THE EVIDENCE.
Selah Cowell was the first witness called, and being examined by Mr. Dwight, deposed: I reside at Islip, Long Island; I know the sloop E. A. Johnson; I built her myself; I am an American citizen; I owned one half of her, and Captain George H. Burr owned the other half; he was an American citizen; I saw the prisoner at the bar on board the sloop E. A. Johnson, on the Wednesday evening before she left; she was at the Spring street dock; she had been lying there a week; she cleared on Thursday, 15th; Captain Burr told me he was going to Deep Creek, Virginia, for oysters; the crew consisted of Captain Burr, Oliver Watts, and Smith Watts, and the prisoner; Captain Burr told me he shipped the prisoner as mate; Captain Burr was about thirty-nine years of age, Oliver Watts was about twenty-four, and Smith Watts about nineteen; I knew Captain Burr for a long time; the color of his hair was dark; Oliver Watts had very light hair, and Smith Watts had dark brown hair; I don’t know the handwriting of the boys (Watts); I have seen considerable of Captain Burr’s writing; I saw the E. A. Johnson at the Battery when she was brought in by the harbor police; I saw the yawl boat of the Johnson with the harbor police; she had that yawl boat before she left; I took the Johnson to Islip; on examining the Johnson I found a valise—a square, black, canvas valise—and some clothes; I brought them here (identifies the valise); found the things now in it, and a knife in it; saw the prisoner in the sloop the night before she sailed; saw him next in court before the Commissioner.
Mr. Dwight to the Court—The examination before the Commissioner took place on the 28th and 29th of March.
Cross-examined by Mr. Graves—I had no conversation with the prisoner when I saw him on board the sloop on the Wednesday; I never saw Captain Burr since; Oliver Watts was a large man; he would weigh about 170 pounds; Smith Watts would weigh, perhaps, 180 pounds; he was very large for his age; Captain Burr was a small man; probably did not weigh more than 125 or 130 pounds; it was after the examination before the Commissioner—some four or five days—that I found the valise on board; I gave it to Henry Seaman; I took the sloop over to Hoboken, lay there a couple of days, and then took her to Islip; the Watts boys were on board the sloop the Wednesday evening before she sailed.
Re-direct.—I have seen Captain Burr write; I had business transactions with him for the last nine years; when the defendant was on board on Wednesday evening he was dressed with a blue shirt and overalls, like those I found in the vessel; I was on board about half an hour; I took supper there; the prisoner was at supper also; he sat at the table with us (shipping articles produced); I recognize the names, etc., here, to be in Captain Burr’s handwriting.
John A. Boyle deposed—I am enrollment and license clerk in the Custom House (produces a book); the E. A. Johnson was enrolled on 3d of December, 1858, as an American vessel (objected to by prisoner’s counsel; admitted; exception taken.)
Daniel Simmons deposed—I reside at Keyport, New Jersey; I am in the oyster business; I know the sloop Edwin A. Johnson; I had her chartered last spring from this port to Virginia for oysters; the last time I chartered her was on the 14th of March; I knew Capt. Burr for two years; I sailed once with him; I think she left here last on Thursday morning the 15th of March; I settled with Capt. Burr for his charter on Wednesday afternoon, 14th March; I gave him $200 in silver coin, quarters, halves, and ten and five cent pieces; I gave him other money.
Mr. Graves objected to any proof of the payment of coin to the captain, on the ground that the indictment did not warrant the allegation.
The Court was of opinion that the objection was not well founded, and overruled it.
Examination continued.—I paid him the balance of his charter money in gold; two tens, two fives, a two and a half, one dollar in gold and a half dollar; I gave it to him in a shot bag; it belonged to Capt. Burr, but I had it in my safe, with the money in it, for some days before; I did not know where the captain used to keep his money; there was a secret drawer in the sloop where I kept money when I sailed with him; I do not know that Capt. Burr ever kept his money there; I have seen that bag since, when it was taken out of the prisoner’s pocket at the Second precinct station-house; I saw it taken out of his pocket; there was nothing in the bag then; there were two bags—I only knew one of them; I saw the prisoner on board the sloop Edwin A. Johnson on the Wednesday before she sailed, at the foot of Spring street—(bag produced); to the best of my knowledge, this is the same bag that I gave the captain the two hundred dollars in; I saw the prisoner on board in the forenoon of Wednesday, and again in the evening; I think he had a monkey jacket on; I saw the prisoner again, I think, at Keyport, on board the sloop; I was about thirty yards from him; it was between daylight and dark; I could not swear positively to him being on board at Keyport; the next time I saw the prisoner was at the Second precinct station-house, when he was brought back from Providence; it was on a Saturday; I had some conversation with him; I asked him if he had ever seen me before; he said he had not; this was in the back room of the station-house; Captain Weed asked him if he knew me, and he said he did not; I told him I saw him on board the Edwin A. Johnson, at Spring street dock; he said he never was there, and did not know there was such a vessel; I asked him if he knew Capt. Burr; he said he did not; that he never saw him and never was on board the vessel; when I saw the prisoner on board the sloop his whiskers were red and full; when I saw him after, his whiskers were darker.
Cross-examined.—When I hailed the vessel at Keyport, I asked them where the captain was; and I think the prisoner is the man that answered me, but I am not certain; I had no conversation with the prisoner on board the sloop at Spring street; the first time I spoke to him was at the station-house; Captain Weed asked me if I knew him and I said I did; I identify the bag by the strings; I have no other marks to identify it; the bag was pretty nearly full; there was no hole in the bag I gave Captain Burr; there is a hole in this one produced.
David S. Baldwin deposed—I live at Islip; I know the prisoner; I saw him on board the sloop on the 13th March; he was helping to get out oysters; Captain Burr was not on board; the prisoner told me that he was going to Virginia with Captain Burr for a load of oysters; he told me that night, that if I wanted to go up town he would stay on board and mind the vessel; I was cook; this valise I saw before; the prisoner handed it to me when he came on board on the 13th; the prisoner did not stay on board that night (examines the contents of the valise); I saw this knife before with the prisoner, on board; he took it out to cut a piece of string; I know it by this piece of the handle being rough, and the rivet being bright; at that time the prisoner wore his whiskers as he does now; I saw the prisoner on Wednesday morning on board the sloop at breakfast; I did not see him again until to-day.
Cross-examined.—I had been cook with Captain Burr; I left the sloop on Wednesday; Smith Watts took my place as cook; the prisoner first came on board between six and seven o’clock on Tuesday morning; I never saw him before; I don’t know how he came to tell me he was going to Virginia with Captain Burr; the captain told Johnson if he wanted to go up town that night he could go; Johnson said to me if I wanted to go he would stay on board.
