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It may be that the evidence is very largely circumstantial, but the actual facts are known to the accused, and he has the right, under the laws as they now exist, to explain them away by his own evidence. For example, he is not directly shown to have been in possession of his gun at the time of the murder. He was in possession of it at an earlier date. It may have been a mere coincidence that the victim was shot by this gun, and that the accused was at the time of the murder only a few yards away. It is possible that the gun had been stolen from his residence by the murderer. If so, he could have testified to the fact, and the jury might have accepted his explanation. He might have been able to explain how the cartridge, which apparently fell from the revolver while he was in the room, came to be there. He may have a satisfactory explanation as to how blood-stained overalls came to be found in his room. He might be able to deny that he made the compromising statements to the gaol inmates, and the jury might readily have believed that the stories told were incredible; but, notwithstanding all the damning chain of evidence, he chooses to maintain silence.
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