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IN FIRST DEGREE.
Trefethen Found Guilty of Murder.
He is Convicted of Killing Tena Davis.
Smith, Alleged Accomplice, is Acquitted.
Dramatic Scene in the Cambridge Court.
General Surprise Manifested at the Verdict.
“James Albert Trefethen, hold up your right hand. Mr. Foreman, look upon the prisoner; prisoner, look upon the foreman! Mr. Foreman, what say you as to this defendant, James Albert Trefethen! Is the prisoner guilty or not guilty?”
“Guilty of murder in the first degree.”
“What say you as to the defendant, William H. Smith, as to this indictment! Is the prisoner guilty or not guilty?”
“Not guilty.”
The above conclusion in the great murder trial at Cambridge was reached at 6.10 o’clock last night.
The jury upon their second ballot, within an hour of leaving their seats in the court room, consigned Trefethen to the gallows, and gave Smith liberty.
Foreman Wood’s replies to the questions of Clerk Hurd were spoken in low and trembling voice; but the words fixed the fate of two men.
Unmoved, the ill-fated prisoner faced his judges. Not a muscle quivered, not a sigh escaped him. Like the plaster image of a man he stood within the dock the convicted murderer of Tena J. Davis.
His companion’s face was lighted up with radiant hope. He turned and cast a glance joyously at his wife, who sat nearby. Then his hand instinctively sought Trefethen’s. The wife who had smiled on him a moment since was weeping now for her brother; and in his rejoicing he did not forget the convicted relative at his side.
The scene in the court room was beyond the power of the pen to effectively describe.
As if paralyzed by the verdict, ex-Gov. Long and Mr. Coggan, the defendant’s counsel, stood within the bar, their eyes filled with tears.
A ghastly stillness fell upon judges and jurors, and over the multitude of spectators the solemn silence as of death seemed to prevail.
The light of the setting sun cam through the arched windows overhead in mellow coloring, but it failed to dispel the black horror of the scene, and Breathlessly with hard beating hearts the spectators listened.
Clerk Hurd in measured tones resumed proceedings.
“Gentlemen of the jury, you will hearken to your verdict, as the court has recorded it. The jury upon their oaths do say that the defendant, James Albert Trefethen, is guilty of murder in the first degree, and as to the defendant William H. Smith, that the defendant is not guilty. So you say, Mr. Foreman, and so, gentlemen of the jury, you all say.”
The clerk then inquired of Attorney-General Pillsbury if there was anything against Smith, and as the former offered no objection to his discharge, Mr. Hurd again addressed the prisoner:
“William H. Smith, the jurors by their verdict have said that you are not guilty of the offence charged in this indictment, and you, therefore, under the direction of the court, are now discharged, to go so discharged, without day, from this court. Mr. Sheriff, you will release the prisoner.”
The officer at the door of the dock therewith threw it open, and with an impulsive hand-grasp the freed man left the murderer and stepped forth into life and liberty.
And still Trefethen stood unmoved.
His eyes were constantly shifting from the jury box to bench, and back to the bar again, where his counsel were.
Mr. Long was now mentally active, but it was apparent he was broken down in feelings. Upon request he was granted until May 28 to file exceptions, and then with a few words to the jury, who were discharged, Chief Justice Mason adjourned the court without day.
The throng filed very slowly out of the hall of justice. A majority of the spectators were women, who, from morbid curiosity, paused to catch a glimpse of the convicted man’s face. Neither Mr. Long nor Mr. Coggan stopped to converse with him. They hastily gathered up their effects and left, and lawyers and prosecuting officers followed.
Their work was done.
But one there was who lingered. An old woman, of frail bent form, down whose brown and wrinkled cheeks tears were falling. She gave by her presence silent comfort to the man of iron nerve within the dock.
She was his mother.
Upon her breast in babyhood he had lain; in childhood she had directed his life, and in mature years he had been the comfort and support of her widowhood.
In his suppressed anguish and trial she was at her boy’s side, feeble and tottering, but loyal to him though a convicted murderer.
In the front row of the spectators’ seats, to the extreme left of the dock, was gathered a family group. Smith and his wife were talking together, while the Lindsays and relatives surrounded them. In her joy over her husband’s release, Mrs. Smith did not forget her brother, and as the officers came to remove him from the cage she whispered a word of courage in his ear, and placed her hand upon his shoulder.
Trefethen Kissed His Mother
and then held up his hands to be locked with the steel cuffs.
Then with a hasty word of farewell he was marched out of the court room, down the stone stairway to the lower hall and thence out into the open air.