James H. Bacon deposed—I am in the oyster business; I know the prisoner at the bar; I saw him on board the E. A. Johnson on the 13th March; I was there two days getting out oysters; Johnson was there shovelling out oysters; he wore his whiskers same as he does now; he had a check shirt, short coat, and comforter about his neck; I next saw him after his arrest, when I was called on to identify him.
Cross-examined.—I reside at Port Richmond; I was examined before the Commissioner; he was working on board the boat helping me to fill out the oysters; I think he had a dark pair of pantaloons and a Kossuth hat; I think in the morning he had on a monkey coat, and when he went to work he pulled on a blue shirt; I had no conversation with him more than to tell him to fill the baskets a little fuller.
Reuben Keymer deposed—I am in the oyster and fish business; I knew of the sloop E. A. Johnson being at Gravesend in March last; I don’t recollect the date; she came there on Sunday and left on Tuesday night; the next day (Wednesday) I saw the sloop towed up by a steamer; I saw the prisoner the day the sloop sailed from Gravesend; he came ashore after one of the Wattses; it was just at sunset; he came ashore in the yawl boat; the sloop was about one hundred yards off; the prisoner was sculling the yawl; I was afraid he would run foul of me; the prisoner and Watts returned to the sloop in the yawl boat; the prisoner was dressed in a coat of the description of the one produced; I watched the sloop going out; she went southwest to clear Coney Island, and then she took a southerly course (a chart of the bay produced—the witness describes to the jury where the sloop lay, and her course); I saw her three miles out to the east of Sandy Hook; the wind was west northwest; the sloop was going about eight knots an hour; when she got out, she set her flying jib; at the rate she was going she would pass Sandy Hook in about an hour; when I saw Johnson come ashore from the sloop, I think I recognized the boy that went back with him as one I had seen on the sloop the day before.
Cross-examined.—I was not well acquainted with any of them except Capt. Burr. I am certain of the prisoner being the man who sculled the yawl; I told the man in my boat not to run into him; I turned to the prisoner and said to him, “Now I suppose you are going to give it to her;” I was in a row boat; we were rowing our boat; I next saw the prisoner in Court before the Commissioner; I think I stated before the Commissioner that the prisoner had a monkey jacket on when I saw him in the boat; I stood about five minutes on the shore and then went to my house; I saw from the house about three miles out; if she kept the southerly course I suppose she would have fetched up about the Highlands, below Sandy Hook; she made a straight wake. (Witness again described the course of the sloop on the chart.)
Charles Baker deposed—I live at Gravesend; I knew Capt. Burr; I know the sloop E. A. Johnson; I saw her in March last at Gravesend; I saw Capt. Burr come ashore at Gravesend bay; knew Smith and Oliver Watts by sight; I saw the prisoner Johnson come ashore and take away one of the hands; I saw the sloop go away in about eight or ten minutes after the prisoner and the young man got on board; Capt. Burr was on board; there were four on board altogether.
Cross-examined.—The young man had a small bundle under his arm; never saw the prisoner before that; had no conversation with him; he was a stranger and I took a little more notice of him than if I knew him; he had a kind of monkey coat on; he had whiskers; he had none on his upper lip then that I could see; I was not nearer to him than the length of this room; I did not see which of the Watts boys went along with him.
John S. Whitworth deposed—I live in Gravesend; I saw the prisoner at Gravesend beach on the 19th or 20th of March last; he came ashore in a yawl boat; I saw him raise the bow of the boat on the beach; I was painting a vessel at the time; the boat was not more than a few minutes there when I saw her go back again toward the E. A. Johnson, which was about 100 or 120 yards off; I saw the prisoner on the day following; he came ashore in the yawl boat; I did not see him go back to the sloop that day; I don’t think he had any coat on on Monday; I think he had a monkey coat on on Tuesday.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sayles.—The next yawl boat was coming ashore when I left off work on Tuesday; I went away before she came to the beach; the prisoner’s side was to me when he pulled the boat on the beach on Monday.
By the consent of counsel the jury were permitted to separate after suitable caution from the Court not to converse with any person on the subject of this trial.
Adjourned to Tuesday at ten o’clock.
Second Day.
Richard Eldridge, examined by Mr. Dwight, deposed that he saw the sloop E. A. Johnson at Gravesend on the Sunday morning and Monday; went on board of her; saw Captain Burr and the two Watts boys, and Johnson, the prisoner, on board; saw Johnson on board the sloop first on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I went out in the Sirocco, in company with the sloop, past Coney Island; we were bound up to the Health Office; it was about sunset when we went out; Captain Burr, the two Watts boys, and Johnson were on board when she left; she went on the usual course of southern vessels; I took a letter from Captain Burr to his home; Johnson wore a beard same as now, but no moustache on the upper lip; never saw the prisoner since until yesterday.
Cross-examined.—Knew Captain Burr well for years, and also knew the Watts boys; I did not know the prisoner before that time; I had no particular conversation with him; Captain Burr told me he was going to Virginia.
George Neidlinger deposed—I live on Staten Island, at Port Richmond; I saw Johnson, the prisoner, at six o’clock on the morning of the 21st of March; I was standing at the barn door; he came up to me and asked me if there was any one to interfere with his boat, and I said no; he left his boat on the south side of the fort, and he came from that direction; he told me he left the boat “back there;” I afterward went there and saw that the boat had been hauled up by some boys; the harbor police came for the boat and took it away the next evening; there was nothing in the boat that I could see but some sand, oyster shells, and oars; the prisoner went toward the Vanderbilt landing; he had on a monkey jacket and a Kossuth hat—(jacket produced)—it was like this; he had a bag, like a feed bag, which he carried on his shoulder—(witness described on the diagram where he saw the prisoner)—he landed on the point below Fort Tompkins; Vanderbilt’s landing is about two miles from Fort Tompkins; the prisoner wore his whiskers pretty much as they are now, only he had no hair on the upper lip; at the examination before the Commissioner he had no whiskers on the side.
Cross-examined.—Had never seen the man before; he had no conversation with me except to ask if any one would interfere with his boat; he had a monkey jacket and Kossuth hat, but I did not notice his pants; I made a mistake before the Commissioner in stating that the jacket came down below the knees; I meant to say that it came down to his hips; I corrected myself.
To the Court.—I think I changed my testimony before I left the Commissioner’s Court.
Cross-examination continued.—I saw the prisoner put on the coat before the Commissioner, and then I changed my mind.
To Mr. Dwight.—I am not an American; I am a German.
