OCR Text |
Show SOMETHING NEW Is Yet to be Sprung in the Durrant Case. AN ALLEGED CONFESSION Written by Durrnnt und Sealed In an EnvelopeSubstance En-velopeSubstance of the Contents Glv en to the Public br the Prosecution. Prosecu-tion. San Fbancisco, Oct. 13. Now that .Durrant has told his story on the witness wit-ness stand, and Yas made answers to all the accusations implied by the croBS-questions of the prosecution, an impression exiBts among those who haye watched the trial closely that there is something to come which will, perhaps, have more effect on the minds of the jurymen as regards the guilt or innocence of the defendant than anything any-thing that has gone before. ThiB feeling is due to the confidence with which District Attorney Barnes put a aeries of startling questiouB relating re-lating to a conversation held by Durrant Dur-rant with a newspaper reporter, Mihs Carrie Cunningham, at the county jail within the past week, and also touching touch-ing on the address and indorsement of a certain envelope which may or may not have contained a confession. The questions implied full knowledge on the part of Barnes, and it was evident that when the proper time came testimony testi-mony would be produced to contradict the denials of the prisoner. When the prosecution's witnessB are put on the stand, they will relate the particular words of a conversation that bordered on a confession. They will seek to prove that this man, who has been aloiost as sileut as a dead man for six months, opened his mouth and talked of matters touching his very existence, and at the veiy day and hour when it was most important for him to maintain silence. These witnesses wit-nesses will Beek to ehow by their testimony tes-timony that Durrint made admissions which destroy the whole fabric of the defense. These alleged admissions are taken by the prosecution as coming from the one pereon-on earth who knows vll that occurred beneath the belfry of the Emmanuel Baptist church on that afternoon ot .apiil 3d. The record of what passed at the lounty jail between Miss Cunningham and Durrant is thus told by the prosecution, prose-cution, which is in possession of the full facts: "On the evening of September 22nd Miss Cunningham visited Durrant at the county jdil, and during the course of their conversation, Durrant showed her a small envelope, which bore the following addrtSB and indorsement: 'Messrs Dickinson and Deuprey. To be opened in case I am convicted. To be returned to me in casa I am acquitted. acquit-ted. 'Durrant told the young lady that the envelope contained a complete statement of all that occurred at the Emanuel Baptist church on the afternoon after-noon of n nnl 3rd. He said it had been written in order that his attorneys might know the facts in the event of his being convicted of the murder of Blanche Lamont. "On the tollowiug eyening, September Septem-ber 23rd, Miss Cunningham again visited vis-ited Durrant at the county jail, and was there snown a large envelope, ad-dreesed ad-dreesed like the other and smaller one. Durrant told her that the conten s of the smaller envelope had become jammed jam-med up, and that he had transferred the written statement to the larger envelope. en-velope. "On the morning of October 5th, MisB Cunningham held a conversation with Durrant at the county jaii, and during the course of that conversation, and in answer to questions asked him by the young lady, he Baid that about 6 o'clock on the afternoon of April 3rd he ascended to the space between the ceiling ceil-ing and the roof of the Emanuel Bap tist church for the purpose ot fixing oue of the sun burners. "While at work he heard a noise which at once attracted his attention. It seemed to come from that part of the building where the belfiy is situated. He walked Along m the direction fiom whence the sound came, and peered through the opening that connects the space above the celling with the interior of the belfry tower. While in this position 1 e saw the body of Blanct e Lamont lyi g on the eecond landing ot the belli stairs. He repeated the details of the circumstances, and added that Btanche Lamont was murdered on the second landing of the belfry stairs. Miss dm-n dm-n gham then said: Oh, yes; it was from the second landing ot the stabs that the blood dripoed down and stained the cloth-covered picture frame on the floor below.' Durrant replied that there was no blood on the coyer of the picture frame, aa 'we have had the stainB anal zed and find they were m ide by water, not blood.' " An official inspection wes made of the cloth covered picture frame referred to as being stained with blood. ThiB .nspection revealed the fact that a piece ot the cloth cover, one inch by two inches in size, had been cut from the frame in the center of one of the largest blotches of stain?. As this was not done by anyone connected with the prosecution, the inference is drawn that it was done by some one interested inter-ested in the defense, and that it was for the purpose indicated by Durrant's alleged statement regarding the analysis. |