State v. Murray

Citation126 Mo. 526,29 S.W. 590
PartiesSTATE v. MURRAY.
Decision Date12 February 1895
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Missouri

Appeal from circuit court, Gasconade county; Rudolph Hirzel, Judge.

Edward Murray, convicted of murder, appeals. Affirmed.

D. C. Taylor, for appellant. R. F. Walker, Atty. Gen., and R. L. Mudd, for the State.

BURGESS, J.

At the January term, 1894, of the St. Louis county circuit court, the defendant, with his brother James Murray, was indicted for murder in the first degree for the killing of Edgar Fitzwilliams. Counsel was assigned defendant, and at the May term following, upon his application, a change of venue was awarded him to the circuit court of Gasconade county, where at the September term, 1894, of that court, he was put upon his trial, and convicted of murder in the first degree, and now prosecutes his appeal to this court, in which he is not represented by counsel. The facts, as disclosed by the record, are as follows: On the night of December 23, 1893, defendant, his brother James, and two others met and arranged to rob the conductor of a car on Page avenue, in St. Louis county. When the car passed back on one of its return trips from the city of St. Louis, and not far from the end of the car track, Edgar Fitzwilliams, who was the conductor in charge, and Lizzie Schueble, a passenger, were its only occupants. The four negroes boarded the car, James Murray and one other getting on the front or west end, the defendant and the other negro getting on the rear end. By prearrangement between them, when the conductor was assaulted, one of the party who was in the rear end of the car was to pull the trolley line, and thereby extinguish all the lights. When the conductor, Fitzwilliams, went in the car to collect the fares, one of the three negroes who were at that time inside the car shot and killed him, and then they robbed him of what money he had upon his person, and his watch, and then made their escape. Miss Schueble, who was on the car at the time, witnessed the killing and robbery, having, as soon as it occurred, left the car, and given the alarm to some persons in the neighborhood, and when the car was reached by such persons, within a very few minutes thereafter, Fitzwilliams was found in the car dead. The murder was committed in St. Louis county. The defendant made one written statement, and three other different statements, to as many different persons, in which he admitted his presence at the time of the killing and robbery; that he boarded the car knowing the arrangement to rob the conductor; that he was present to perform his part; but denied further than this his...

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