Year: 1862

The evidence in this singular case has now
been conc!udcd the counsel for the defence
has made his closing speech, which we publish
elsewhere; the District Attorney has commenced
his repiy, and is to conclude to-day, when the
case will be sent to tho jury by the presiding
judge.


The two principal grounds Of defence arc tenn
porary insanity and want of proof as to the deli
berate killing. The arguments for and against
the plea of insanity are about evenly balanced


and, as the prisoner has right to the benefit Of


the doubt, we presume the jury will come to
the conclusion that the unfortunate girl, owing
to the wrongs she had endured, labored under


temporary insanity at the time Of the killing of
Real, her alleged husband. But the want Of
proof of the deliberate and wjlful shooting of
the deceased seems to be the strong and deci-
sive point in her favor. No witness saw her fire
the shot, though there can be no doubt that she
held the pistol when it exploded; but the de-
ceased also probably held the pistol before and
at the moment it exploded; for he was seen to
have hold Of it immediately after. and the
nature Of the mortal wound he received renders
it likely that he caused the pistol to explode by
attempting to wrest it from her grasp. Whe-
ther she intended to kill him or kill herself. as
she had previously attempted, or to kill both,
does not appear to be established by evidence.
After she entered his store he went out with
her to the lobby, and after q few moments the
explosion was heard. His brother and Others
ran out, when they found him holding the pis-
tol by the barrel and struggling to take it from
her, the girl holding it by the handle and the
guard. So firmly did she hold it that the guard
was bent while the brother Of deceased forced
ii from her hand The wounded man died i'm
mediately after, and gave no explanation. The
bullet had entered the upper part OF his chest,
close to the shoulder, and passed down
ward at an angle Of about forty-liye
degrees, from which one Of the medi-
cal witnesses concluded that il would
require the woman to be ten feet high to dis
charge the pistol in that direction, provided the
deceased was standing up. But the struggle
to wrcst the pistol from the woman easily
explains the accidental explosion and the down
ward line OF the ball. This is, in fact the
explanation the accused herself gave in the
Tombs to one Of the doctors who visited her
there, and It has all the appearance of truth.


A case of the same kind occurred in Lexing-
ton avenue, in this city, in the latter part Of
184S or beginning Of 1849. A lady named
Walker had been separated from her husband,
and was at a boarding house. They had lived
on bad terms, and it was alleged that he was
about to get married again, after obtaining
divorce He called one day TO see Mrs. Walker,
and they had been in the parlor only fow
minutes together alone when pistol shot was
heard and the persons in the house, on running
in, found Mrs. Walker mortally wounded in the
breast. Walker stated that sho tried to take
the pistol from him In fun, and that 1t acci-
dentaly exploded He was tried for murder
The public feeling was as strong and universal
against him as it is now In favor Of Miss Stewart
or Mrs. Real. Yet he was acquitted. The ex-
ccllent moral character Of this woman is greatly
in her favor. Ample testimony has been borne
to her industry and modest dcmeanor She al
leges that she was married to Real; that he
took the marriage certificate from her and never
returned 1t, but subsequently denied that she
was his wife. In his letter to Miss Van Name
he not only denied IL, but said she was crazy for
making the assertion. Whether she was welded
to him by q real or mock marriage, or was not
married to him at all, certain II is she was de-
ceived by him, and suffered deep injury at his
hands. We are not Of those who would save
murderess from the penalty Of her crime on
the ground Of her being woman. But In this
case there Il so much doubt Of the guilt OF the
accused that we do not see how the jury can
end her guilty on the evidence.