Show THE PELICAN POINT CASE the singular and mysterious features connected with the dreadful tragedy at pelican point in utah county seem likely to have placed upon them an intensely dramatic climax by the discovery of the real murderer and the consequent vindication of the man who is undergoing a life sentence of imprisonment for the crime the readers of the news will remember that immediately after the conviction of hayes he was interviewed in prison by a representative of this into paper the interviewer was not only an experienced newspaper worker but was wasa a lawyer as well and his inquiries into the case the results of which were published in these columns alt t the time ahne strongly indicated that had all the evidence possible to obtain in behalf of the prisoner been presented before the jury a reasonable doubt of 09 his guilt would thereby have been created the board of pardons commuted om oom muted the death sentence to fr imprisonment for life mainly because the evidence of guilt was wai purely circumstantial and lot i ot absolutely conclusive though the prosecution undeniably made out a strong case and in view of what has recently been brought to light it is most fortunate fortunat 46 that this clem clemency envy was exercised on the tha other hand it should be borne in mind that nothing snore nore than circumstantial evidence indicating di the guilt of weeks has yet been discovered and that the case against him may collapse under judicial scrutiny hayes has not yet been proven innocent by any means what Is the most important link in the evidence in a murder case is still lacking a sufficient motive for the murd r of three young men unfortunate features of the whole affair are the discredit it tends to throw upon the courts and the consequent difficulty in enforcing the law in murder cases if hayes shall be vindicated his case will long be cited by criminal lawyers as showing reasons why juries should be fearful to convict and justice may thus be wany many times defeated par far better would it have been in such a contingency had the verdict been not guilty the case came against weeks demands with peculiar force the most thorough investigation every plue should be followed up and every effort made to bring out the truth and the whole truth and separate it from everything that to is not part of itself in the meantime tile public may well suspend judgment until what has appeared in the newspapers is substantiated in court not the least dramatic and trying feature of the casp cas is the figure mrs hayes presents she is the mother of the boy her husband has been convicted of murdering yet she has always maintained his innocence at one time she was in danger of losing by death her husband as well as her son and her experience has been a fearful one |