182 Page – American State Trials 1918 Volume X Leo Frank Document

Here is the translated text as follows:

150 &X. AMERICAN STATE TRIALS.

Was it under an irresistible impulse that compelled him to search the pockets of the deceased, appropriate their contents, conceal the body, and take and carry away his horse, saddle, saddlebags, and watch? Was it under this same impulse that he changed his name, sold Gordon's horse to Gould, and fled to Dover?

Why is it that we are left in the dark when the gentleman had the power to explain this extraordinary phenomenon of the human mind?

It is now, gentlemen of the jury, two weeks since you were impaneled, and as this, the last day of the week, is fast drawing to a close, you no doubt feel anxious to return to your homes and families. I shall therefore detain you but a few moments longer. The facts developed in this case show one of the most cruel and bloody murders ever committed on the highway. Indeed, the annals of crime scarcely furnish a parallel to it; and now it remains for you to say what shall be done with the murderer. You must convict him of murder in the first degree or discharge him, for his case contains none of the elements of a lesser offense. It may be painful to consign a fellow-man to death, but the duty is enjoined upon you by both human and divine law. "Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death; for the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein but by the blood of him that shed it."

It is a lamentable fact that of late years crime has increased in our country with fearful rapidity. You cannot take up a newspaper without being startled at the recital of some bloody deed. In our large cities, no man is secure who walks the street after the setting of the sun; and if it is known that he has money about his person, he is shot down or dirked with as little ceremony as a butcher slaughters his beef for market. This is no doubt to some extent owing to our greatly increased population and partly to the luxurious habits of the age, but a more potent cause than either grows out of our remissness in executing the laws. Jurors lose sight of the fact that the chief object in punishing an offender is to deter others from committing a like offense; they seem to overlook this crucial aspect.