UNWRITTEN LAW AGAIN.
MOTHER AND SON CHARGED WITH MURDER. New York, July 11.
Thc ''unwritten law" was the only defence put forward in the sensational murder trial which opened at La Plata, Maryland, to-day, in which Mrs. Moliic Bowie aud her son Henry are charged with the murder of the woman's nephew, Herbert Posey. The defence was so successful that although the trial was not concluded, Mrs. Bowie and her son were released on bail of .-caofl, tit? smallest bail ever allowed in a murder case. The story of the murder is a remarkable one. Posey became engaged to Mrs. Bowie's daughter Priscilla, a girl of sevcntieen, and betrayed her. Mrs. Bowie insisted on an immediate marriage, and Posey assenting, the wedding was fixed
for last Thanksgiving. Guests (locked from all parts of the country to the Bowie homestead for the
marriage, liut when the time for the ceremony arrived it was found that Posey was absent, and the wedding had to be postponed. Mrs. Bowk' wrote to Posey begging
him to keep his word, liut he ignored her appeals and left the country. A month later he returned, and a few hours after his arrival Mrs. Bowie and her son called on him, the woman armed with a revolver and the son with a heavy shotgun. They offered him the choice of immediate marriage with the girl Priscilla or death. He tried to get away, but before he could get into safety tluy both .shot Mm, death resulting at once. The woman and her son were arrested a few hours afterwards.
The greatest interest has been aroused in the case, and hundreds of visitors have come into the town and thronged [the court.
The only witness for the defence is
the girl, who, with her baby, which was born after the murder, was present in court.
The prosecution had twenty witnesses, but counsel for the defence admitted the killing, thus rendering formal evidence only necessary. At the conclusion of the day's hearing Mrs. Bowie and her sou expressed themselves as confident of acquittal. ■
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TDN19070831.2.31
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 31 August 1907, Page 3
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344UNWRITTEN LAW AGAIN. Taranaki Daily News, Volume L, Issue 60, 31 August 1907, Page 3
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