Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-10-29

ed and waited to get a glimpse of
Snowden as he was conveyed back and
forth between the jail and Court
House, and the same was true in the
vicinity of the Jail 1t is reported that
something in the way of a surprise
may be sprung in course of the trial.
In this connection, ii is understood,
there will be expert testimony tending
to show that Mrs. Brandon was not
murdered. but that she probably suf-
fered hemorrhage while in the kit
chen, struggled into the bedroom, and
that while in this condition the
scratches about her neck and body
were self-inflicted Whatever evidence
may be adduced, either by the prose-
cution or defense, there still remains
divided sentiment here as TO the in
nocence or guilt of the accused negro
The county officials, detectives. and
others who investigated the case. feel
confident that in the absence of any
semblance of a confession, the chain
of circumstantial evidence that has
been woven about the accused negro
is sufficient to result in a conviction.
The following is the list of wit
nesses who have been summoned in
the case:
For the State: Valentine ~ Bran
don; Mr.. and Mrs. Thomas A. King,
who lived next door to the Brandons;
Detectives Kratz, Pohler and Dough-
erty, of Baltimore; Mrs Grace Sarles,
Ida Bush, Mrs. Hazel Vernon, Mrs.
David Myers, Drs. Walton H. Hopkins,
Joseph c. Joyce and w. B. Carr. Edith
Credit, Mary Perkins, Edna Wallace
tSnowden's consorO, Frank b. Owens,
Adolph G. Babel, Abraham Daniels.
Milton c. Stewart, Frank Green, John
Green, Miss Florence Baker, Joseph
Raley, Ruth Isaacs, Sedonia Isaacs,
Frank Spencer, Rachel Hobbs, Charles
III. Jones, Helen Davis. Joseph Smith.
Leroy Sisco.
For the defense: Rev. w. A. p.
Hughes. Rev E. S. Williams, John F.
Hajda, John Martin, John Taylor,
Morgan o. Parlett, Charles Lard and
Edna Wallace
1t will be noted that the Wallace
woman has been summoned at the
instance of both sides.
History OF The Crime.
Here is brief history of the
tragedy:
On August last the body of Mrs.
Brandon was found lying across the
bed in the middle of the room of the
first floor of the Brandon home on
Second street by her husband There
was a deep cut on her forehead, prob
ably from blunt instrument, and
there were marks and scratches on
her face. throat and right leg. The
flesh on both sides OF her throat was
torn and teeth marks we're found on
her throat. The body was almost
nude. The police of Annapolis and De-
tectives Kratz, Pohler and Dougherty,
of the Baltimore force. who worked on
the case, have not the slightest doubts
in their mind that it was murder
But the question that has arisen in
the minds of Annapolitans is, who is
the murderer?
The husband said he left his wife in
the best spirits at o'clock in the
morning when he went to work. He
established perfect alibi Most of
the residents in the vicinity of the
Brandon home said they saw no one
leave the house at about the time the
crime was cimmitted Brandon said
when he left the house the curtains on
the kitchen windows were raised and
the kitchen door open. When the po
lice arrived they found the kitchen
door bolted and the shades drawn, not
only in the kitchen. but also in the
front room. They found also that a
dollar bill, which Mrs Brandon had
placed in her stocking before her hus-
band left for work, was missing. The
condition of the house showed that the
guilty person had used every means
to afface any tracks.
The police, during the investigation,
worked on three theories-that the
crime was committed by an enraged
negro. with criminal assault as his
motive; that it was the work of a
jealous woman, or a former suitor
who had been Tilted With the excep-
tion of the enraged negro theory,
none of the other theories, although
they were run down carefully. brought
any result
Snowden was arrested five days
after the crime was committed on in
formation given by two negro women
who live directly opposite the Bran
don home on Second street One of
the women is Snowden's cousin
They said they heard the sound of a
struggle in the Brandon home on the
morning of August and heard Mrs.
Brandon call for help. About Is
minutes later, they said, they saw
Snowden leave the Brandon house and
while walking up Second street, he
took a bottle from his coat pocket and
put it in the hip pocket of his
trousers.
Snowden was taken to Baltimore
and quizzed every day for a week by
the detectives with Deputy Marshal
House. They failed to break him
down. He admitted being in front OF
the Brandon home on the day of the
murder. but denied that he was in the
house. He made several contradictory
| statements during the quizzing, but
when il came to confessing that he
was the guilty party he was brick
wall
The physicians who performed the
post-mortem examination on the body