Blood Runs Green: The Murder That Transfixed Gilded Age Chicago by Gillian O'Brien

Author:Gillian O'Brien [O'Brien, Gillian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780226249001
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2015-02-12T16:00:00+00:00

A key part of the defense was the parade of witnesses who swore that the defendants were nowhere near the Carlson cottage on the night of May 4. To some extent such testimony was unnecessary, as the charge faced by the accused was “conspiracy to murder.” As a result, whether or not they were in the Carlson cottage that evening was irrelevant, though if they could all prove they were elsewhere, a conviction would be very difficult to obtain.

In his closing argument for the prosecution, Hynes dismissed the alibi defense, arguing that “the only defense they set up is that of the commonest criminal: ‘We’ll get someone to swear we weren’t there.’ There is not a habitual criminal in Chicago that could not set up as strong a defense—an alibi.” On November 28 America published a double-page cartoon, “Features of the Trial,” mocking the defense case. A list of increasingly implausible alibis is suggested for the accused: “On the night of May 4 Dan Coughlin was teaching a Bible class, Pat O’Sullivan was taking the frost out of his ice, Bourke [sic] was playing poker with Geo. Pullman, Beggs shaking hands with Prest. Harrison, . . . Kunze had just arrived at Castle Garden.”

Forrest attempted to dismiss the testimony of both Dinan and the Carlsons, arguing that they had cause to provide evidence to back up the prosecution case because they were gaining financially from it. He pointed to the fact that Dinan was receiving $100 (approximately $2,600 in today’s dollars) weekly from the Stanhope and Epstean Dime Museum, where his white horse and wagon were on exhibit, while the Carlsons were making money by charging admission to their cottage.

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