Dora McDonald sat quietly as if in a trance; the bitterness of failure, the weariness of defeat, was expressed in every flutter of her purple-shadowed eyelids as she came before the bar to answer for the murder of Webster Guerin, January 20, 1907.
Dora McDonald presented a pathetic appearance before the jury.
She was dressed all in black. Not a single bit of lace or white relieved the somber effect of her funereal widow's garb. In arranging her hair Mrs. McDonald exhibited a novel idea. The long, deep-auburn strands were braided into one plait and this was wound over her temples in a single coil and fastened with coral pins.
In its unaffected artlessness Mrs. McDonald's entry into the courtroom and her removal of her hat as she sank into her chair was an act of almost girlish grace. Her long black cloak, satin lined, was thrown carelessly on a chair.
When she had removed her hat and cloak she looked squarely into the faces of the jury.
Dramatic Scene in Courtroom.
The face that was turned piteously toward the jury was deeply lined with the furrows of physical and mental suffering.
The eyes drooped constantly, and there were times when she closed them for a full minute.
Every movement of the lips or eyelids, every arrangement of dress and costume, was either studiously planned or pathetically dramatic.
The weariness and bitterness were marked in the droop of her mouth, in the perplexed wrinkling of her forehead, in the stoop of her shoulders, in the relaxation of her hands, lying heavily on the table before her.