Michael Durnin deposed.—I live at Staten Island; I know Hicks, the prisoner; I saw him on the 21st of March; I was going down to Port Richmond, and met him with a bag on his shoulder; he bid me good morning, and I bid him the same; he asked something about his boat; he went toward Vanderbilt’s landing; he had a bag on his shoulder, like a feed bag.
This witness was not cross-examined.
Augustus Guisler deposed—I live at Stapleton, but attend bar at Vanderbilt’s Landing; I know the prisoner; I saw him on Wednesday morning, 21st March; he came to our shop, and said he wanted something to eat; he asked me if I had any coffee, and I said not, but told him where to get it; he went out and came back again, and said they were not up; he asked for eggs, and invited Mr. Hickbert to take a drink; he showed me a $10 gold piece, and asked me if I wanted it; I said, “No, sir, I have not change for it;” he then took some silver and paid me; I would not know the bag; the coat he had on was like that produced; it had patches on the elbows like this; Mr. Hickbert asked him if he was a seafaring man; he told Mr. Hickbert that he was captain of a sloop; that he had been run into, and one man was killed, and another knocked overboard; he said he was down stairs asleep at the time, and had only time to get his clothes and the “needful” (at the same time shaking the bag), and come ashore in the yawl boat; the bag in which he had his money was something like this one produced; he took the $10 gold piece out of the bag; he was about twenty minutes in our shop.
Cross-examined.—I didn’t count the money; Mr. Hickbert did not count it; I did not see the bag in his hand when he first came; he did not take it out of his pocket; he had a handkerchief in his hand; when he offered me the gold piece, he had the bag in his hands, leaning against the bar; he finally put his hand in his pocket and paid me; could not tell whether the bag was full or not; it looked like this bag; I have seen a good many shot-bags; I am seventeen years of age; I next saw the prisoner at the Second Ward station-house; Captain Weed sent for me; they told me they thought they had the man; I went there and identified him.
To the Court.—There were thirty or forty persons in the station-house at the time; I picked him out; no one pointed him out to me; I asked Captain Weed where he was; he said he would not tell me; that I was to point him out; there were others there; they all identified him but one little boy; the people were not mostly in policemen’s dress; there were all kinds of clothes.
Abraham S. Hickbert deposed that he saw the prisoner, on the 21st March, at the Vanderbilt ferry, at about half-past six o’clock; he asked me where he could get something good; I showed him; he went in and asked Augustus, the barkeeper. This witness corroborated the last witness as to the conversation with the prisoner, and further added that he told him that the vessel he was on was the William Tell; that he had been run into by a schooner, and one man was killed against the mast, and another knocked overboard. The prisoner shook a bag in his hand when he said he had only time to save the one thing needful.
Cross-examined.—I had never seen him before, to my knowledge; I cannot tell exactly how he was dressed, nor whether he had whiskers; I should think the man was about five feet eight inches; I did not take particular notice of his height; he said he was on the William Tell, and had been run into that morning in the lower bay.
To the Court.—Next saw the prisoner at the police station-house; identified him there by his face; he was not pointed out to me by any one.
To Mr. Graves.—To the best of my belief, he is the man I saw at Vanderbilt’s landing; I would not like to swear right up and down that he is the man.
Franklin E. Hawkins deposed that he is captain of the sloop Sirocco; I knew Captain Burr and the Watts boys; heard Captain Burr say he was going to write a letter home; saw the prisoner on board the sloop E. A. Johnson; my vessel was lying at Coney Island, and the sloop Johnson was lying at the same place; on the Sunday before she sailed I went out with her; Johnson came ashore in the yawl boat on the evening before the sloop sailed; Richard Eldridge took the letter from Captain Burr to his home in Islip; Captain Burr had dark hair; one of the Watts boys had light hair and the other a little darker; I do not know Captain Burr’s watch.
Cross-examined.—The prisoner met me when he came ashore on Tuesday, and asked me if I was Oliver; I had no conversation with the prisoner; heard him talk with the captain; I can swear positively that this is the man.
Patrick McCaffrey deposed—I am a deck hand on the Staten Island ferry-boat Southfield; I know the prisoner; I saw him in the gentlemen’s cabin about seven o’clock on the morning of the 21st of March; I was brooming off the cabin; he was sitting down, and he called me over and asked me if I was a judge of this country’s money; that he was afraid them fellows were cheating him; I said I was a pretty good judge of gold and silver, but did not know much of bills; he asked me to count the money; I counted out three or four gold pieces and told him what they were; the bag was a kind of a shot bag; he asked me where the water closet was and I showed him; he told me to mind his canvas bag and he would give me the price of my bitters (identifies the coat); my attention was particularly called to the coat by it being bare in some places and having patches on the elbow.
Mr. Dwight asked that the prisoner now put on the coat.
The Judge said that he could not compel the prisoner to do so, as it might aid other witnesses for the prosecution, who are now in court and have not yet been examined.
Examination continued.—Next saw the prisoner in the Second Ward station-house; he denied having ever seen me; I looked all around the station-house, and when I saw him I said, “There’s the man.”
To the Court.—There were forty or fifty in the station-house; my attention was not directed to him; no one pointed him out to me.
Cross-examined.—Had never seen him before I saw him on board the Southfield; he had whiskers up to his ears, but no moustache; his whiskers were blacker when I saw him in the station-house than they are now; I have not a doubt about the coat; I can swear positively to it and the man; I cannot swear positively to the shot bag; I was born in Ireland; I am only two years here; I have lived at Staten Island ever since; I have been a coachman, and have been now nearly eighteen months on the ferry-boat; I can’t tell how many passengers were in the ferry-boat that morning.
William Drumm, a lad, deposed that he met the prisoner on a Wednesday morning, about eight o’clock; can’t tell when; met him at the South ferry; it was about the 21st of March; I saw him at a coffee and cake stand at the ferry, kept by Charley McCosten; he got a cup of coffee and a piece of pie; he put down a gold piece, and the man said, “Oh, ——, have you no smaller change than that!” he then gave him something else. I carried Johnson’s bag to the corner of Cedar and Greenwich streets. I asked him fifty cents, and he gave me three shillings, and said if I did not go out of that he would kick me (laughter); there was a Dutchman there who told him two shillings were enough; I pointed out the prisoner on the following Sunday, in the station-house.
Cross-examined.—I testified before the commissioner that the bag was very heavy and cut my shoulder, and that it did not seem to be filled with clothes; I stated before the commissioner that the prisoner wore a greyish coat; I saw him first at the coffee stand; he wanted a carriage first.
