Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Two brothers, an uncle and attempted murder

On this day in 1793, somebody wounded Richard Lloyd the elder by shooting him in the head with a pistol as he sat reading in the parlor. His nephew, also named Richard Lloyd, was charged with the crime.

Rick was in the parlor at the time of the shooting and Uncle Richard assumed Rick was reading, too, although he didn't actually see the boy. Suddenly, a gun went off. Uncle Richard stood up (I suspect "leapt to his feet" would be more accurate) and cried out, "My God! my God! what is this you have done!" Rick doesn't say a word, but "walked out" into the yard, then to the wash house. Ater that, Rick wound up at a neighbor's, where he was found and arrested.

Uncle Richard never saw a pistol or gun in his nephew's possession at any time that day. He and his nephew had apparently lived "comfortable together" and as far as he could tell, his nephew wasn't mentally ill.

I find it interesting that Uncle Richard says Rick walked into the yard. Although the uncle thought he looked frightened, he wasn't running. Also, the first thing Uncle Richard thinks is that Rick did it. However, if he didn't see anybody else, that might very well be the conclusion he would jump to.

Next comes the testimony of constable Robert Dawson, and here's where it gets even more interesting. Young Rick has an older brother who was originally arrested for the crime because a box of pistols, shot and powder were found in his possession. Turns out Rick's brother, who is not named, might not be the most upstanding member of society, having been apprenticed and run away from his master. The constable doesn't know "how he lived" - how he earned his keep, I gather. Older Bro had lived with Uncle Richard for about 12 years, had frequently been to the house, but Uncle Richard hadn't seen him that day.

Uncle Richard (called the prosecutor, because it was the victim who brought the charges at that time) is questioned further and reveals that the window of the parlor wasn't broken; he can't remember if it was open or not. He can't remember smelling gun powder. If he was shot by somebody in the same room, you'd think he would. However, Uncle Richard also says that the ball "extracted" from him does not resemble the ball found in Older Bro's possession.

Yikes! And oh, for forensics, eh?

I would dearly love to know why Older Bro was released, and have to think it must be this bit of evidence. So Rick, presumably because he was the only other person around at the time of the shooting, got charged instead.

The jury then asks a question -- When Rick was arrested, was he searched?

No.

So Rick was never found to have any weapons on him, and although it's not stated, I assume none were found in the parlor after the shooting.

Rick's found not guilty.

Whew - there's a lot of story seedlings here! The two brothers, one of whom may be a ne'er-do-well. The apparently benign uncle who's given them a home for several years who gets shot at. Who stands to inherit? Methinks Older Bro. What happened to their parents? Why did Older Bro leave his job? What exactly was the relationship between the uncle and his nephews? Was it as happy as he thought? Is he lying through his teeth? Was he really a vicious miser who abused them physically, mentally or both? Who can say what secrets lurk within that family?

If Older Bro did the shooting, did Rick know he was going to? Did he see him coming? Was he in the parlor to open the window?

The constable originally arrested the brother, who had possession of pistols in his lodgings. There were also two children alone in the house. There's another seedling for a subplot, or even potential sequel characters.

Why did the jury find Rick innocent? The stronger evidence against the brother? The fact that Rick didn't run far? That the uncle can't remember smelling gun powder? The uncle's testimony that he and Rick were on good terms?

If I were to use some of these ideas for a romance, something is obviously missing: a heroine. You could fix that by having a brother and a sister instead of two brothers. Or two sisters. Or you could invent a completely new character who's either already involved with this family, or becomes involved because of this incident. Maybe she's the neighbor in whose house Rick was found.

Yep, lots of ideas with this case!

2 comments:

  1. These are amazingly entertaining (and yes, I'm disturbed by how that sounds like I enjoy the pain of others) and I have to say that you come up with many more possibilities of how to massage the stories further than I would. Maybe I need to practice more.

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  2. They really are fascinating, aren't they? And even though they happened long ago, it amazes how similar some of them sound to stories that could be in books, on TV or in the movies today.

    Practice greases the wheels of the imagination!

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