It was only a few hours after the closing of the first session of the KInrade inquest when the Hamilton newspapers hit the streets and were delivered to home across the city.
The session had gone on for many hours, and the only two witnesses who had taken the stand were Tom Kinrade, father of the shooting victim and Florence Kinrade, her sister.
Florence had been in the witness box for about four hours when the climax of the session took place :
“Mr. Blackstock fired this startling question at the witness, ‘Then, Miss Kinrade, who was that man?’
“An intense silence that lasted half a minute followed the query, and there was a look of expectancy as Miss Kinrade opened her lips to make the following reply, ‘I never saw him before.’
“ ‘Never saw that man before,’ asked Mr. Blackstock.
“ ‘Never,’ she sobbed, ‘and I would be only too glad to tell if I did.’
“Miss Kinrade, for the first time in her four hours’ ordeal on the stand, showed signs of breaking down. And Crown Attorney Washington hurried to her side with a glass of water. Dr. James White, the family physician, also rushed to the stand.
“Mr. Thomas Hobson, the lawyer for the family, arose and said, ‘I would suggest that we adjourn to some other date satisfactory to the Crown.’
“After a short consultation with Mr. Washington, Mr. Blackstock said to the witness, ‘I will not trouble you further if you do not feel well enough to go on.’
“This was the most dramatic scene of the session and the crowd began to stand up. Chief of Police Smith shouted for those who had seats to ‘sit.’ Mr. Blackstock then to Miss KInrade, ‘I would like to ask you a few more questions if you feel disposed to wait say five minutes longer, or, if you prefer, we will desist now. Don’t you think it would be wiser, and be relieved from coming here again. I would not like to make any demand your strength’s not equal to.’
“Miss Kinrade nodded assent and Mr. Blackstock continued.
“ ‘I want to ask you if you ever saw that man before?’
“ ‘Never,’ said the girl decisively.
“ ‘Never saw that man before,’ persisted Mr. Blackstock.
“ ‘Never’ was the girl’s emphatic reply again.
“ ‘And can you give us an idea as to who he is?’
“ ‘None, and I would gladly do so if I could.’
“ ‘ Now you understand the solemnity of this. You understand the obligation to tell the whole truth?’
“ ‘I don’t know him.’
“ ‘Never saw him before?’
“ ‘No.’
“ ‘sure of that?’
“ ‘Perfectly sure.’
“ ‘Perfectly sure you have no idea, of who the person is, and can give us no light upon that?’
“ ‘None,’ sobbed the girl and her trying four hours’ ordeal was over. She had been on the stand from 10:35 until 1:50. As soon as her examination was concluded, she was escorted from the court room, supported by her nurse, and her fiancĂ©e C. Montrose Wright, on whose arm she leaned.
“It was agreed that the jury should meet again tonight at 8 o’clock.”
Hamilton Time Times. March 11 1909.
After the session was formally brought to a close, the Times reporter quickly got some reaction to the proceedings from the detectives working on the Kinrade case and from friends of the Kinrade family.
A column for the morning edition of the paper was then quickly written and typeset. The article began as follows:
“Perhaps not less dramatic than the scene early this morning in the police court when Florence Kinrade, after the Crown Counsel had leaned over and asked, ‘Now tell me who shot your sister,’ causing the slender girl in black to almost collapse on the witness stand, will be the second session of Coroner Anderson’s jury tonight, when the investigation in the sensational Herkimer street murder mystery will be resumed.
It was generally agreed that nothing of significance had been revealed during that first session, but the detectives working on the case claimed to be not at all disturbed, and were in expectation of developments to take place soon.
Friends of Kinrade family stated that they felt that Florence had done well :
“(They said) the fact that such an able criminal lawyer as Mr. Blackstock could not shake the main facts of Florence Kinrade’s story, although she was under fire for over three hours, is substantial proof that the girl’s story is the correct one.”
After the first session of the inquest was over, Florence Kinrade was ld to a vehicle which stood waiting outside No.3 Police station, the building which contained the court room:
“She was driven to the home of Miss Walker, the trained nurse, who has attended the ladies of the family since the terrible tragedy. Enquiries made there this morning elicited the information that Miss Kinrade had rested fairly well. It is expected that she will be prepared to go on the stand again at any time she is requested to, and the police say she will certainly be recalled, as they have a number of points they think she may assist in clearing up.”
A Times’ editorial which appeared on March 11, 1909 appeared under the simple headline, ‘The Murder Inquest’ :
“There were few homes in Hamilton today in which the inquest of last night was not the chief topic of interest. The nature of the crime itself was enough to make people hang upon the chance of revelations before the coroner.
“The ordeal to which the sister of the murdered girl was subjected was a severe one. It is not astonishing that in the stories of the tragedy as given to the public there appear to be breaks and discrepancies. Sensationalism might account for many apparent inaccuracies, and perfect coherency was hardly to be expected from a young girl laboring under such shock and strain as that to which Miss Kinrade was subjected .
“Neither the girl nor her father were in any way spared by the Crown examiner in his effort to bring out every word and incident which might by any chance develop a clue
“The inquest, which will be continued tonight, is evidently not going to be any perfunctory affair. It is hoped that the interests of justice will be served by it leading to the discovery and punishment of the cruel murderer.”
(To Be Continued)
Pictured, Coroner James Anderson
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