ROMANTIC MURDER TRIAL.

Grey River Argus, Issue 74, 3 July 1866, Page 4

ROMANTIC MURDER TRIAL.

■'* \hc Bentop Oplip^jStapdard" re-, j Jates a stoiy p^f^.trikl _.fpr murder which .ended yi romaiaqp and n,ot in tragedy. Tlxe najan eupposed tp be murdered >yalked in<o Courb, ajiye ai\d ; well, during the trial. The "Standard".' s a y S ; — "A few weeks since, we noticed the fact of tbe finding pf a human skeleton in the woQds, aljbuj; two miles east x>f this place by ijr Jlenjamin Williams, ; v and of the verdict of the jury of inquest, .designating, the skeleton as the remain^ pf a young man ot the name of Henry Mahomj andimplicatingDayid Wjlliams, ■ a WJsoffit Benjanjin. Williams, as the naurdeper/ yhfi .circumstances surr i-ounding the case were strongly against $he accused, as the missing young man was jas.t seen in this community about a year tig.9, in company with Williams, pn their- way |» enlist in the army as substitutes. Tb^e accused, after M^' sence of three.;Weeks,/, returned, home >. alone, ?tating thai his 1 comrade, Henry Mahbrn, |iad enlisted in tlie l()tn regi-' j ment of Missouri Infantry. This appeared plausible at the time, and Henry v Mahorn "was "almost entirely- forgotten ))y oup/citizens until the finding of the skeletonlyyi^e woods. Tlie suspicions pf our icitigens were at pn'ce aroused, ■ : .:f«)Bj>-itiie :i .'fact that the clothing was "^^idott'tified as the same worn by Mahorn ■BAen last seen. Their suspicion that been foully murdered by Wjlwas much intensified by learning father and family living in Ten]iad never heard from him from time i;-he left this neighborhood in with Williams to join the althqugh diligent inquiry had made to ascertain, jf ppssib^, b^is Tlje supposied murderer was immediately arrested upon the rendering of the verdict of the jury of tho inquest, and lodged iv the .county gaol tp await his trial. On Monday, the 15th instant, the prisoner was brought intp Court, before his Honor Judge Duff, on : a writ pf habeas corpus. The court propeeded with the trial. „ The circumstances as revealed by the pvldence, pointed directly tq the prisoner as the purdprer pf Ma]iprn, as the clothing found was identified as hjs ; >nd certain tepth which he was Jcnown to have extracted in his lifetime^ "vvci-c the identical ones that were fpuud wanting - in thp jaws of thp skeleton. In fact, v the circumstancps pointing to the guilt pf the accused were sp strpng ninetenths of thp pit j^ens of this community were fully satisfied of his guilt. In the midst pf the. tria), imagjne thoJutUr astonishment of tho court, counsel, Ayit- . nesses, thp pagpr and excited speptatprs, . as yell a^ thg-pvcawhDlmjng ;fpy pf the priso^KTtho dock, by I'hp sudden ap"^ji^Brance of Heniy MaltbiUj-in prppria ■^^^lerspna, in. the court ;rg^mi|}^pci^^^^;ori . ■pf iife, hale and heart^rgiyingjw^^ost unmistakeablc/cyiclprtcp that lip |iad not been murdered, and that- the accused was innocent of the hpnious crime with which l}e was charged. The prisoner was so overcome with jpy at this unexpected, and apparently prpyidppital deliverancp from the suspicious circum: ptanpes that surrounded him, that he wept like, a child. The judge at once '*f prdereil the release of the accused. Itseems that Mahorn had joined the army, under an assumed name, and in conse-quence-yyas, unable to hold, correspondence witji lyis fripnds ; and beirig'dispharge4 r butaf ew days previous to the »•/, pt&^&tLiJjia jrpung piaii WilUanas, as \jmmj^~~ : V h,e fpr^una^ely ariived I very day the trial com-