South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-12-16

E
many people returned and the room
was nearly half filed when the YER
dict was returned at $50 o'clock. In
terest in the case had continued to
increase during the day as the trial
neared its close and scores of inquiries
as TO the verdict were telephoned TO
The News-Times office during the
evening.
Arguments Closed Late.
Pros. Montgomery closed his ar
gument for the state at $3.50 O'Clock. |
The jury retired at 1905 but did not
take up their deliberations until after
they bad eaten supper. Court did not
adjourn and it was decided to wait un-
til O'Clock for the report of the jury
| The court at first suggested that coun-
sci agree on a sealed verdict to be
returned Wednesday morning. Coun-
sci for the defense suggested a prefer
ence for awaiting early verdict
Arguments in the case drew a large
crowd of spectators during the entire
day. Due TO the fact that court did
not convene until 10 o'clock in the
morning and to the fact that counsel |
for the defense spoke for three and
half hours and Pros. Montgomery
spoke for three hours and % minutes
the closing of the case was not ac-
complished until late. Thirty min
utes were required for the reading of
the instructions TO the jury.
Jury is Instructed.
The court called attention to the
fact that the jury could return YER
dict of either first or second degree |
murder or of manslaughter and that
the penalty for the first was death or
life Imprisonment, for second life i'm
prisonment, and for manslaughter a |
penitentiary term of from two to p
years. If there were a reasonable
doubt as to the motive for the crime
it was shown that the verdict should
be for the lowest degree. 1t was
/ pointed out that the jury was the sole
Judge of the law and the evidence but
/ the jurymen were admOnished that
| they must not allow a mere whim 10
stand for reasonable doubt as TO the
guilt or innocence of the defendant.
Mr.. Hagerty and Judge Farabaugh
had spoken during the forenoon. The
/ latter did not finish until the after
noon His arguments were largely
alC the line OF the probability of
arsenic having found its way into Mr..
/ Shuts stomach through the remedies
/ that he had been taking of his own
accord, or through those given by
| the physician, or by injection into
The stomach before the autopsy,
or by ABSORPTION after the autopsy.
/ He also elaborated on the testimony
that had been introduced through Dr.
\ Webster tOXicOlOgist, who had de-
| clared that il would be impossible to
| tell exactly as to the cause of death
unless other organs than the stom-
ach were examined. The oratOry of
/ the speaker held the closest attention
/ of the audience.
said Defense Avoided Evidence.
/ Pros. Montgomery used no Oratory
I in the presentation of his arguments
Re presented the chief points of the
/ evidence clearly and fOrcefuny. He
/ at first spent considerable time in re-
/ huttal OF the arguments of the de-
I Tense that arsenic might have been
gotten into Mr.. Suhls stomach by
/ other means than that charged by the
state. He said that there had been no
! evidence presented by the defense in
! support of such a contingency He
have had samples of the whiskey
/ which Mr.. Suhl was said to have
/ taken, or of the medicines or of the
embalming fluid, analysed for evi-
dence TO support their contention.
AS to the argument that Mr. Suhl
might have committed suicide the
| prosecutor held that if such had been
the case the man would have told Of
/ his deed and would have tried to save
/ himself before he died. He held up
! to ridicule the idea that Mr.. Suhl had
/ been in the habit of taking WhiSkey
and arsenic as medicine because of
I the fact that if he had used ii as
had been testified. an ounce of arsenic
TO a pint of whiskey, he would have
been taking the poison in such por-
tons as TO have killed him many times
over.
Lies Not Easy to Tell.
The prosecutor also referred to the
attempts of the defense to impeach
the states witnesses as mere child's
play. He said that any witness could
be impeached and that regardless Of
the character of the witnesses whom
it had been sought to impeach they
had given no startling testimony and
il was improba bic that they would
have perjured themselves for the pur-
pose Of telling what they did. He
maintained that il was much easier
for a witness 10 lie in behalf of a de-
PENDANT on trial for murder than il
would be 10 lie against such an one.
Attention was called 10 the fact
that Mrs. Suhl had so often said that
she did not realize just how things
were at the time OF her husbands
death and that at many times she had
seemed 10 be agitated. This was evil
dence. the prosecutor said. that her
conscience had hurt her As TO her
motive in kill y her husband he
pointed out that she had been ten
years Younger than ne was and that
she was close an. avaricious and had
continuously abused Mr.. Suhl.
A short plea was made TO the jury
10 come To their decision on the facts
alone and irrespective of sentiment
and sympathy. The prosecutor said
that the verdict would mean much 10
the defendant and her family but that
il would mean much more 10 the state.
In pointing out 10 them their duty.
as he saw IL the prosecutor laid stress
on the fact that sentiment should play
no part in the verdict He said that
he would not in many cases ask for
( death sentence. but he insisted that
the fact that the defendant were wo-
man should play no part in the delib-
erations Of the jury.