Patrick Burke, deposed—I know the prisoner for about three years, by the name of William Johnson; he had a room from me in Cedar street, near Greenwich; the last time I saw him was on the Wednesday before his arrest; I did not remark his dress; he had nothing with him that I saw; I saw him again that day, in my house, about four o’clock; I saw some bills with him that day; I do not know how much; I do not know that he made any change in his clothes or his whiskers; he went away by the boat that evening; he took his wife and child with him; he took some things with him; he left a ship’s instrument (a compass, I think) behind at my house; I had no conversation with him that day more than to bid him the time of the day; he always paid me my rent like an honest man.
Cross-examined.—I think it was before noon I saw him with the bills in his hands; often saw bills with him before.
Catharine Burke, wife of the last witness, corroborated her husband’s testimony; Johnson did not say anything about what voyage he was going on the last time he went to sea.
Cross-examined.—I had seen the prisoner with money on previous occasions.
Albert S. James, broker, deposed—I saw the prisoner first on Wednesday, the 21st March, at my office in South street; he asked me to take some silver at as low a rate as possible; I had engaged to take some silver from the market, and asked him if he came from there; he said no; the “Cap” was sick; that he came honestly by the money; I changed about $135 in silver, and $35 in gold; it was in a bag and tied up in a handkerchief. (Handkerchief and bag produced.) I think that is like the bag but cannot identify the handkerchief; a man came into the office and the prisoner seemed to hesitate, and did not seem to want to open the bag before the man.
Q. What did you give him in exchange for the gold and silver.
A. I gave him $130 in Farmers’ and Citizens’ Bank of Williamsburg, Long Island; their denominations were tens, fives, threes and twos; I counted the money; the prisoner did not appear to count the money after me; he did not see how much there was.
Richard O’Conor, cartman, deposed—That he saw the prisoner on the 21st of March, and took his baggage to the Bay State (Fall River boat); the prisoner walked, and I saw him at the boat afterward. He told me if any one inquired where he was going, to tell them it was none of their business. When they were taking the luggage out, a woman asked him where they were going, and he said they were going to Albany to live on a farm.
Witness was not cross-examined.
George Nivens, officer of second precinct, deposed—That he understood that a man answering the prisoner’s description had left in the Stonington boat, but traced him to Providence, where he arrested him in a boarding-house. I found the hackman who had conveyed Johnson, and he took me to the house; I found him in bed with his wife; I shook him up and searched him; I found on him a watch; I took away two trunks, two bags, two handkerchiefs, and a knife, a pocket-book, and some bed-clothing, which he claimed to be his. (Identifies the watch, pocket-book, and bags; cannot identify the handkerchiefs.) I found in the pocket-book $121 in bills on the Farmers’ and Citizens’ Bank of Williamsburg, mostly fives and tens; there are some ones; there are also some on the Lee, Huguenot Bank, and City Bank of Brooklyn; when I arrested him first I told him I arrested him for passing counterfeit money; I did not make any statement to him at the station-house in Providence; I believe Mr. Smith did; I brought him to New York next day; he told me that the watch belonged to his brother; he said he had not been in New York or Staten Island during the month of March; that he had been speculating around the market, and had about $60; at another time he said he got the money from his brother; on counting over the money in the pocket-book I found there were $121 in it; when I informed him in the cars of the charge against him, he denied all knowledge of Capt. Burr and the sloop E. A. Johnson.
Cross-examined.—At the time I had the conversation with him in the cars he was in irons; he did not tell me that he could not read or write.
To Mr. Dwight.—When I arrested him in Providence he told me his name was Hicks—Albert W. Hicks.
Elias Smith deposed—That he was with Nivens when he made the arrest.
The Court.—Are you a police officer?
Witness.—No, sir; I am a reporter of the Times.
To Mr. Dwight.—The prisoner denied all knowledge of the sloop E. A. Johnson or Captain Burr; he said he had not been in New York for two months; I understood him to convey the idea that he had been in Providence for two months (identifies the watch and pocket-book as those taken from the prisoner in Providence); I cannot identify the clothing; I addressed the prisoner at the station-house, and said to him, “Hicks, you are charged with the murder of three men;” he said nothing; I then changed the language and said to him, “You are charged with imbruing your hands in the blood of three of your fellow men for money;” the prisoner shook his head and said, “I do not know anything about it;” I then said to him, “You have been on board the sloop Edwin A. Johnson;” he shook his head and said he did not know anything about it, and was never on it; Mr. Nivens read the newspaper accounts of the transaction to him; he said he did not care much about the arrest except for the interruption to his business, as he had purchased a place in Providence; I told him he would be identified when he got to New York; he said we might think what we liked; he seemed annoyed at our pressing the subject.
Cross-examined.—I never found out how much he had paid; I said to him, “If you are innocent, then you are willing to go back to New York?” after hesitating, he assented; Detective Billings, of Providence, was with me when he signed the agreement to come back.
SCENE OF THE FIRST CONFLICT ON BOARD THE SLOOP “E. A. JOHNSON,” WITH THE BLOOD-STAINS ON THE DECK.
PORTRAIT OF OLIVER WATTS.
PORTRAIT OF CAPT. GEORGE BURR.
Samuel M. Downes deposed—I am captain and pilot of the steamtug Sirius; I picked up the sloop E. A. Johnson on the East Bank, near the Romer, about half-past six o’clock in the morning; I brought her to this city, and left her in the river at the foot of Fulton Market; the bowsprit of the sloop was broken off about midway; the jib hung overboard; there was no small boat on board; I boarded the sloop; one of the men of the schooner Telegraph had boarded her about the same time (witness describes the appearance of the sloop on a model produced in court); there were pools of blood on the deck, and the cabin appeared as if some one had been slaughtered there; there were marks of a hand, as if struggling, and then there appeared to be a blow of a hatchet where the hand mark was, as if it was cut; the blood flowed down to the scuppers; there were evidences of a scuffle; there was a mark of a foot in the blood, as if some person with a boot or a shoe had stepped in it; the appearance of the blood from the companionway seemed as if some person had been dragged from there and thrown overboard; there was some hair found in the pool of blood forward; it was dark brown hair; I did not remove the hair or anything on board; I brought her to New York; arrived about half-past ten o’clock at the foot of Fulton Market, and gave her up to Captain Weed of the Second Precinct.
Cross-examined, but nothing material was elicited.
Re-direct examination.—The wind was blowing north-northwest, which would bring the sloop out to sea.
