The Crime of the Century; Or, The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin

by Henry M. Hunt

THE JURY RETIRES.

The instructions of Judge McConnell were listened to with intense interest by the jurors, the prisoners, and the spectators. After he had concluded he made a verbal statement to the effect that if the jurors had taken any notes during the progress of the case, it would be necessary for them to disregard them in the jury-room. The oath was then administered to the bailiffs who were to take charge of the jury. Each one of them was compelled to solemnly swear by the ever-living God that they would take the jury to some private, convenient place provided by the sheriff, and keep them together, without eat or drink, water excepted, unless ordered by the court; and not to speak to them themselves nor to permit any person or persons to speak to them until they had agreed upon a verdict.

This formality concluded, a discussion arose as to the exhibits which had been offered in evidence going into the jury-room. As to the locks of hair cut from the head of the body found in the catch-basin there was no objection on the part of the counsel for the defendants. Special objection was raised however, to the O'Sullivan card, the articles of clothing found in the sewer, the bloody trunk, the satchel and hat, and the documentary evidence which had been submitted in the course of the case. All the objections on the part of counsel for the defendants to the introduction of these articles to the jury-room were, however, overruled, and at half-past four on the afternoon of Friday, December 13th, the jury retired. It was the prevalent opinion of those who had been in attendance on the trial from its inauguration, that the deliberations of the body would be of short duration. This idea, however, proved to be erroneous. For over six hours the counsel on both sides, the friends of the prosecution, and the adherents of the defense sat around the court-room in momentary expectation that a verdict would be reached.

About an hour after the jury had retired, a request was sent into the court-room for the maps, charts and other exhibits which had been introduced in evidence, and it was complied with. At six o'clock one of the bailiffs was dispatched to procure supper for the body. Court was reconvened at nine o'clock, but, no word being received from the jury, a recess was declared until nine o'clock on the following morning. When the day broke, however, the jury was far from an agreement, and although the court remained in continuous session until night, no word was received from the twelve good men and true who held the fate of the five prisoners in the balance. Meanwhile, public excitement had reached a remarkable pitch. Large crowds had assembled outside of the court building anxiously awaiting a deliverance from the jury, and in the public resorts throughout the city the probable outcome of the trial and the fate of the defendants was the one absorbing topic of discussion.

No message from the jury was delivered to the court at any time during Saturday, and after remaining in session until nearly midnight, a recess was ordered the following morning. In the meantime a score of ugly rumors gained currency.

It was claimed that the jury stood eleven to one in favor of convicting all of the defendants, and that the one man in question had been "fixed" by the defense. Another rumor had it that the recalcitrant juror had been subjected to personal violence by some of his colleagues who were indignant at the course which he had seen fit to pursue. Saturday night passed, and the dawn of the Sabbath was broken, but still the twelve men had failed to reach a conclusion upon the evidence presented to them. The rule of court regarding their comfort had been held in abeyance so far as to allow of their being provided with blankets and other necessaries for passing the night, together with bounteous meals from an adjoining restaurant, whenever they felt inclined to refresh the inner man.

All through the Sabbath, throngs of people, about equally divided between the friends of the murdered physician and the adherents of the faction to which the prisoners belonged, were congregated about the streets adjacent to the Criminal Court. No word came from the jury-room, however, and Judge McConnell, who put in an appearance at six o'clock in the evening, promptly ordered a recess until ten o'clock Monday morning, as soon as it was definitely ascertained that the jury was not prepared to make any communication.

The delay afforded an opportunity of compiling some interesting statistics in connection with the famous trial. Its practical commencement was on August 30th, when the examination of veniremen for the selection of a jury was inaugurated. The first panel of four jurors was accepted on September 18th, after nearly one hundred men had been examined and had confessed that they were prejudiced against the accused, or had formed an opinion based upon the published reports of the case which could not be removed by evidence. The second panel of four was secured on October 8th, and the third and final panel on October 22d. The presentation of the case for the State occupied from October 24th to November 16th, the type-written transcript of the testimony against the defendants covering nearly 4,000 pages. The defense opened on November 16th and closed on November 30th, having in the meantime examined nearly seventy witnesses.

The speeches occupied fourteen and one-half days of which State's Attorney Longenecker consumed one and a half days in his opening address, Judge Wing one and one-half, Mr. Ingham one, Mr. Donahoe one and one-half, Mr. Hynes one and one-half, Mr. Foster one and one-half, Mr. Forrest three, and Mr. Longenecker, in his closing analysis of the case, one and one-half. Taken from its inception to the close, the trial was the most lengthy in the history of American jurisprudence, being only equalled by that of the celebrated Tichborne case in England, which occupied in the aggregate nearly five months. The trial of Daniel Coughlin and his associates commenced on August 26th and ended with the rendering of the verdict on December 16th. In the effort to secure a jury 1,115 special veniremen were examined, of which number 928 were excused for cause, 97 were peremptorily challenged for the defense, 78 by the State and twelve finally chosen.

The expenses of the case were enormous. The fees of the special veniremen and the jury aggregated $8,000. The salaries of the bailiffs, special officers, and court officials reached $20,000, not including the cost of maintaining the courts. The fees of the witnesses summoned in behalf of the State reached a total of over $5,000, while the expenditures on account, of legal assistance to the State's Attorney were fully $20,000. The accounts of the stenographers and type-writers, ran into another $10,000, and on the sum total, taken in connection with the fact that the entire business of the courts was delayed during the progress of the trial, a final estimate of $100,000 as the total cost of the trial to the tax-payers, is not an exorbitant one. The outlay on the part of the defense, as far as could be ascertained, did not probably exceed $20,000.