159 Sheet – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

Search for:

Reading Time: 3 minutes [400 words]

Here is the translated text as follows:

EDWARD D. WORRELL

On the contrary, others considered him quite shrewd in a trade. Hutchinson saw nothing unusual in his conduct; he appeared perfectly rational and behaved as travelers usually do.

Major Wright thinks that, upon the supposition that he killed Gordon, his conduct at the place of the homicide is wholly inexplicable. He believes a sane man would have concealed the body in the thicket. To my mind, however, it is perfectly consistent with reason and exhibits a degree of shrewdness and a knowledge of human nature that few men possess. It was necessary to conceal the body as soon as possible, and the gully afforded a ready means of doing so. It would have required some time to carry the body any distance into the thicket; besides, he could not leave it in the woods without depositing it on the surface of the ground, as the ground was frozen too hard to admit of digging a hole, even if he had had the implements for digging. In addition to this, he very naturally supposed that if suspicion fixed upon that vicinity as the probable place of the murder, the persons in pursuit of the body would be most likely to search the thicket. In this, he was correct, for Major Walker tells you that he, Wentz, and others were busily engaged in searching the thicket. But for the dog that scented the blood in the track of the road, it is not probable that the body would have been discovered until the snow had entirely disappeared from the ground. The gully was just wide and deep enough for the purpose and so situated that persons following the usually traveled portions of the road would not be likely to notice it. It was snowing hard at the time, and their tracks were almost immediately obliterated. We have been asked why he left the saddle in the thicket half a mile from the road. The reason is obvious: he could not have put it on the horse he was leading without exciting suspicion, and by leaving it in the thicket, it was calculated to draw attention away from the road. Considering the time they had to operate, the whole thing was managed with considerable adroitness.

Major Wright has discovered evidence of insanity in the fact that on Saturday night, he went to the theater in St. Louis.