Trial of Thomas Powell for Murder

Trial of Thomas Powell for Murder.—

The trial of Thomas Powell, indicted for the murder of a Chinaman named Achun, at Alder Creek, in Mississippi township, on the 14th July last, took place yesterday in the District Court, before Judge Monson. J. F. Hardy (District Attorney), and W. S. Long appeared for the prosecution, and E. Baldwin and R. Sunderland, Esqs., were assigned by the Court for the defense. Messrs. W. H. Folsom, C. W. Bucklas, P. Frost, W. T. Walcutt, John Hutchins, F. W. Hoerth, C. Roaner, James L. Baldwin, P. Kitt, Alex Meyer, B. K. Seawards and A. P. Piquett were empanelled as jurors.

After a brief address, in which the District Attorney [alluded to, or gave] the general facts which it was expected would be proven in support of the indictment, the following witnesses were called in behalf of the prosecution—who testified as follows:

Wm. F. Knox, sworn.—Was the first to discover the body, or to know where it lay. He resides on Alder Creek, near the road, where [he] is engaged in mining. Deceased lived on the road; he examined the body where it was found—near the bridge; examined the spot very closely. There were three houses in sight; found the body about nine o’clock; miners generally ceased work about that time; found the body lying on its back, and there were the marks of heels on the ground; it was about three hundred yards to the nearest house; the body lay with the feet toward the north side of the road; the head and breast were toward the south side; found a purse lying near the body; it was unbuttoned; the shirt was pulled up around the breast; found a stick about ten feet from the body—toward the creek; it was a round stick—probably the handle of a pick; had been whittled near the centre; there were hacks near the end, as though the iron had broken off; the stick was bloody; there were drops of blood on the stick near the larger end; the blood was nearer the larger end than the smaller; the blood appeared to have been wiped off; there were no witnesses around; took [the] road and sent for the Coroner, or for an officer; saw no other person around at the time; the stick was about three and a half feet long; the marks on the stick corresponded with the handle of a pick; there was a hole near the larger end of the stick.

Cross-examined.—Found the body in the path, about ten feet from the wagon track, on the road from Sacramento to Mormon Island; the feet lay across the path; it was over one hundred feet from any cabin; miners generally quit work about the time it was found—about nine o’clock; worked within a circle of some hundred yards of the spot; saw no one about at the time; the purse was unbuttoned; the shirt pulled up around the breast; did not examine the purse; others did and said it was empty; the pick handle was found some ten or fifteen feet from the body, from the main road toward the creek; the blood was nearer the larger end—within about one foot; the stick was whittled near the centre, and hacked on the larger end.

J. S. Kelly, sworn.—Lived on Alder Creek at the time of the murder; knew defendant; deceased was killed on the evening of the 14th July; first heard of it about dusk; saw defendant several times that day—the last time about fifteen minutes subsequent to the murder; deceased was killed on the evening of the 14th July; first heard of it about dusk; deceased was killed below Yarbrough’s; defendant was coming from that direction; on the evening of the 12th July saw the defendant in the China village; heard him say that if he found two Chinamen he was bound to kill them; when I next saw him he said he was on a hunt for them, or looking after them; he had a pick-handle.

Cross-examined.—He did not say what Chinamen he threatened; I heard he had had a difficulty with two; I live about twenty-five yards from Yarbrough’s, and about a quarter of a mile from the scene of the murder; between sundown and dark I saw Powell passing; he was alone, and walking in the public road; the place is tolerably thickly settled—four or five cabins within a circle of one hundred feet—and a good many Chinamen about there; I last saw him, previous to the killing, between one and two o’clock in the afternoon, at the China village; he said the Chinamen had been working in his claim; that he went and ordered them off, when two pitched into him; that he was bound to fight his way through if he could not have justice done him by the miners. [The Court here ruled out a portion of the answer as not responsive.]

E. F. Kellum, sworn.—A Justice of the Peace; was at the place on the 14th July; the deceased was dead when I arrived; the stick (shown) is the pick-handle; the bloody place is near the larger end; there were hacks near the end as though the iron had been knocked off; I wrapped it up and sent it to the Grand Jury; from my position when brought here I examined it, but cannot swear it is the same; I recall it by the bloody place; I examined the body and found a wound on the back part of the head; the bone of the skull was crushed in; a large portion of the calvarium was gone; there was another deep wound, two inches long, near the left ear; the wounds might have been inflicted by the edge of a pick-handle, or some such instrument; the stick was bloody near the larger end.

