Pitisci

The defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree. His defense was self-defense. He appeals from the judgment and order denying him a new trial.

The facts of the case upon which the conviction was sought and secured are substantially these: The defendant at the time of the homicide was an unmarried man of about 25 years of age. He was a Sicilian by birth. The deceased was an Andalusian. They became acquainted some time in the latter part of the year 1912. The deceased was a married woman, and at the time of the homicide was about 22 years of age, and was living apart from her husband because of marital difficulties. The acquaintance between the defendant and deceased developed into a liaison, which continued till within two weeks of her death. At about 8 o’clock on the evening of May, 8, 1914, the defendant called upon the deceased at her home, where she resided with her father and two brothers, and, save for the presence of her two babies, found her alone. Shortly thereafter Joseph A. Solemi, who resided with his mother in apartments immediately above those occupied by the deceased, heard a woman screaming. He ran down the stairs into the kitchen of the apartment of the…