Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1869-10-20
6eueral Nem5.
e -.s "a
WHISKY DID 1T,
rhe CONGESTION of Murderer.

Stewart, who was sentenced to impris-
onment for life, at Detroit, few DAYS since,
for the wanton stabbing of citizen who
defended his house from the burglarious
depredations Of Stewart, made This confess
sion to the reporter of the Advertiser and
Tribune " .
ssAbout ten days previous to the affair
that occasioned my coming to this prison,
T arrived at Windsor, in company with
three friends. who are professional thieves
and visited Detroit, and concluded to make
strike. My friends took three feathers
i(pocket- books). which enabled us to pay
our way. I drank much liquor, and my
companions said [ was worthless, and I
determined to sail out on my own hook
went to Cores saloon very often, and
drank there frequently. I went to the
races, but did nothing of any consequence
except stand in with some gamblers At
| the race track met Mcdonald and Wilson,
and on the L ebt of the murder accompa-
MED them about town, drinking with them
at several places, and played billiards with
! them. One of the saloons, L think, is kept
by man named Thomas. Previous to this
the three of us were at Cores, where we
drank wine and whisky, and [ got pretty
drunk. Mcdonald and Wilson wanted me
! to go to hotel with them, but declined
| and ran away and secreted myself behind
signboard, so that they could not find
me- I wandered up town, Idon't know ex-
actly where, and was followed by two men
! for over aa hour.
II intended TO get into some hou Sc and
! go to sleep, because could not find my
way to the Howard House, where [ was
stopping, and because was much intoxi,
Gated. I tried several houses but found
the windows fastened. Finally came to
one (WillettsD and found that the front
window opened easily, pushed up the
sash, crawled into the house, and found
myself into what I supposed was a parlor.
/ could hear persons snoring and remem-
bered following the sounds, until I got into
bedroom. Here my feet caught into
something on the floor and made 90 noise,
and woman Mrs. W. awakened. [ saw
her getting up, and 7 crouched down
alongside a wall. but in doing SO ! made
more noise. The woman tod her hus-
band to get up, and after several min
utes elapsed he got up. [ had previously
intended to rush past the woman and
make my escape. but remembering that
had closed the window through which
entered the house, [ dared not take the
risk, and then I determined to lay down
and pretend to be very drunk. AS soon
as the man (Willets) got out of bed
Strengthened up, and he grappled with
me, and after a severe tussle he
threw me down and commenced
choking me. The choking and the hquo1
that [ had drank made me lose all control
of myself, and [ presume I got my knife
out of my pocket as soon as [ could, and
used it as freely as I knew how. [ saw the
woman pull the curtains Of the window tC
one side, and as soon as I could get away
from Willets smashed the window partly
with my fist and partly with my elbow, and
leaped out. I dropped my knife some
where ard ran through a field when [ stun
again and climbed over several fences, and
ran some distance, and overcome, fell down
in the grass and weES to sleep.
Shortly after daylight I awoke, and
not knowing where I was, concluded to
| try and get down town, but was arrested
before had proceeded far: IF I had been
myself I should have remained in the grass
all day, and should not have stirred until
after dark; I was terriblI bewildered, and
did not know precisely what [ was doing.
'I did not go into The house to rob it,
or to kill any one, otherwise I should have
provided myself with a pop Ievolyer);
had one large and one small knife in my
/ possession; otherwise was unarmed aud
| in no condition to unde.tak a burglary.
| had no acquaintance with Mr.. Willets, no1
/ did ever hear of him before. [ am as
sorry as any one that the affair happened,
but it was not me that did it: it was
whiskey. This is all have to say at pres
! ent.