REPORTS OF CRIMINAL LAW CASES. 1817. On his cross-examination this witness says, that he SCHOHARIE does not recollect with certainty what he said, those words bear hardest upon his mind. George Sprucher. Witness is half brother of the deceased, the same father, but not the same mother; he was at home at the time prisoner came to take the deceased away last November. Witness asked him where he was going, he told witness he was going to live close by his father's, who lived the other side of Rome. Prisoner started on towards Rome, when he left his mother's house; witness said he would make them a visit; pri-. soner said he would find them there if he came up; witness had determined to go up to see whether he or his wife were there or not, and inquired particularly where it was, but he has forgotten the particular name of the place; says the deceased was subject to fits; does not know but what she had to fall down with them; they never lasted long; witness never heard of his sister's death until about eight weeks after her decease; never knew her to take opium. Catharine Nellis. Witness knew Caty Sprucher; she saw the prisoner at the time he came to take her away last November; they came to their house in a waggon, and witness told them it looks strange to see you two together; Caty asked witness what she thought about her going off with him; witness requested her to wait until they were in the house together, and she might mention it when he was present, and she would then give her opinion, at which time witness asked prisoner where he was going; he said he laid out to go to Rome; he hurried the deceased on, and said he wished to be back to a certain place, because a waggon was to be there; Caty VOL. III. 6 The People V. Kesler. 1817. SCHOHARIE did not inform witness whether she would go or not; they went off towards her mother's, and witness saw no more of them. The People V. Kesler Hannah Flint. Witness resides a little better than a mile from the widow Sprucher's, where she has lived eight years; last fall prisoner came to her house, and the deceased remained on the stoop or off; dark before the house; he wished to know where witness' husband was; he wanted him to go to Cherry Valley with a waggon; prisoner said it was ugly going; he did not say what he wanted the waggon for; they walked on the road to Cherry Valley a small distance; he went into the field with two pillow-cases, one under each arm, and after standing a little, she followed on, and that is the last witness saw of them; prisoner was some distance before her; and witness' husband afterwards said they might have gone across the field to shorten or cut off the road; witness says it was at the next house below where witness lives, where they turned off. James Ferguson. Prisoner lives about one mile from where the Lunenburgh turnpike leads into the western turnpike; the deceased and prisoner came to his house on foot; prisoner wanted a horse for to carry him to the turnpike; witness let him have a horse for that purpose; the deceased complained that she was tired. Nancy Hulcomb. Witness is acquainted with the prisoner she first became acquainted with him at Palatine between two and three years ago; she and her husband were then keeping a tavern at Palatine, which she continued a while after the death of her husband; her husband died in September, and she left it in May, 816; witness afterwards kept a boarding house in Al 1817. The People V. Kesler. bany; prisoner boarded at her house, in Albany, about SCHOHARIE three months; she thinks he quit boarding there last October, and left some of his clothing with her; he was gone not more than three or four weeks before he returned for his clothes, when she had quit keeping house; while prisoner boarded with her, she learned he was a married man; when he returned for his clothes he said his wife was dead; while he boarded with her at Albany, she has frequently heard him speak about his wife. Prisoner informed witness he was endeavoring to get a divorce from her; he proposed marriage to the witness; the proposal was repeated more than once; she gave him no great encouragement; when he offered himself, he spoke of a divorce from his wife, and that he had made application for a divorce. Witness now resides in Schenectady; he called on her shortly after she came there, which was in December last. On her cross-examination she says, he called at Schenectady to ask about his clothes; he had gotten some of them before in Albany, and then took a coat; she has the residue of his clothes now; says he did not mention to her a word about the circumstances of his wife's death. Hannah Van Woerman. Witness became acquainted with the prisoner the fore part of last winter; he lived · at her house in Princetown, county of Schenectady, for three or four weeks; said not a word as to where he had come from, nor about his being a widower. Baltus Cook. Witness is acquainted with prisoner, and has heard him say, that he was married; he said he would take his wife on a vessel and go off with her, or leave her; witness does not know what he meant by it; this was about one year after he came out of the 1817. SCHOHARIE service; and at another time, whether after or before, witness does not recollect, he talked about getting a The People divorce or bill of her. V. Kesler. Thomas L. Butler. Witness lives at Cobus Kill; he saw Kesler and his wife in the fall of the year, at his father's house, on Sunday evening; they came there in a waggon; they staid out doors some time, and then came in; he paid his father one shilling, which they said was for a sling; when he came there he wanted to hire a waggon; he said he wanted to overtake two waggons, going to Hudson; witness took the waggon and carried them to Mr. Best's tavern; witness heard no complaint whatever of the woman respecting sickness. Thomas Butler. Witness recollects to have seen the prisoner at his house last fall; he came there and said he was desirous of overtaking two waggons with some of his effects on board, and at his request, witness sent his son some distance down with prisoner and his wife; they had one or more pillow cases with them at the time; witness understood him to say, that he had been to the westward; thinks it was Rome, but is not certain; that he was going to Hudson, where he had lived before, to follow tayloring during the winter; that he had been living to the westward, and intended to return in the spring; they had either cider or sling at his house, whether the wife drank any of it or not he does not know. Henry Best. Witness knows prisoner; saw him at the house of Peter Best; they had a sling of him when they first came there, between the hours of eight and nine o'clock; he saw him after his wife's death; witness did not observe who drank the sling." -Peter Best. The deceased died at his house; witness 1817. V. Kesler. understood from prisoner that he was from Rome; wit- SCHOHARIE ness calculated to take the corpse to her relations: in the evening when he came there, he asked whether wit- The People ness had seen a couple of loaded waggons going by, that he did not know whether they had passed him or not. In the morning, the day after her funeral, when he went away, he said he left the clothes as a security for the funeral expenses, until he should return; said that he was going to live at Hudson, and that he would return the latter part of that week, or the first of the week after, take the clothes and pay the bill; but he never called nor sent; prisoner called for a brandy sling, which he handed to the deceased; does not know whether he drank any of it or not, nor whether she drank; witness heard of no illness until in the night, when they went out of their room; he concurs in the relation given by his wife, Catharine Best. Witness offered to fetch Doctor Kroomer, from Cobus Kill, after the deceased was taken ill; prisoner said it was not worth while; witness then told him he might have the horse, saddle, and bridle, to go for the Doctor, whenever he pleased; he once took it. On his cross-examination this witness said, prisoner never mentioned whose daughter the deceased was; after her death he said the Sprucher's, on the Mohawk, Schoharie, and Cobus Kill, were distantly related; prisoner went to the Doctor's one morning, before day light; whether it was on Thursday, or Friday, he does not know. Witness named George Sprucher, Jost Sprucher, and John Sprucher, to him: he said they might be distantly related. Prisoner might have gone to the Doctor's on Friday, without witness's knowing of it. |