The trial of James Graham, for the murder of his sister, Jane Graham, was progressing at Giles Courthouse Tuesday last.

From The Daily Dispatch, Vol. VII, No. 83, Richmond, VA, Saturday, April 7, 1855, p. 1, col. 4. "Virginia." microfilm, Richmond, VA Dispatch, January through June 1855, Ball State University Library, Periodical Service, Muncie, IN.

The trial of James Graham, of Monroe county, charged with the murder of his sister, in July, 1854, took place on the 3d instant, before the Circuit Court of Giles county. The evidence elicited is nearly as follows:

The deceased on the night of the 28th July, retired to rest in company, and in the same bed with her niece, Rebecca Nowlan, at the residence of John Nowlan, two miles and a half from the residence of Joseph Graham. She seemed to be in her usual health and mind upon going to bed. During the night, (but at what hour was not known,) she secretly left the house, while her niece was asleep, taking her shoes, stockings, dress, and the bonnet of Rebecca Nowlin [sic], and bed-cord, the property of the deceased, which hung by the wall in the porch of the house -- or, rather, it was shown that the bed-cord hung at that place the preceding evening, and was missing the next morning.

On the night of the 28.h, the barn of Joseph Graham, father of the prisoner and deceased, was burned. Upon examining for traces of the incendiary the next morning, tracks of two persons were discovered upon the road leading from Nowlin's [sic] towards the barn, and in the larger track was found the heel of a shoe. These same tracks were followed, going from the direction of the barn, by a circuitous route, through the fields and woods, and were traced to a point a half a mile below the place where the body was found. One of these tracks was evidently made by a shoe without a heel, and accompanying them were the tracks of a small dog. There was at Nowlan's a small hound slut called Music. Deceased was a large woman, weighing some 200 lbs. On Saturday the --- day of August, the body of deceased was found, near an old sugar camp, upon the first bank of what was at some seasons, a branch of running water, the shoes of deceased lying bottom upwards a few feet from the body, one of the heels gone, and her dress a short distance from the shoes.

There was found, farther removed from the body the bonnet which the deceased had taken from Nowlen's, [sic] and a side comb. The under garments were still on the body, and the stockings, the soles of which were muddy, as if the deceased had been walking in her stocking feet. The body, particularly the upper portion, was in a state of putresence. The flesh, muscles and sinews entirely gone from about the head and neck, with the exception of a small portion upon the back part of the head and neck. An examination was then had, and more recently a minute examination of the inner as well as outer portions of the skull, but neither examination resulted in ascertaining any signs or indications of violence of any sort. When the body was attempted to be raised, the head, by a slight pull, separated from the spinal colum [sic].

While the barn was burning, a Mrs. James Ellis residing in the neighborhood heard the most awful screams of a female voice proceeding from the vicinity of the burning building. She also heard the worrying of dogs as if the had hold of some object.

The counsel for the defence rested their case on the supposition that the woman had fired the barn, and either killed herself or been killed by dogs, and the prisoner was acquitted.

From The Daily Dispatch, Vol. VII, No. 98, Richmond, VA, Thursday, April 19, 1855, p. 3, col. 2. "Latest Mail News." microfilm, Richmond, VA Dispatch, January through June 1855, Ball State University Library, Periodical Service, Muncie, IN.

Jordan Jones
jordan@leapingdogpress.com