AS Told By Frank Fitzgerald–
Michael & Catherine’s McNulty’s daughter Margret married Bill Dillon. Her Bill Dillon had a hired hand named Henry Miller. Dillon didn’t like Henry Miller and he hit him in the back of the head with an axe and killed him. The court was held at William McNulty’s farm and when they asked Dillon if he knew the man, Dillon said that was no man, he was an idiot. Dillon was sentenced to the Whitby Psychiatric Hospital and died there.
Note: One Of Five or two I’ve heard?????????
The one I heard –Miller was kneeling on one knee splitting kindling beside the well. Dillon came down over the back of his head with an axe—Same result
Official charge to the jury by the Judge at the actual trial
Judge Maybee said to the jury: The burden of establishing the guilt of accused, rests upon the Crown
and of insanity upon the accused. Before you render a verdict of guilty you should be sure there is no
reasonable doubt. It couldn’t be suicide. The question is, who did it. The Crown says William Dillon is
the man. No one saw the murder, but is often so. The next step in the Crown’s case is that those blows
were delivered by a man standing on the right side of Miller, and the axe was swung by a left-handed
man. This was circumstantial evidence. Judge Maybee reviewed the conduct of accused man after
murder was known. Did he act as you would expect him to act? The charge is met in two ways by the
accused. The counsel invites you to accept his oath that he didn’t do the deed. If you accept his oath
against facts you acquit him. There is no difficulty or no doubt in cases where insanity is the ground of
defence. This man has been living such a dissolute life that he broke down. Alcohol has made some
inroads upon his mental power. He said he was in a condition to appreciate the difference between right
and wrong, but the witnesses say no. It would never do that the jury should let accused escape because
he is mentally wrong – your duty is to consider the evidence before you. If you think there isn’t sufficient
evidence, then you should say “not guilty”; if on the other hand you say he is guilty, you have to say
whether or not he was in an insane condition.