspected.
From the first the prosecuting at
torney's Office in Corvallis, suspected
George Humphreys, Mrs. Griffith be-
fore her death having expressed
fear Of him. His mother had stayed
at the Griffith house for a time and
had told some of the nelghbors about
the widow keeping money in the
house. On the morning when the
body was discovered, George Hum