Hart B. Weed, examined by Mr. Dwight, deposed—I am captain of the Second District police; I examined the clothes brought by Nivens from Providence; there were coat, pants, vest, and some flannel clothing contained in a bag used for feed; the clothes produced—coat, vest, and pantaloons—are those given to me by Officer Nivens; there was also a hat (several other articles of clothing produced); these were either found in the trunk or the bag; I recollect finding a daguerreotype in the trunk or bag (produces it); I sealed it up and gave it to the clerk of this court. (The daguerreotype is of a young lady, and is said to be that of the sweetheart of one of the Wattses.) I was at the station-house when the prisoner was brought there; he said he knew nothing about it; I asked him if he knew anything about the vessel or the murder, and he said “No; he knew nothing about it, and had not been in New York, Staten Island, or Long Island for some time; Dr. Bonton, the coroner’s assistant, accompanied me to the sloop; we found a lock of brown hair—human hair—lying partially in a pool of blood on the deck; I gave the hair to the Assistant District Attorney; it was sealed up in the manner of this package produced; I cannot now swear that this is the hair; it was then clotted with blood; I also found hair on the coffee-pot in the cabin; I gave that to you (Mr. Dwight); (another package produced) this is the hair found on the coffee-pot; the blood had the appearance as if a person lay down and the blood flowed at each side.”
The cabin had a great deal of blood and had the appearance of being washed down; I found a bucket, with a rope, which appeared to be used in taking up water; I found a broom there; there was blood and hair on the rope attached to the bucket; sails and other things had been removed out; there were holes bored in the deck; we found an auger with blood on it; the auger fitted the holes in the deck; the coffee-pot was lying behind the stove, it seemed to be bruised; there was hair on it; we searched under the companionway and found a lead line there; we found some secret drawers; I saw the valise that was identified here yesterday in the cabin of the sloop; we found spots of blood on the ceiling of the cabin, and on each side of the door, as if a person had been drawn out of it; there were three cuts on the ceiling, which appeared to have been done with a sharp instrument; we found cuts on the clothing of the captain’s berth; the railing had the appearance as if a hand was on it and had been cut; we saw marks which seemed as if a person with bloody clothing had been shoved down the side of the vessel; there was blood on the stove and wood in the cabin; the cabin was in a deranged condition; I received some tackle from Captain Nickerson, which consisted of some of the gearing of the vessel; I took them down with one of my men, who had been a sailor, and we found they corresponded with the bowsprit of the Johnson.
Cross-examined (a shirt and linen coat produced).—These are the clothing we found in the captain’s berth with cuts on them; there was no blood on them nor on the bed; they had the appearance of being clean and folded up; I partially examined the prisoner to see if there were any marks on him; I found no fresh marks of violence on him; I lifted his shirt and looked at his body; I looked at his arms; I saw the figure of an eagle printed in India ink. I saw no other marks on his arm.
The hour of adjournment having arrived, the Court adjourned to ten o’clock Wednesday morning.
Third Day.
The court was densely crowded at an early hour.
Theodore Burdett, examined by Mr. Dwight, deposed, that he is a policeman belonging to the harbor police; I found a boat about seven o’clock on Thursday, the 22d of March, the day after the sloop was brought up to the city; I found the boat fifty yards to the southward of Fort Richmond; Hickbert and Gresler (the two witnesses) gave me information where I could find the boat; I saw the hostler of the fort; he gave me the oars and half an old boot, and a piece of an old stump of a broom; I went to the sloop and found Mr. Selah Howell, the owner; I showed him the boat as it lay at the slip; he claimed it, and took it away.
To the Judge.—This was at the police station.
Samuel J. Conover deposed—I am a watchmaker, doing business with Mr. Squire, No. 182 Bowery; I remember repairing a watch about a year ago for a person named Burr; it was on the 6th of April, a year ago; it was not Mr. Burr himself who brought it; it was left by a gentleman whom I saw in the court yesterday; the person who left it took it away I presume; it was a double case silver watch; the maker’s name J. Johnson, and the number 21,310. (Looks at the watch.) This is the watch that I repaired; I do not know the guard; I don’t know that I ever saw Capt. Burr.
Cross-examined.—In giving a description of the watch and its number I am aided by a record which we keep at the store; I am pretty sure I made the record before it was repaired; the record is in my handwriting. (The witness was requested to send for the record.)
Hart B. Weed, recalled, deposed—That the dark hair produced is what I found in the cabin; this other (the light hair) I found forward of the mast, on the deck in a pool of blood. (Witness here selected and showed out the clothes brought from Providence in the trunk and bag.) I have now a bag in my hand in addition to the things produced yesterday; the contents were taken out of a green chest brought by the officers from Providence.
Cross-examined.—I cannot enumerate all the articles found; I did not find any jewelry; I do not know if any one took a list or description of the articles.
Re-direct examination.—I now recollect that I found the daguerreotype produced yesterday (of a young lady) in the breast pocket of this coat, (a dark frock coat).
Henry Seaman deposed—I reside in Brooklyn; I was acquainted with Capt. Burr for fourteen or fifteen years; I saw him on the Tuesday before he left; I know Capt. Burr’s watch; I had it in my hand on the Tuesday; it was at my house, and he (Capt. Burr) took it away that evening; I recollect leaving Capt. Burr’s watch to be repaired at some store in the Bowery, a year ago last April; I did not go after it again; I know it by its general appearance, and by the guard, and the way the guard is knotted; I knew the sloop Johnson, and its yawl boat; I saw the yawl boat at the police station after the sloop had been towed in to the city; it was on the 22d or 23d of March last; saw the yawl boat on the sloop the time she was here before the last trip; I do not know the prisoner; Captain Burr was a man of about five feet seven or five feet eight inches in height. I found the ship’s papers in the cabin, at the head of the captain’s birth; I gave them to Captain Weed, of the Second Ward station; I knew the Watts boys; Oliver was about five feet nine or ten, and weighed about 180 or 185 pounds; he was the light-haired one; Smith Watts was taller, and weighed about 175 pounds; I do not know Smith Watts’ writing.
Cross-examined.—I had the watch in my hand probably fifteen or twenty minutes; it was on the Tuesday before the Thursday that he sailed; I don’t think I said before the Commissioner that it was the Tuesday week before he sailed; I do not know why I took the watch in my hand; I had no idea that I should be called on to identify it; I left it at Mr. Squire’s store to be repaired; I did not go for the watch; I remember the number of the watch, 21,310; the number was marked down on the boom of my cart by Captain Burr when he gave it to me at foot of Spring street; I did not state that fact before; I have since sold the cart; Captain Burr’s wife and my wife are sisters.
To Mr. Dwight—Captain Burr carried the watch for four or five years.
Mr. Conover—(recalled and produces the record).—It is as follows:
Mr. Burr
D. B. Silver watch,
J. Johnson, Liverpool, 21,310.
Dld.
