"I think so."
"Can you say whether the head was cut off before or after death? Or, if death resulted from the severance?"
"I think the artery was cut while the heart was still beating."
In view of the fact that the defense was seeking to establish that the head was removed after death the last remark coming as it did from an expert was very damaging to Jackson. The same witness was asked, concerning the cuts on the hand which he had referred to.
"Will you explain to the jury whether the cuts on the fingers were made before death?"
"Before death," replied the witness promptly.
He was then questioned more particularly as to the result of his investigations as an expert. The fact that Pearl Bryan had been murdered with a knife (though cocaine was found in her stomach by the chemist), was established beyond peradventure by the witness. He also identified the clothing of Pearl Bryan which was produced all soaked with blood.
On the second day of the trial the prosecution sprung a sensation. A headless dummy was brought into the court-room dressed in the clothes that Pearl Bryan wore when her body was discovered. The dummy was placed in an erect position at the left of the witness box and facing the jury. A lively tilt followed between counsel as to the legality of this proceeding. The court finally ordered the figure removed and the clothes produced separately.
When this was done Mrs. Mary Stanley, the sister of Pearl Bryan was called. She gave a list of the articles that Pearl had when she left home and identified all the valises and clothing which the prosecution had brought into court. She also identified some handkerchiefs found in Jackson's room by detectives after his arrest and named the store where Pearl had purchased them in Greencastle.
The first evidence of the trial that directly connected the prisoner with the murder was given by John A. Caldwell, Mayor of Cincinnati.