Rensselaer Republican, Volume 22, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 December 1889 — THE CRONIN VERDICT. [ARTICLE]

THE CRONIN VERDICT.

. At 3 o’clook Monday afternoon Judge Me Connell came into Court and was informed tnat the jury were ready to report. The f prisoners were brought in from the jail,, land the jury filed into the court room. The iveirdictis guilty of murder, O’Sullivan, •Burke and Coughlin, sentenced to life-im-tPrisonment, Kunze, three years, Beggs | not guilty. One of the most memorable trials in the ‘criminal history of America closed Mon- • day afternoon when the jury impaneled three mouths ago rendered its verdict ift ‘the Cronin case. That the return 'of this Ijury in a verdict and not a disagreement is i a source of much congratulation in the : public mind, and although there is naturlally much division of sentiment on the ‘question of approval of the verdict the ■'sense of relief which is experienced at the /final culmination of the oase is unanimous. .However bitter, too, may have been the ‘feelings engendered by the z two factions into which the Irish people have been divided in this oase it cannot fail to be a source of congratulation to Judge McConnei that his impartial conduct as a pre- 1 -siding judge has been such as to win for 'him not only the applause of both these factions, but the approval alike of the leading jurists of the land upon the. validi—ty of his rulings. —== — As the court convened at 3r. m. to receive the verdict of the jury , there was a momentary silence as the vast audience;, breathlessly awaited the first words of Judge MoConnel as he mounted the rostrum. ‘’The jury is prepared to make a return in this case,” said his Honor; “but I observe that Mr. Donahoe, counsel for O’Sullivan and Kunze, is absent.” “I have been requested to represent Mv' Donahoe,” said Mr. Forrest. “He is out’ of the city to-day.” The court announced its satisfaction at this arrangement, and a moment later the door leading from the jail opened with a clang and the five defendants marched in to receive the announcement of their fate. Hardly a sound was heard as every eye in the vast audience turned toward JohnF. Beggs, who led the procession. The face of the senior guardian of Camp 30 showed gneat anxiety, but his eye was full of confidence as it boldly faced the stare of the audience. Dan Coughlin affected his usual indifference, but his restless, furtive eye betokened the terrible suspense the exdetective experienced as he awaited the dread announcement of the penalty to be meted out to him by law. Hardly a per son in the vast court room succeeded in oatohingthe eye of Patrick O’Sullivan. The piercing black eyes of the iceman sought the floor, and whatever emotion he felt at this critical moment was invisible save in the grayish pallor that overspread his features. Martin Burke flushed fora moment as he approached his seat, but a moment later his features re* gained their natural appearance, and with affected nonchalance he resumed the chewing of gum, as has been his wont during the oourse of the trial. The elated air of John Kunse was absent, and for the first time since his arrest the little German now seemed to fully appreciate the gravity of this situation as be awaited the verdict of the jury. As the audience was contemplating the prisoners and oommenting upon their de meaner, the noise of many footsteps was againsuddenly heard without, and a moment later the twelve men, in whose judgment reposed the lives of the five defendants, entered the room headed by foremanClarke. Every prisoner simultaneously •turned his eyes upon the jurors as if to read in their impassive features the secret of their verdict, but there was no outward sign to give them either hope or fear. The jury was polled in the usual manner ■and gave their verdict in accordance with the above statement. Beggs’s face was luminous with joy, and immediately after the polling of the jury he arose from amid the prisoners, walked over to the jury box, and during the lull that followed, shook Forefman Clark’s hand heartily, and said: “Gentlemen, I thank you. 1 trust that the ■ future may confirm your judgment upon me, and that you will never regret that yo,u found me not guilty of this terrible i charge.” As he shook hands with the jurors each man bowed his head in ao* iknowlodgment of the grateful words of the liberated man. The only sound that broke the stillness was the deep sobs of the little German, Kunze. He burst out with. “I am innocent, God knows I am innocent. God knows that I was never out to Lakeview that night. Longuecker bought two witnesses; lam sure of that They went out and bought farms with the money they got Him and Schuettler did it” O’Sullivan was the only one of the other three prisoners who found refuge in tears. For a moment they trickled down his shocks, but a minute later his black eyes flashed with defiance or revival of courage, and dashing his hand across his brow he braced up in his seat and east a long glance around the court room. The only evidence of terror to be per eeived in Coughlin was the increased pallor that overspread his face as he fully realized the significance of a sentence to life imprisonment, and his lips twitched nervously during the colloquy that follow ed between the attorneys and the court relative to the motion for a new trial. Martin Burke was unquestionably the least affected of all the prisoners. His usually florid face took on a slight pallor as the verdict was announced, but a moment later his jaws began the methodical mastication of gum as regularly as at any previous time during the trial As the verdiut was announced, and the large audience contemplated little Kunze’s grief. Beggs turned to a reporter and said: “It is a shame to sentence Kunze. The poor little fellow, I think, is aa Innocent as I am. It is ad—d shame to send him to the penit4c>.<«ij for three years. He had no move ’** Y being found guilty than you had of be an aooom plice to thio crime.” The States Attorney pronounced it r compromise verdict, and was not too well . pleased at the ouy>ame of the oase eelebce.