Craig

The defendant was tried for the murder of his wife, convicted, and sentenced to death. From this judgment of conviction, and an order denying a new trial, he has appealed.

The facts connected with the killing, as shown by the prosecution, are briefly as follows, viz: The defendant and his wife had been living separate from each other for several months, the wife living with her children at the “ Hunter ranch”—the property of her father—about three miles north of Los Angeles. On the 25th of July, 1894, soon after sundown, the defendant, having provided himself during the day with some pistols, drove in a buggy from Los Angeles to the Hunter ranch, .where he got out and went to the porch at' the back or kitchen part of the house, and attempted to open the kitchen door. Finding it locked, he called out to his wife, who was in the kitchen, and, as she looked through the window and saw who it was, she asked him who gave him the right to come there. Upon his replying that he had the right to come and see his children, she said: “ Do you know there is a man on the ranch?” and upon his inquiring where lie was, pointed to her brother, George PXunter, who was approaching, saying: “ There…