The Washington times., 1919-03-28
WEBSTER ON TRIAL
FOR Staying BRIDE
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ul4s witness testimony he was placed
under cross-examination and an hour
after Mr.. Marchant closed for the
state the Judges adjourned court until
10 q m. today.
Few murder trials here have at
tTacted more interest than that Of the
orlde-slsyer. A score or more we'll
dressed women filed into the court
room an hour before the case was
called. They got front seats, too, and
quite coterie sat directly behind the
prisoner and to the right and left Of
him. The women who did get there
early squeezed seats for themselves
on the benches, and more than two
score men were standing during the
trial
A dozen or more of Webster's rela-
nFes were there. The Webster fam
lly Of Deals Island is a big one, and
among the relatives who sat near him
were his father and mother, his sister,
and several cousins. Mr.. and Mrs.
Elias NJ. CLANCY, with their daughters,
we're present, all wearing mourning.
Quite a contrast was the day to that
OF late October, when the bride left
ner home in company with Webster
Tor a nearby parsonage. 1t was a
bright, sunshinny day, as was the day
when Webster was found beside the
body Of his bride. So heavy was the
ooWnpour of rain on the roof and
against the walls Of the courtroom
tfat the judges were obliged to have
the windows closed so that the beat
ing rain would not drown the voices
or the witnesses. .
Webster, a rather fine specimen of
physical manhood. occupied the pris-
oner's bench. He is powerful and
Well-knit, standing close to six feet
and he was dressed neatly. There is
one striking feature about his clean
cut face, and that is his small, deep
set eyes He heard much of the tes-
timony without changing his express
SION and had he not occupied the dock
he might have been taken merely for
an interested spectator.
Once he wept. It was when the
State was proving the presence Of the
bride in the bridal chamber at the
hotel. The witness looked at Webster !
and she identified him as the man |
she saw giving Mrs. Webster a milk 1
punch. But he quickly dried his tears. |
RIalae Drunkenness.
Attorneys Giles and E. M Hammond,
in making q brief statement for the |
defehse, said they would prove that |
Webster's act was due to drunkenness
and insanfty. They said they would |
was inherited. A number of witnesses
were called showing that Webster and
his wife had registered at the Belve
dere on October 25. Employees of the
hotel testi6ed to calling at the room
the following Monday and receiving
no replies. The carpenter was notified
and he entered the room, finding thc
woman dead and Webster lying beside
her.
Tot-ol-,,, T.t- D,.-o- - -
Central district the first policeman
TO reach the room while Webster was
yet beside the body of his wife, was
called Batter testified that he saw
that one form, the woman's, was Gov
cred with bedclothing. He said that
Webster was lying next to the dead
body. il
81 asked the man if the woman !
were his wife" said Batter, and
Le replied Yes 1 asked him if he
had killed her, and. he said Yes He {
said that they had had an argument !
about his former wife and that he {
choked her to death. I asked him Z
what time she died, and he said, {
About 10 o'clock this morning. We {
found note, which Webster said I
he wrote. Webster told me that he
had taken bichloride of mercury 7
tablets, and we took him from the '
hotel on a stretcher. Other wit
Eesses substantiated Batzer's testi-
mOny.
Girls Mother on Stand.
Mrs. Elias CLANCY, mother Of the I
murdered girl, on cross-eXaminatiOn $
said that her daughter expressed the 1
fear that Webster would kill her if he I
kept on drinking. Z
Ira Webster, 2573 Edmondson ave- :
nue., formerly of Deals Island and :
first cousin Of the defendant was
called. He said that he had known r
4 he prisoner since birth and that as :
long as he had known him the ac- :
cused had, at various times, acted like
a crazy man when under the influence :
Of whiskey.
I'VE made our first visit to Balti- :
more on an oyster boat when Carlyle /,
vas about sixteen years Old" said the
cousin, @and our boat was off a Boston .
street wharf We had a few words
over some trivial thing, and ! went .
ashore ! returned in the yawl, and =
Carlyle was down in the cabin. I r
opened the doors and when / got in n
side Carlyle seized a butcher knife J
and came after me. He was half a
drunk, and as ! jumped out of the a
cabin door he rammed the butcher e
knife through a suit case until the
blade stuck in q locker" :