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But Jocko’s demeanor gave them the lie. The ape was surly, vicious. It would crouch and look at Starr with eyes that blazed with vindictiveness. , With blue lips peeled from its teeth It ' would chatter shrilly and—so the Imaginative spectators declared—accusingly, stretching forth its black fingers toward both man and woman * as though it would fain tear them to pieces.This behavior of the monkey gave .rise to grave suspicions, which were , .strengthened by the contradictory stories told by the Starrs and the continued absence of Ackerman.The suspected man and woman were arrested, and Jocko by his screams and .antics seemed to exhibit a consciousness that his master would be avenged..In a corner of the’'house boat was found a blood-stained ax. Prof. Dos-son, of the Louisiana state university, submitted it to chemical examination and said that the blood was probably .human. He came to the same decision concerning stains found in the skiff that was towed behind the house boat.All this was told in court when the Starrs appeared for trial in September.But the chief witness was Jocko, lie had been kept in a cell at the parish jail, like any human w itness, and when lie was brought Into court in his scar-let coat and cap the prisoners quailed. Jocko uttered a scream of rage and would have leaped upon them if the •sheriff’s men had not held him in restraint.That decided the jury. Slender aa the evidence was, they believed the monkey and brought in a verdict of guilty.” The man was sentenced to be hanged and the woman to be imprisoned for life.By order ot the probate court the menagerie was put up for sale—Jockoith the rest. He was bought In by aon-in-law of the murdered showman,, who had traveled from the north to attend the trial
Newspaper Details
Portland Daily Commercial
Portland, Indiana, US
Fri, Dec 15, 1899
Page 3
Full Page
Clipped by
Princeton U.
NJ, USA 13 Feb 2024
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