State v. Furgerson

• Decision Date: 31 October 1899
• Citation: 152 Mo. 92,53 S.W. 427
• Parties: STATE v. FURGERSON.
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

53 S.W. 427

152 Mo. 92

STATE v. FURGERSON.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

October 31, 1899.

HOMICIDE — INDICTMENT — INSTRUCTIONS — CONDUCT OF COUNSEL.

1. A count in an indictment which charged that defendant "did make an assault, and a certain ax, a deadly weapon, by him, the said W. F. [defendant], held in his hands, the said W. F. did then and there strike and beat the said S. W. [deceased]," is bad, as it does not charge an assault with an ax, nor that the ax caused the mortal wound.

2. A count in an indictment which concludes that the "grand jurors do say that the said W. F. [defendant] him the said S. W. [decedent] did murder," is bad for the reason that it does not allege that the grand jurors upon their oath do say.

3. The court in a criminal case has the right to give the jury additional proper instructions at any time before their verdict.

4. It is error for the prosecuting attorney in a murder case to state that when he began to investigate the case he found evidence which pointed to defendant's guilt, where such statement is in respect to matters not in evidence.

Appeal from circuit court, Grundy county; P. C. Stepp, Judge.

William Furgerson was convicted of murder in the first degree, and appeals. Reversed.

O. G. Williams and S. C. Price, for appellant. Edward C. Crow, Atty. Gen., and Sam B. Jeffries, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the State.

BURGESS, J.

The defendant was convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree, and his punishment fixed at death, for having on the 25th day of March, 1897, at Grundy county, killed and murdered one Stephen G. Wilson with an ax. He appeals.

The indictment, leaving off the formal parts, is as follows: "The grand jurors for the state of Missouri, and from the body of Grundy county, duly impaneled, sworn, and charged upon their oaths, present and charge that one William Furgerson, on the 25th day of March, 1897, at Grundy county, Missouri, in and upon one Stephen G. Wilson, then and there being, feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditately, and of his malice afore-thought did make an assault, and a certain ax, a deadly weapon, by him, the said William Furgerson, held in his hands, the said William Furgerson did then and there feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditately, and of his malice aforethought forcibly strike and beat the said Stephen G. Wilson, in and upon the body of the said Stephen G. Wilson, crushing, fracturing, and breaking the skull of the said Stephen G. Wilson, giving to him the said Stephen G. Wilson a mortal wound, of which said mortal wound he, the said Stephen G. Wilson, did then and there instantly die. And so the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do say that the said William Furgerson, him, the said Stephen G. Wilson, in the manner and by the means aforesaid, feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditately, on purpose, and of his malice aforethought did kill and murder; against the peace and dignity of the state. And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further charge and present that the said William Furgerson on the said 25th day of March, 1897, at said Grundy county, Missouri, in and upon the body of the said Stephen G. Wilson then and there being, feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditately, on purpose, and of his malice aforethought did make an assault, and that he, the said William Furgerson, some heavy instrument or deadly weapon, to these jurors unknown, which said instrument or deadly weapon he, the said William Furgerson, in his hand then and there had and held, then and there feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditately, on purpose, and of his malice aforethought did forcibly strike and beat the said Stephen G. Wilson in and upon the body of the said Stephen G. Wilson, crushing, fracturing, and breaking the skull of the said Stephen G. Wilson, giving to him, the said Stephen G. Wilson, a mortal wound, of which said mortal wound he, the said Stephen G. Wilson, did then and there instantly die; and so the grand jurors aforesaid do say that the said William Furgerson him, the said Stephen G. Wilson, in the manner and by the means aforesaid, feloniously, willfully, deliberately, premeditately, on purpose, and of his malice aforethought did kill and murder; against the peace and dignity of the state." The trial at which defendant was convicted was the second one, there having theretofore been a mistrial. At the time of the homicide, defendant and deceased lived in the city of Trenton, defendant being engaged in the business of private detective, and claimed to be in the employ of a life insurance company in which the deceased held a policy for $5,000, and as such detective endeavoring to find some clue which would lead to the discovery of the murderer. At that time, and for several years prior thereto, the deceased, Wilson, was...