Mendel Beilis -- The Murder Weapons?

This is the summary of the 10th day of the Mendel Beilis trial, which occurred on 4 October, 1913 on the Julian calendar, 17 October, 1913 on the Gregorian calendar. 

 

This day occupies pages 361 through 402 of Volume I of the transcript.

 

See the translation of the transcript for day 10.

 

 

Today harness maker Gorbatko shows that the shvaiki found on Yurkovsky Hill August 25, were obtained from the harness maker Berko Gulko, who left them at the factory in April, during a search by Krasovsky, Polishchuk and Rapota conducted on August 18 at the stables to which Mrs. Beilis had moved, four months after Berko Gulko left the Zaitsev factory for good.  Krasovsky will testify that he showed them to the doctors who performed the autopsy and who gave him important information.  They were not, however, the murder weapons.

 

On this day 11-year-old Nikolay Zarutsky helps demolish the prosecution case.  At first he seems to uphold the prosecution theory that the kids including Andrey rode the pugger the week before Andrey’s body was found.  A few statements later, he says it was the week before Andrey moved to Slobodka.  Then Nikolay affirms that they only rode the pugger while the fence was broken.  When Nikolay tells, minutes later, about Vera trying to get him to change his testimony, the prosecution theory and anything the Cheberyaks said becomes road kill.

 

Today the rest of the government’s story, retailed by Lyuda Cheberyak on day 8, crashes and burns for two reasons.  One is that two witnesses, non-Jews, show that the Cheberyak children would not have gone to Beilis for milk in 1911 because he didn’t have a cow.  Another is that people in Lukyanovka believe that Vera murdered Andrey and rolled his body up in a carpet.  This supports the drunken gossip of Kirill Antonov, told second hand a few days ago, that she kept it in her apartment for three days.  By the end of day 16, this urban legend will be dead, but the idea of Vera as the murderess will have substantially more support. 

 

 

Judge:  Fyodor Boldyrev

 

Prosecution:

            Criminal Prosecutor, Oscar Vipper

            Civil Prosecutor Georgy Zamyslovsky

            Private Civil Prosecutor Aleksey Shmakov

 

Defense:

            Oscar Gruzenberg

            Nikolay Karabchevsky

            Dmitry Grigorevich-Barsky

           Alexandr Zarudny

           Vasily Maklakov

To Day 11, "Ettinger and Landau"

 

		Page
Witness	Notes	Transcript	Translation	Statement
M. and E. Kalinovskaya	Little girls from Slobodka	361	824	1
Stepan Kalinovsky	Andrey’s friend in Slobodka	361	824	15
Petrenko	Knew Andrey growing up In Lukyanovka	361	825	63
M. Nakonechnaya	Mikhail Nakonechny’s wife Supports daughter’s timing on playing at the factory	362	828	131
Nazary Zarutsky	Lives on Zakharchenko property.  Supports actual timing of play at factory Tells about Vera’s perjury attempt	363	830	199
Kucheryavy	In prison with Beilis Discredits Kozachenko’s letter	368	843	490
Sinyaev	Reports Kozachenko was at stable fire at Zaitsev’s	370	847	547
Olimpiada Nezhinskaya	Andrey’s grandmother Recalled about Shneerson	373	855	737
Faivel Shneerson	Recalled in attempt to  prove contact with Andrey	374	857	779
Andrey Melnik	Supposed to testify about Beilis’ letter to his wife	376	861	859
Vera Cheberyak & Viktor Ordynsky	Confrontation and bickering	376	862	920
Voitenko	Called about brick-hauling	380	872	1127
Gorbatko	Called about Berko Gulko’s shvaiki	381	875	1233
Chernyavsky	Testifies to rumors Vera killed Andrey	383	880	1363
Maxim Vorobev	Zaitsev worker put up the fence; testifies to receipts	384	883	1442
Sinyaev	Testifies about harness repair	387	889	1599
Dudman	Testifies about Kozachenko and his own synagogue affiliation	387	889	1622
Zhuk	Co-congregationalist with Dudman; questioned about Chassidism	390	896	1770
Chaim Dubovik	Zaitsev factory manager Testifies about operations, receipts	392	899	1839
Kolbasov	Luka Prikhodko’s boss, deceased; testifies by deposition	398	915	2187
Vasilevsky	Co-worker of Luka, testifies by deposition	399	918	2200
Vasilevich	Lived on Zakharchenko property; spinner of slanderous rumors	400	919	2208

 

 

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