To prisoner’s counsel.—I can’t say to whom I delivered the watch; my impression is that I delivered it to the gentleman who left it, but I am not certain; it was there about a week.
Catherine Dickerson, a girl about seventeen years of age, deposed: I knew Oliver Watts; I saw him last on the Tuesday of the week he sailed; I do not know the date; I gave him my daguerreotype.
Mr. Graves objected to this testimony.
The Court said he deemed the evidence was proper and important; it had been proved that a daguerreotype was found in a coat, and if the prosecution can prove that that coat belonged to young Watts, and that this is the daguerreotype this witness gave him, it will go far to connect the prisoner with the transaction on board that sloop. The Court thought the evidence not only eminently proper, but very material and important testimony.
Witness continued.—When I gave him the daguerreotype he put it in his coat pocket; I saw that coat since in the District Attorney’s office (coat produced in which Captain Weed found the daguerreotype); I think this is his coat and this the pocket he put it in; he then jumped into the cars (daguerreotype produced); this is the same one I gave him; I don’t remember any of the other clothes of Oliver but the coat.
Cross-examined.—The coat was shown me in the District Attorney’s office; they showed me one coat and asked me if it was Oliver’s, and I said not; they then showed me the other, and I said it was Oliver’s; I identify it from the yellow lining in the sleeves, and the cloth being worn off the button; it was on the sidewalk, right by the cars, I gave Oliver my daguerreotype.
Harriet Robinson (mother of the last witness)—My former husband’s name was Dickerson; I knew Oliver Watts for three or four years; he used to stay at my house when home from sea; he had not all his clothes when at my house last; he had a pair of pants which he took away with him; he wore on that Tuesday his best coat; I should suppose this (the coat in which Captain Weed found the daguerreotype) to be the coat; I know it from the lining, etc.; he said he gave $16 for it; the other I think was his every day coat.
Cross-examined.—Nothing material elicited.
Abbey Hubbard deposed—My first husband’s name was Watts; I am the mother of Smith Watts; the last time I saw him was on the 7th of March; he started to go with Captain Burr to Virginia (identifies a portion of the clothes belonging to her son, Smith Watts); I patched this shirt myself; this bag has the initials of my present husband, Lorenzo Hubbard, on it; I put my son’s clothes in it that morning myself; I knew the shirts; I cut them myself, and had them sewed; he was very large, and could not get shirts to fit him; I cut them in the old fashioned way myself; I have had no tidings of him since, only that I suppose he was murdered. (Sensation in court.)
Cross-examined.—I reside at Islip; I am not any relation of Captain Burr’s family, but I was acquainted with him for fourteen or fifteen years.
Re-direct examination.—Witness exhibited further signs in stitches and patches, by which she positively identified her son Smith Watts’ shirt; the pantaloons have a new pocket, which I put in, as he had worn out the other one; all those things that I have identified my son took away with him in the bag which has my husband’s initials on it.
The cross-examination was a mere repetition of her direct testimony.
To Mr. Dwight—(Handkerchief produced by officer Nivens, shown to witness)—This was Smith Watts’ handkerchief; I have washed and done it up for him for two years, and never saw one like it.
Mrs. Hubbard, who gave her testimony clearly, and maintained her self-possession on the witness stand, burst into tears, and continued to weep for some time after she retired from the body of the court.
Dideme Burr (the widow of Captain Burr, dressed in deep mourning) was called to the stand and deposed—My husband, Captain George H. Burr, left home on the 8th of March last; I have never received any tidings of him since, save in connection with this affair; I think I should know his watch from the case and its general appearance, and by the guard (watch handed to Mrs. Burr); this is the same kind of a case; I should say it is the same watch; he carried it some nine years, as near as I can say; (ship’s articles produced) I think the filling up in this paper is in my husband’s handwriting; I saw some of his clothes in the Second Ward station-house; (Kossuth hat produced) he had a hat like this, which he wore from home; this was his shirt; he took this from home with him; I know it by a piece across it, which he put in himself, on board the sloop; those pantaloons I think were his; the suspenders are precisely like those he had on when he went away; he had a vest the same cut and color of this produced; he did not have it home with him the last time; I could not say positively, but I think it is his; this black handkerchief was his; I hemmed it myself.
Cross-examined.—My husband had more than one coat; he often bought clothes, and brought them on board the sloop; I first identified these clothes at the station-house.
Mr. Dwight said that these were all the witnesses for the prosecution, with the exception of Captain Nickerson, of the brig which had had the collision with the sloop E. A. Johnson. He had been telegraphed to Boston, and as he was a willing witness, they expected him by every arrival. He sails between Philadelphia and Boston, and it may be possible that he (Captain Nickerson) had been detained at sea.
The counsel for the defence intimated that their testimony would not occupy much time, and they would probably close to-morrow. They preferred, however, that the prosecution should exhaust their case first.
The Judge said he would allow a reasonable time for the appearance of Captain Nickerson.
Mr. Dwight said that Mrs. Hubbard wished to correct her testimony as to date.
Mrs. Hubbard again took the witness stand, and said that she saw her son, Smith Watts, last on the 13th of March, Tuesday, and not on the 7th; she was confused when she first came up, and made a mistake as to the date.
The Court then adjourned to ten o’clock on Friday morning.
Fourth Day.
Catherine Dickerson, recalled by the prosecution, deposed—I have had hair from Oliver Watts in my possession; it was in his daguerreotype which I gave to someone in the station-house; this daguerreotype and hair now handed to me are the same; I knew this to be Oliver’s hair because I cut it off myself.
The daguerreotype and hair of Oliver Watts were submitted to the jury to compare with the hair found in the blood on the deck of the sloop.
Captain Weed recalled by the District Attorney, and deposed—I received from the last witness (Miss Dickerson) a daguerreotype and some hair, which I have with me.
Q. Will you give it to the person that you received it from?
(The captain here handed the hair and daguerreotype to Miss Dickerson.)
Miss Dickerson, being further examined, said—That is the daguerreotype that I spoke of; that is the hair of Oliver Watts which I received from him.
To the Court.—I can tell the hair by the color of it; I cut it off myself; I put it in the daguerreotype; his likeness was taken at the same time as mine was—on the Tuesday before he sailed; the daguerreotype that I now hold in my hand is that of Oliver Watts; I think I cut that lock of hair from his head about six months ago from the present time.
George Washburn, of the second precinct police, stated that he took some rigging from the J. R. Mather, and fitted it to the broken bowsprit of the E. A. Johnson; it compared exactly with what was still left on the bow of the vessel; the schooner Mather was said to have come in collision with the E. A. Johnson.
