People v. Kennedy

• Decision Date: 20 November 1900
• Citation: 58 N.E. 652,164 N.Y. 449
• Parties: PEOPLE v. KENNEDY.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

164 N.Y. 449

58 N.E. 652

PEOPLE

v.KENNEDY.

Court of Appeals of New York.

Nov. 20, 1900.

Appeal from supreme court, criminal term, New York county.

Samuel J. Kennedy was convicted of murder in the first degree, and appeals. Reversed.

W. W. Cantwell and R. M. Moore, for appellant.

Charles E. Le Barbier, Asst. Dist. Atty., for the People.

HAIGHT, J.

On the morning of the 16th day of August, 1898, the dead body of Emeline C. Reynolds was found lying upon the floor in room 84 of the Grand Hotel, on Broadway, in the city of New York. The body was fully dressed, with the exception of the hat, which had been removed, and was lying in the room. By the side of the body, upon the floor, was found a bludgeon, consisting of a lead pipe about 17 inches in length, through which an iron rod had been inserted, and wound at one end with tape. A post mortem examination of the body disclosed two wounds upon the top of the head. each about 2 1/2 inches long, one about an inch behind the other, cutting through the scalp. The lobe of the right ear was found to be discolored, and there was a fracture of the cervical vertebra or neck. No other marks were found upon the body. It appeared to be well nourished, and in other respects in a healthy condition. The physician who conducted the autopsy gave it as his opinion that the wounds were produced by blows upon the head, and that death was due to oedema, congestion of the brain, asphyxia resulting from pressure on the spinal cord, and fracture of the cervical vertebra, and that death could have been produced from the blows of the bludgeon which was found by her side. The deceased was a young woman, unmarried, and had formerly lived at Mt. Vernon, where her parents, brothers, and sisters still reside. For the last two years she had been living at the corner of Fifty-Eighth street and Ninth avenue, in a flat on the first floor, with a New York broker, under the name of Reynolds, as man and wife. On Monday, the day preceding the finding of her body, she left her home in the morning, taking with her a small bag or reticule; and about half-past 12 o'clock she entered the Grand Hotel, went to the desk, and registered in the name of ‘E. Maxwell and wife, Brooklyn,’ and was assigned by the clerk to room 84, on the fourth floor. She was conducted to this room by a bell boy, and left there. At about 2 o'clock she entered the dining room, and was conducted to a table, at which she was served with a lunch. After finishing her lunch she signed the bill therefor with the name of ‘E. Maxwell, room 84.’ A few minutes afterwards she left the hotel by the ladies' entrance, on Thirty-First street, and did not return until about 6 o'clock in the afternoon, at which time she was accompanied by a man. They entered the hotel at the entrance from Thirty-First street, passed through the dining room, and took the elevator to the room to which she had been assigned. They remained together in the room until about a quarter of 7, when they descended by the elevator to the office floor, and passed out through the dining room into Thirty-First street. They again returned to the hotel together about 10 minutes before 12 o'clock, passing through the dining room to the elevator, and thence to their room. After they returned to their room a lady occupying room No. 52, which is directly under room 84, heard two persons walking about the room. After some time her attention was attracted by a heavy fall upon the floor in the room above, and this was followed shortly after by another fall. After that she heard the walking of one person about the room for some time, but finally fell asleep, and observed nothing further until morning. A few minutes after 2 o'clock the man who had accompanied the deceased passed down the stairs of the hotel to the office, and thence out through the corridor into Broadway. The body of the deceased was first found by the chambermaid, who entered the room at about half-past 9 in the morning.

The evidence establishes beyond a reasonable doubt, and we understand the fact to be conceded by the defendant, that Miss Reynolds had been killed by some person under circumstances which would justify a jury in finding that the act was committed with deliberation and premeditation. We are thus brought to a consideration of the question as to whether the crime was committed by the defendant. He was a dentist, having an office at No. 60 West Twenty-Second street, in the city of New York, in company with his father, who is also a dentist. He was a married man, about 32 years of age, and resided at Newdorp, Staten Island, with his parents. At the time of the homicide his wife was absent from home on a visit. Upon disrobing the body of the deceased, in order to make an autopsy, there was found underneath the corset the sum of $8.90 in money, and the following check: ‘No. 1,226. New York, August 15, 1898. The Garfield National Bank, Twenty-Third street and Sixth avenue, pay to the order of Emma Reynolds thirteen thousand dollars ($13,000). Dudley Gideon.’ The check bears a two-cent postage stamp, canceled, and is indorsed upon the back, ‘S. J. Kennedy.’ There were also found in the room several scraps of paper, which had been torn up. Some of the pieces were found in a waste basket in the corner of the room, and some of the scraps were found by the easterly window. These scraps, when put together, formed a complete paper, on which there appears in lithograph in the upper left-hand corner a capital ‘R’ On the left hand is a line for date, with the figures ‘189,’ and underneath are the words ‘Phillips Milk of Magnesia, 12 oz.’ On the reverse side of this paper was written the words ‘E. Maxwell and wife, Grand Hotel.’ After finding the check with the defendant's name indorsed upon the back of it, the detectives detailed to investigate the case called upon the defendant at his office, showed him the check, and asked him if the signature was his. He stated that it was not, that he had never seen it before, and that he was not at the Grand Hotel the night before in company with the decedent. He was, however, subsequently placed under arrest and taken to the West Thirtieth street police station, and upon a search of his office there was found a blank check book, with a number of checks signed by him, several letters, and a pad of paper on which was printed ‘Phillips Milk of Magnesia, 12 oz.,’ conforming in every respect to the scraps found in the room of the deceased, to which we have already referred. Upon a search of the defendant's residence in Newdorp, there was found in the cellar a piece of lead pipe corresponding in size to that of which the bludgeon had been constructed, and also a piece of iron of the same size as that which had been inserted in the pipe constituting the bludgeon. The head waiter, his assistant, the bell boy, elevator boy, and the front clerk of the Grand Hotel, who saw the man with the deceased, were sworn as witnesses upon the trial, and identified the defendant as the man who occupied the room with her on the night of the homicide. As they described him, be wore a straw hat. It appears that previously he had worn a brown derby hat, but testimony was introduced showing that on the afternoon of that day he had purchased a straw hat and a golf cap; the cap being subsequently found in his office, and identified by the salesman. Expert witnesses were produced, who, upon comparing the check for $13,000 found upon the body of the deceased, with papers proved in the case to be written by the defendant, gave it as their opinion that the check was filled out and signed by the defendant, and that the indorsement on the back was his genuine signature. They also gave it as their opinion that the writing upon the scraps of paper found in the room of the deceased, of the words ‘E. Maxwell and wife, Grand Hotel,’ was also that of the defendant. On the morning preceding the homicide, the defendant put on his wife's undershirt or wrapper. After closing his office in the afternoon, he went to a...