Cross-examined.—The quotations were not put down; I told defendant that he was convicted by the same witnesses whose testimony he had heard; [illegible] something was said about his being knocked down; another witness says defendant had not been knocked down; he had blood on his shoulder; I thought he looked excited and seemed perfectly cool during the examination. [Remainder of answer excluded.]

Santon Myers, sworn.—On the day of the murder, about half past seven or eight in the evening, I was at [the] road about a half a mile from the miner’s about; I saw after that with the pick-handle about so long; he was standing by the body where the front of a cabin had been; the body was about fifteen or eighteen steps off; near where the deceased was killed; shortly after a crowd gathered; the defendant was near; I saw him a number of times between the time and sunset.

Cross-examined.—Live on Alder Creek about a mile from where the deceased was killed; I was at a place near where the body was found; saw the defendant before sunset; saw him after dark; I saw a pick-handle in his hand; this was on the road, near the house; he was alone; I did not see any other weapon; it looked like a pick-handle; it was in his hand when he came up.

[Name illegible] Friars, sworn.—Knew the defendant; was living on Alder Creek on the 14th July; after picking up a pick-handle, was at work and near where the body was found; I made it [a point] to see the body; I had worked with the defendant; he said he had been ordered to quit the claim; he said that two or three of the Chinamen had attacked him with picks; he said he had a trouble in which he had got the worst of it; the testimony was stricken out as not responsive. [The Court here explained to the jury the ruling.]

Cross-examined.—[Illegible lines] though inflicted with a stick.

On examination.—I live within 200 yards of where the deceased was killed; I saw the Chinamen around the body; I am inclined to think the stick produced here is the same; [illegible] there was no Chinaman near the body when I saw it.

The following is the testimony of W. Johnson as the rest.

At the request of the deceased walking together [illegible] o’clock, on the evening of the 14th July; I heard when he was on the shoulder of the road; Powell’s hand was on the side of the head; I saw blood about; blood was found upon the ground; body was removed; the road was from a little [illegible] in; but there was not any blood found not [illegible] again, but not large; a [illegible] in the [illegible] of the body; had seen no gun that day.

Augustus Caldwell, sworn.—I was informed of the murder in the evening of the 14th, and went up and examined the body; the skull had been struck across the back of the head; the broken bones showed cutting, as if by an edged instrument; there was another deep wound about two inches long near the ear; I should judge the wounds were made by the edge of a pick-handle or similar tool; the body lay near the road; blood and brain matter were visible on the ground.

John Ellison, sworn.—Knew defendant; saw him in the morning—about an hour after the Chinamen were killed; saw a piece of timber near where the Chinamen were killed; from the evidence taken, I should think it was the same stick; heard defendant say he had not seen the [illegible] that day; [illegible] the Chinamen had been working in his claim; that he had warned them to leave; that he had been beaten by the Chinamen; the witness was interrupted and the answer excluded.

W. D. Hood, sworn.—Knew defendant; remembers the day of the killing; saw defendant near Yarbrough’s about sundown; defendant came by [witness’s] house and inquired if any one had been seen in that direction; defendant said he had been attacked—almost killed—by Chinamen; that he had a [illegible] and [illegible] about his claim; he had a small book in his hand; he said he had been wounded; his shoulder was bloody; I afterwards saw some blood on the pick-handle; saw also finger-marks of blood upon the stick; defendant told me he had been struck by Chinamen with picks; that he had ordered them to leave; that he had been struck with a pick-handle; [illegible] about 20 yards from the scene of the murder.

[Several short witness excerpts follow—names partly illegible—each placing defendant near the road shortly before or after the killing; noting blood on his clothing or shoulder; and describing the bloody pick-handle shown in court.]

The jury returned into court about 8 o’clock, and through the foreman, Mr. Roaner, requested to be instructed as to the degree of evidence which they should place on the degree of circumstances which the Court instructed them should be considered in the same light as the testimony of the witnesses. The jury then—having been re-charged on the law by the Court as before—retired, and after a verdict was agreed upon, returned with a verdict of acquittal, in opposition to the clear conviction of nearly every person who listened to the testimony. ‘We only did our duty as honest men and intelligent jurors.’ We would that the duty of jurors were more clearly defined by the law. The defendant was thereupon discharged from the Court.