Anatomy of a Murder Page #9

I couldn't say.

Isn't it a fact that Barney

would sometimes take the guns out...

...twirling them on his fingers,

to demonstrate his skill to the patrons?

- I don't remember.

- Try and remember.

Did you ever see him do that yourself?

Once or twice.

That's all, Mr. Paquette.

No further questions.

The witness may step down.

Call George Lemon.

Biegler's going off in all directions.

What's he getting at?

I have a feeling he's afraid

of what we'll get at.

Mr. Biegler's putting up a smoke screen

for some reason.

- I do.

- Take the seat, please.

- Will you state your name, please?

- George Lemon.

What kind of work do you do?

I'm caretaker of the tourist park

in Thunder Bay.

I see the place is clean and orderly.

I check people in and out,

lock the gate at night.

What is your authority for these duties?

I'm paid by Mastodon township

and I'm also a deputy sheriff...

...just courtesy, sort of.

Did you see Lt. Manion

on the night of the 15th...

...the night Barney Quill was killed?

- Yes, sir.

Will you tell the court...

...about how and when

you saw Lt. Manion?

About 1:
00 a.m.,

a knock on my door waked me up.

I went to the door

and Lt. Manion was standing there.

He said, "You better take me, Mr. Lemon,

because I just shot Barney Quill."

I told him to go to his trailer

and that I would call the police.

How did Lt. Manion appear to you

when he asked you to take him?

He said what he had to and did what I said.

There wasn't any fuss.

Did he appear to be,

as far as you could tell...

...in complete possession of his faculties?

As far as I could tell, yes, sir.

Take the witness.

Mr. Lemon,

did you go to the Manions' trailer?

Yes, sir.

- Did you see Mrs. Manion at the trailer?

- Yes, sir.

What was her appearance?

She was a mess.

Objection.

No evidence has been introduced...

...to make Mrs. Manion's

appearance relevant.

No evidence was introduced to make

Barney Quill's appearance relevant...

...but you didn't object to that.

Is that because you know

that Barney Quill bathed and changed...

...after he raped and beat

this poor woman?

Everybody in this court is being tried

except Frederick Manion. I protest...

This is a cross-examination

in a murder case, not a high-school debate!

What are you trying to do,

railroad this soldier into the clink?

Mr. Biegler,

you are an experienced attorney...

...and you know better

than to make such an outburst.

I will not tolerate

intemperance of this sort.

If you once again try the patience

of this court...

...I shall hold you in contempt.

Sorry.

Your Honour...

...I apologise.

It won't happen again.

The witness' answer will be stricken

and the jury will disregard the answer.

Now you may proceed, Mr. Biegler.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Lemon.

On the night when Lt. Manion

awakened you and turned himself in...

...had you been awakened before?

- Had anything else disturbed your slumber?

- No, sir.

There were no soldiers singing?

No, sir. Not in my park after 10:00.

There were no women screaming?

Those screams were down by the gate.

Objection!

I see no reason for objecting yet.

Tell us about those screams, Mr. Lemon.

I didn't hear them myself.

Some tourists from Ohio in the park

heard them and told me the next day.

Mr. Lodwick?

This testimony is incompetent, hearsay...

...irrelevant, immaterial, inconclusive...

That's too much for me.

The witness is yours.

No questions.

The witness may step down.

Call your next witness.

Detective Sgt. James Durgo.

- Hi, Pauly.

- Hi, Jim.

As soon as we break,

you'd better phone that Army psychiatrist.

- Tell him to be here day after tomorrow.

- Will do.

Will you please tell me

where Parnell has gone?

Won't do.

You're fired!

You can't fire me till you pay me.

Were you called to Thunder Bay

by Deputy Sheriff Lemon...

...on the night Barney Quill was killed?

- Yes, sir, I was.

My companion officer and I

were first on the case.

Sgt. Durgo, when you arrived

at the Manion trailer, who was there?

Lt. Manion and his wife.

What did Lt. Manion say to you?

He said his wife had had some trouble

with Barney Quill...

...and that he'd gone to the tavern

and shot Quill.

He asked whether Quill was dead or not,

we told him he was.

How did Lt. Manion take this information?

He didn't seem surprised.

What did you do then?

I asked for the gun he'd used.

Did you take Lt. Manion

to the jail here in Iron City that night?

Yes, sir. We drove the lieutenant down

with his wife.

On the drive to Iron City,

did the lieutenant talk about the shooting?

He said that if he could do

the whole thing again, he'd still do it.

During all this,

at the trailer, the drive to Iron City...

...how did Lt. Manion appear?

He was very quiet most of the time.

Seemed clear-headed.

Would you say he was

in complete possession of his faculties?

He seemed so to me.

Your witness.

You testified that Lt. Manion

told you that he shot Barney Quill...

...after he had learned that his wife

had had some trouble with Quill.

Were these the words

Lt. Manion used:
"some trouble"?

No, sir. Those were my words, not his.

Was it your notion to use your own words?

No, sir, it was not.

Was the suggestion

to call it "some trouble"...

...made by somebody in this courtroom?

Yes, sir, it was.

Would you tell the court

what words Lt. Manion actually used...

...to describe the trouble his wife had?

Objection. We've been over this before.

This would not be relevant

to any issues before the court.

The statement "some trouble" came out

during the examination of Sgt. Durgo.

Up to now, you've adroitly restricted

all testimony concerning Laura Manion.

The cat's out of the bag,

it's fair game for me to chase it.

This is a sore point, Mr. Biegler,

and it's getting sorer.

I'd like to hear the prosecution.

The burden is on the defence...

...to prove temporary insanity

at the time of the shooting.

If the reason for the alleged insanity

is important to this case...

...then it's a matter

for a competent witness.

An expert on the subject

of the human mind.

What the defence is trying to do...

...is introduce some sensational material...

...for the purposes of obscuring

the real issues.

Your Honour, how can the jury accurately

estimate the testimony being given here...

...unless they first know the reason

behind this whole trial:

Why Lt. Manion shot Barney Quill?

Now, the prosecution would like

to separate the motive from the act.

That's like trying to take the core

from an apple without breaking the skin.

The core of our defence is that

the defendant's temporary insanity...

...was triggered by this

so-called trouble with Quill.

I beg the court...

I beg the court to let me cut into the apple.

Our objection still stands, Your Honour.

Objection overruled.

Tell the court how Lt. Manion

described the trouble...

...his wife had with Barney Quill.

He told us that Quill had raped his wife.

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