Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1914-08-08
Commonwealth's' Attorney
Rehearses Alleged Crime
of Mrs. Hall.
PLEA OF THE DEFENSE
r. Lindsey Gordon Asks for Acquit-
tai of Prisoner, Claiming She Is
Innocent of Charge.

Louisa, Va, August S.-lmpasslon-
ed argument was yesterday morning
begun for the conviction and acqV't-
ia, of Mrs. Victor Hall who charged
with numbering her husband a:
Green Spring Depot on April loth'
commemorative Attorney BibD'
who opened for the prosecution, ae-
clared that Victor Hall was killed by
the same burglar who murdered Mrs.
Samuel McCue, the s"me highway
man who killed Louise Owen Beat
tie.
He was followed IS Attorney Hill
Carter, for the defense who declared
that there was not sci'It.'la of evil
dence against the accused, and that
there could be only one possible VcE-
dict-that of absolute acquittal.
Attorney Bibb called the jurys
attention to the testimony of Deputy
Trice regarding the bloody bolster
sIip, and to Sterling Halls statement
as to the suggestion which he said
lie heard Mrs. Hall make to Miss
Wood to the effect that Miss Wood
had shot the pistol at a mile post.
The prosecuting attorney charged
directly that Mrs. Hall set fire to her
store after the grand jury met. He
charged that she destroyed the boil
ster slip and tried to make away
With victor's clothes. lie charged
that when John Johnson reached
Halls store after the murder Mrs.
Hall first told him that Dunkum's
had been burnt and then, on second
thought, told him that her husband
had been shot.
"What is the testimony Of Mr.
Charles Hester?" he asked. at Is
that there was moisture in the cylin-
der of Victor Halls pistol when he
examined it few hours after Victor
was shot, and then the expert wit
ness called by the defense, ". ].
Roberts, who did not know what
Hester had said, testified that damp
ness in a pistol indicated that it has
been very recently fired.
"When Mrs. Hall went back into
the pantry and woke up Becky
Coates, the little colored girl, she told
her that Victor Hall had been shot
in the head, though at that time Mrs.
Hall had not seen her husband and
did not know, according to her own
signed statemnt, whether her hus-
band had been shot or not.
"Mrs. Hall has had opportunity to
contradict her igned statements, but
she has not done so. What are we
to believe in this case? She makes
one statement to her own employed
detective; she gives the public an
other. She makes other statements
which conflict, and finally she takes
the stand and tells you something er-
tirely different. She tells you she got
Becky Coates out of bed after Miss
| Wood got downstairs.
"But Miss oWod says the little col
ored girl was in Mrs. Halls bedroom
buttonine up her dress when she ran
down into the store.
"Now ! want to read you some Of
/ the evidence of Becky Coates, about
getting ink on the bolster"
He then read the testimony Of ths
| girl to show that Becky didn't know
whether she had spilled ink on the
bolster He declared that no ink was
spilled on the bolster, but that it was
put there, and that it was put on the
pillow slip for a definite purpose.
"Who was instrumental in the
burning of Halls store?' Attorney
Bibb asked. "Only one person the
accused. All the incriminating evil
dence, or most of it, was in the house
81 the time. The bolster was ther
It, too, would have been destroyed,
and the question of the bloody bol-
ster slip might never have arisen.
Do you think anyone could have en-
|; terd the store just after Mrs. Hall
left it-in broad daylight-could have
broken in and set in on fire without
being detected. The store was dis
covered to be on fire len minutes