Mr. Hunt, Assistant District Attorney, stated that the government had no further testimony to offer with the exception of that of Captain Nickerson, which he deemed highly important and material. He thought that the reading of the testimony of Mr. Nickerson taken before the Commissioner, would be sufficient, if assented to by the other side.
Mr. Graves requested a short adjournment for the purpose of reading the testimony of Mr. Nickerson, and consulting with his associates as to the proper course to be pursued.
The Court said that this was a matter purely for counsel to consider, and one with which he would not interfere. He would accede to the request of defendant’s counsel, and adjourn the Court till twelve o’clock.
The Court then took a recess. On reassembling,
Mr. Graves desired to state that they had not been able to agree with the counsel for the government as to the evidence of Captain Nickerson.
Mr. Hunt said—My opinion is that the testimony of Captain Nickerson is material, and of sufficient importance to authorize us in asking the Court for an adjournment of the case until to-morrow.
Mr. Graves would like to know if the Court intended to limit counsel in their address to the jury.
The Court said—In a case of this kind I am not disposed to limit you in your rights to your client, or the government in their right toward the prosecution.
The Judge, in addressing the District Attorney, said—Mr. Hunt, it must be a very strong case, indeed, that will induce the Court to grant any further delay for this witness. I will adjourn till to-morrow morning at ten o’clock, and the case must then proceed, unless some imperative reason is shown to the Court why it should not.
After the usual caution to the jury, the Court adjourned.
Fifth Day.
At the meeting of the court this morning, some delay was occasioned by the absence of the leading counsel for the prisoner.
Mr. Sayles, junior counsel for the prisoner, said—May it please the Court, my associate, Mr. Graves, is not present. I have learned that he went to Twenty-seventh street to see his uncle last night, and I have not seen him since. I would therefore ask a short delay.
The Court.—There may have been some accident; you had better send and inquire. The Court will wait a few minutes.
Mr. C. H. Hunt, the Assistant District Attorney, said, if the Court please, this will not, of course, prevent our doing all we proposed to do. We have to inform the Court that Capt. Nickerson, whose testimony we were anxious to obtain, has not arrived, and we do not suppose we shall have his testimony to-day. It is proper I should state, also, that we have never regarded his testimony as indispensable in any sense, for if we had we would not have consented to proceed with the trial without his being present. We have, however, regarded his testimony as very important, as giving completeness to the chain of facts which we had it in our power to present to the Court and jury; and in this view of the case perhaps we were anxious that the testimony should not be submitted on the part of the government without that link in the chain; and we were desirous of doing what, as I understand it, is the duty of the government, of presenting all the facts that it is in our power to present, before calling upon the prisoner for his defence. These are the reasons which influenced the prosecution in asking for the delay which has been granted; and we now feel that we have done all we could to procure this testimony, in order to give the evidence such completeness as is in our power, and we do not now feel like asking the Court for any further delay in order to procure the testimony of Capt. Nickerson. We are obliged to the Court for granting the delay asked for yesterday, and we now, under the circumstances, rest the case on the part of the government, and leave the evidence for the prosecution as it now stands.
The Court.—It appears that Mr. Graves, the senior counsel for the prisoner, is not in attendance, and for some reason probably for which he is not responsible. The Court will wait a reasonable time for him.
Ex-Judge Roosevelt, United States District Attorney, said—During this short interval I should remark, in addition to what has been said by Mr. Hunt, that upon looking over this case, although I took no part in it in open court, that the prosecution came to the conclusion that this testimony was entirely unnecessary, though relevant; and the only reason why any delay should have been asked, and the only reason why any delay should have been granted, was to follow out the usage founded on good sense and on humanity—that usage which has been regarded, not by strict law, but by a species of courtesy, that the government, being the stronger party, should not, at the outset, take sides, as it were, but develop the entire case, whether they lay before the court items which may be deemed by them not to be very important, because it might so happen to the mind of the court and the minds of the jurors, that those items, which we might deem not important, should seem to be very necessary to make out the case. I did not consider the testimony of Captain Nickerson in any other light than in completing the history of the case. On the other side, they had a right to object to the introduction of what Captain Nickerson had sworn to before the commissioner, and it was perfectly proper they should do so, unless the evidence was introduced in the regular way. On our part we have endeavored to do our full duty to the court, to the prisoner, and to the public. We have tried to give every element, every item of evidence in the case that had the slightest bearing upon it; and I would now say, to avoid any misapprehension, that it does not arise from any idea of the weakness of the case by any means; but it is to fill out, if possible, the usage of the courts in criminal cases. But we are unable to procure this witness; he probably is on the ocean now, for he sailed from Philadelphia for Boston last week, and is now at sea. If, however, he should arrive in the course of the day, it will be for the court to say whether it will take his testimony or not, and for the prisoner’s counsel as to whether they will object to it or not.
The Court.—It appears to me that this is a proper view of the case taken by the United States Attorney. It is the duty of the government, especially in a case of high crime—such a case as the prisoner is charged with—to lay before the court and jury all the evidence they have in their power, or that they are cognizant of, which has any connection with or bearing on the case; and, as the court intimated yesterday, whatever may be its opinions in relation to the necessity of the evidence, such as Captain Nickerson’s might be, it would be very improper for the court to intimate it at this stage of the trial.
Mr. Sayles (prisoner’s counsel).—I experienced some reluctance in asking the court a further delay for the purpose of this trial. It has already been delayed, on the part of the government, for an entire day. I would, however, on the present occasion, ask the court to take a recess until twelve o’clock, to accommodate the defendant, in order that I may ascertain where my partner is, or that I may procure counsel to associate with me. Mr. Graves went last evening to see his uncle in Twenty-seventh street, and I have not seen or heard of him. I would say, in addition, that Mr. Graves has my brief in his possession.
The Judge said that the Court was very indulgent to both sides, in consequence of the importance of the case, both to the public and the prisoner, and although he is very anxious to dispose of the case as soon as practicable, yet he would grant a delay until twelve o’clock.
On the reassembling of the Court, Mr. Sayles said he expected his associate every minute, and he desired to consult with him as to the production of witnesses. He would now call Mr. Commissioner White as to the testimony of a witness named Downes, in describing the position of the sloop.
Kenneth G. White, United States Commissioner, called and examined by Mr. Sayles, deposed—My impression is that a witness named Downes was before me on the preliminary examination; I cannot recollect the particulars of his testimony without referring to my minutes. (Minutes produced.) I do not see in my minutes any designation made by Mr. Downes as to where the vessel was; there are two marks on the chart, one of which was made by Mr. Downes in court.
Edward Barnes, called for defence, deposed—He resides in Keyport; knew Capt. Burr; gave him $100 for oysters; this was on the 15th of March; I gave him the money in quarters and halves, and ten and five cent pieces; I do not know what amount of money he had with him; he told me Mr. Simmons gave him $200.