It was scarcely a minute’s walk across the county grounds to the house of correction, but in that brief time a varied scene was enacted.
The street was crowded with humanity.
Men, women and children were running hither and thither in front of teams, dodging across lots and taking the nearest course to the prison entrance.
The police in attendance forced a passage through, and without a word being spoken by the multitude the officers escorted the prisoner within the iron door of the jail at precisely 6.28 o’clock.
In the meantime, attended by a similar throng, Mr. Smith, in company with Mrs. Trefethen, started to board a horse car for Boston.
The writer boarded the horse car on which Mr. Smith and Trefethen’s mother rode to Boston, and was fortunate in securing a seat next to Smith, who received everybody’s congratulations with self possession and withal apparent pleasure.
When asked to make a statement for publication in The Globe he said: “I am very thankful for the liberal treatment Trefethen and I have received from The Globe. It is very different from what other papers accorded us.
“There is very little to say to you now; I am so wrought up over my brother-in-law’s conviction.
“If there ever was an injustice perpetrated in court that ought to meet with popular condemnation I believe this is it.
“In the first place, Trefethen is innocent – I know that as well as it is possible to know anything.
“If the evidence brought against me is a sample of what convicted him, and in the order of things it must be, then the fact of his conviction will rest hard on some people’s souls.
“I know that up to the very minute the verdict was rendered he believed firmly that a disagreement would be the worst thing he would have to contend against.
“It was wonderful what nerve he exhibited at the last, when conviction came to him so unexpectedly.
“Do you think his bravery in not flinching the act of a man who would destroy a girl in the manner claimed by the prosecution? If you knew Trefethen as I do you would be convinced of his innocence.
‘During the 17 weeks we have ben incarcerated we have occupied nearly adjoining cells, and have seen each other every day. During that time Trefethen was not once cast down or melancholy. We talked little about the case, and tried in every way to conform to the rules of the institution.
“I stood the confinement very well, but could not stand the food. It was unfit to eat. I lived largely on fruit, and though I have gained in flesh, I do not think it is a healthy growth.
“I do not think I ought to say anything about Trefethen’s case until I see his attorneys. If I had not been arrested I am satisfied the case would have been solved a long time ago.
“There is big news in it yet, for as God is my judge I believe the mystery of Tena Davis’ death is yet unsolved.”
“Will you proceed with your detective work that was interrupted when you were taken into custody?” was asked.
“I do not know as yet,” was the reply.
“Do you think Tena Davis committed suicide?”
“Yes,” was Smith’s reply, “I do and have always thought so.”
“I don’t know what I shall do this summer. Last year I worked at Hotel Chatham. I probably will not be able to go back there.
“I tell you it is a very hard thing for a man to be thrown into jail for so long a time.
His Reputation Tarnished
And himself made notorious, and then to be launched upon the world obliged to outlive it all with no ability to recover for the injury sustained.
“You can imagine how joyful it was for me to get out of that dock, which opened very easily when the right combination was employed.
“Poor Trefethen, I pity him, but I don’t believe he need give up hope yet.”
“Oh,” said Mr. Smith in closing, “do you remember the two females who testified how hard I looked at them in the Malden court room? Well, I would like to tell them how far off they were from truth in that belief. Trefethen and I had considerable fun over that incident.
“What do I think of Mr. Pillsbury? As a lawyer he is certainly very able. He made a fine argument from his standpoint.
“I am satisfied Messrs. Long and Coggan have done everything in their power for us. I do not think their resources are exhausted yet.
“Trefethen did not say a word to me after the verdict. We shook hands and that was all.
“I did not tell you what Mr. Pillsbury said to us in the dock. As he came up he smiled and asked how we were feeling, and I replied, ‘Pretty well, but will feel better after the verdict.’ He said, ‘Don’t be too sure,’ and then I added, ‘It won’t do you the least good to try and discourage us, for you cannot do it.’ Then he made some remark about not wishing to do that and went away.
“I am very sure Mr. Long was much broken down by the verdict.”
Mrs. Trefethen was weeping under her veil as she sat by Mr. Smith’s side during the conversation. When spoken to she answered feebly: “don’t bring me into the newspapers; my burden now is greater than I can bear.”
Ex-Gov. Long declined to be interviewed. He said: “I am overwhelmed at the result. I did not expect it, for it is not justice to Trefethen.”
Popular opinion in Cambridge prior to the verdict was strong in the belief of a disagreement in the case of Trefethen.