The Court said that was not evidence.
He put it in a bag; it made the bag about half full; I cannot identify the bag.
Mr. Sayles then said they had no other witness for the defence, and he then proceeded to address the Court and jury on behalf of the prisoner. He commenced by describing the sensation created in this city by the intelligence of this transaction, and that the public press had given a description of and directed the eye of the community to this one man. He then suggested that this tragedy may have been perpetrated by river thieves who have been driven to the lower bay by the Harbor Police, and who, perhaps, committed a similar one on another sloop on the same night. Counsel said, in cases of admiralty this court had a limited and special jurisdiction, derived from the laws of Congress passed under the Constitution of our country, which gives power to define and punish felony and piracy on the high seas. This court, therefore, had so much power, and no more. It had no common law jurisdiction. (He then cited several authorities.) He claimed that a portion of that act of Congress was unconstitutional; that Congress had no right to define and punish felonies on the high seas; it has no power to take away the rights of individual States to punish the crime for which this man stands charged. It was committed beyond the jurisdiction of the court, and it had no power to punish for this felony. He then read a reported case where an act of piracy had been committed in Boston harbor, and in which it was held that it should be tried in the courts of that State.
The Court remarked that this was not a question for the jury, but should have been raised on demurrer, or might be brought up on a motion in arrest of judgment.
Mr. Sayles submitted that the jury were the judges of the law and the facts.
The Court.—Not on questions of jurisdiction. Those questions are always for the Court—for its decision.
Mr. Sayles contended that “on the high seas” meant either in the harbor of some foreign country, or beyond any portion of a coast where the sea ebbs and flows.
The Court remarked that this was the opinion of English lawyers, but did not apply to American laws.
Mr. Sayles said—We have adopted the English common law.
The Court.—Only to a limited extent.
Mr. Sayles then cited from “Chitty’s Criminal Law,” vol. iii., which says, “that the piracy must be distinctly proved to have been committed on the high seas, or the defendant is entitled to an acquittal.” According to that law the admiralty had no jurisdiction within the limits of any county or city. The counsel then proceeded to appeal to the reason of the jury, and lay the facts before them. It was a case of great importance, not only to the federal government and to the community, but also to the unfortunate prisoner at the bar, and he called upon the jury to elevate their minds above outside prejudices. A supposed tragedy had been committed in the lower bay, and the government had undertaken to show, by circumstantial evidence, that this is the man who perpetrated it. Counsel referred to the nature of circumstantial evidence, and alluded to the recent case in this court, where some half dozen witnesses swore positively to a man named Williams for post-office robbery, and subsequently swore as positively against another man, who was convicted.
Mr. Hunt, in reply, directed the court in support of the jurisdiction of the United States courts over the lower bay.
Mr. Graves, for the defence, referred to the case of the two Bournes, in Vermont, who confessed to the crime of murder, but were afterward proved to be innocent. The evidence against Hicks was entirely circumstantial, and of such a character as to render it very uncertain; but the most astonishing thing about the prosecution was the charge that this one man should kill these three men, powerful as they were, and not receive a single scratch. There must have been a terrible struggle; blood was spattered over the ceiling, blood everywhere, but no blood on him, no mark of violence on his person.
Mr. Hunt remarked that the only questions of law upon which there had been any dispute, were ruled upon by the Court, and he had nothing further to say.
Mr. Dwight then proceeded to sum up on the part of the government. He had hoped that there might have been some chance of the innocence of the prisoner found in the course of the trial. But he had been disappointed; nothing which had been asserted by the witnesses for the prosecution had been contradicted. No attempt had been made to break any one link in the chain of the evidence. The defence would endeavor to induce the jury to believe that Capt. Burr parted with his watch, which he had carried for nine years, to a pawnbroker; that Smith Watts had parted with the clothes which his aged mother had put up for him; that Oliver Watts had parted with the daguerreotype of the girl he loved. The time had not yet come when Yankee sailor boys gave up the pictures of “the girls they left behind them” without a struggle. Mr. Dwight then clearly and concisely reviewed the whole case and the testimony, giving a painful but graphic description of that dread night when this triple deed of blood was perpetrated, and concluded thus: Gentlemen, I have occupied your time longer than I intended, and I have but one word further to say. If this prisoner is not proven guilty of the crime against him, he is of course an innocent man. If there is in the breast of any of you one doubt concerning his guilt—one reasonable doubt as to his having committed this robbery of George H. Burr, as set forth in the indictment, in God’s name give him the benefit of that doubt. It is his sacred privilege, and it is just as much his right as he has a right to his life or his liberty. If you have any doubt upon considering the evidence, give him the benefit of that doubt, or any which you may have. But, gentlemen, if through the five days of this trial there has crept into your minds a conviction that he is the man, and if that conviction has been strengthened by the evidence which has been adduced and placed before you—that no other but he had committed this crime, then I say that his conviction is the property of the government, and I charge you to give it to the government. Here, in your seats, where you have sat during these five days listening to the opening and the testimony, and the closing upon the part of the government—here, in your very seats, I charge you to give the benefit of your conviction to the government, and I charge you to do this in your jury box without any hesitation. Gentlemen, there was no hesitation on his part; with that sharp axe he cut down the fair-haired boy, Watts; and then returned and felled the other: and then the death struggle with the captain occurred. Gentlemen, there was no hesitation there; and if you are convinced of his guilt, let there be no hesitation in your rendering in your jury box a verdict against him. There cries from the sands of Islip, “justice;” from that widow and from that mother. There comes up from the depths of the Atlantic, “from all the ships that float on it, and all that go down in the great deep”—there comes the cry of “justice.” The prisoner equally calls upon you to do justice; and gentlemen, I ask you, in the name of the government, if you believe him guilty of this crime, which he committed speedily, summarily and devilishly, that you will let your verdict be speedy, summary and just.
During the whole of Mr. Dwight’s address, which occupied nearly an hour, the prisoner was still unmoved; he never winced, but coolly twisted and turned a pen in his hand, pointing it to the table, and scarcely once looked up.
Judge Smalley said it was now past four o’clock, and he desired to look into some authorities which had been referred to; he would not charge the jury until morning.
The Court then adjourned to Saturday morning, at ten o’clock. The prisoner was removed, in irons, by Deputy Marshals De Angelis and Dugan, who had special charge of him, and who kept a sharp watch that he should have no means of suicidal death at hand, nor make any effectual effort to escape.
The court-room was, as it had been every day during this extraordinary trial, densely crowded.
Sixth Day.