Nearly all of the court officers who, year in and year out sit through trials and weigh evidence carefully, were of the belief that the government had not made out a case strong enough to warrant conviction.
The verdict everybody concedes is due to Attorney-General A. E. Pillsbury and his closing argument, which might be more accurately termed, a resume of the evidence intricately woven into a fabric of the design and quality needed for the strengthening of what in less capable hands would have proved in sufficient.
Henry G. Trickey.
QUICK TO REACH VERDICT.
Foreman Wood Says Second Ballot was “Guilty”.
If we have done an injustice it is unintentional. We could render no other verdict according to the evidence presented to us.”
Those were the words of Elijah W. Wood, foreman of the jury.
Mr. Wood is a retired farmer, living at the corner of Highland and Temple sts., Newton Centre, in a palatial house. He is about 60 years old, one of the most prominent and wealthy citizens of Newton, and for many years was engaged in the wholesale millinery business in Boston.
He talked Freely with a Globe reporter, on the verdict, and gave an exhaustive resume of the evidence, taking up the different points upon which the jury based their verdict, and arguing earnestly why such and such a piece of testimony pointed beyond the shadow of a doubt to the guilt of Trefethen.
He stated that the most damaging piece of evidence presented was the letter alleged to have been written by Tena Davis, and this, coupled with his actions since her disappearance, indicated his guilt, and was mainly instrumental in convincing the jury that he had murdered the girl.
“When we went into the jury room,” he said, “we considered the first point of the judge’s charge to us, which was as to whether a crime had been committed. You understand that the principal line of the defence was that Tena Davis had committed suicide.
“After a slight discussion we took a ballot which resulted 11 to 1 that a murder had been committed. We took another ballot which was unanimous on this point.
“The next thing was the consideration of the evidence against the prisoners. We took up the different counts of the indictment. We first considered the evidence against Smith. In the second count he was charged with the murder jointly with Trefethen.
“The only evidence that was presented against Smith was the testimony of the police officer who swore that he passed him at the corner of Ferry st. and Broadway, Everett, on the night Tena met her death. The officer’s testimony on this point was not positive. He had not known Smith previous to his arrest, and admitted that the man he saw holding Trefethen’s horse looked like Smith.
“To offset this, we have the testimony of Smith’s family, which was direct and incontrovertible enough to establish an alibi for him, so far as his being with Trefethen.
“Now admitting the government’s allegation against Smith, there was the possibility that if Smith was the man that the officer claims to have seen, he might have done so without any knowledge that a murder was to be committed. Trefethen may have sent him there to meet Tena and bring her to him.
“The place where the team was seen was under an electric light, and it is very natural that Trefethen, who was known in Everett, didn’t wish to be seen in Tena’s company that night, especially if he contemplated making way with her later.
“The first ballot we took on Smith was 10 to 2 for acquittal. Two of the jurymen had voted for conviction, thinking that we were voting on the third count of the indictment, which charged Smith with being an accessory after the fact. We took another vote and it was unanimous that Smith was not guilty.
“We then voted on the third count and the result was the same on the count charging Smith with being an accessory.
“The most intensely exciting part of our deliberation then commenced, and I tell you that moment was a trying one. There was but very little discussion on the matter, and what little there was plainly showed how the feeling went regarding the guilt of Trefethen.
“We decided to take a ballot on the matter at once. The votes were given quickly and readily.
“It didn’t take long to count them.
“Guilty, 10
“Not guilty, 2.
“The result was announced, and there was very little comment.
“We took two ballots in all – no, let me see – I believe it was three.
“The next one was 11 to 1, and the last one was 12 to 0, that James Trefethen was guilty of murder in the first degree.
“We were only out three-quarters of an hour, and then filed into the room and announced the verdict reached.
“We have had no opportunity to know what public opinion as to the guilt of the men was. How was it?” he asked.
The reporter informed him that the commonly expressed opinion was that the evidence was not strong enough to convict.
He seemed surprised at the reply.
Occupations of the Jurors.
Following is a list of the jurymen, their occupations and residences: Elijah W. Wood, farmer, Newton; William F. Kelley, farmer, Acton; William C. C. Colgate, fish dealer, Woburn; Homer I. Littlefield, Melrose; John W. Farrar, business man, Shirley; Charles E. Poor, professional nurse, Lowell; Charles E. Perry, farmer, Stowe; John E. Walsh, shoemaker, Hudson; Charles H. Berry, paper maker, Pepperell; Walter Shelton, farmer, Burlington; E. F. Spaulding, grain dealer, Townsend.
The Boston Globe – 5 May 1892, Thu – Page 10