New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-04-08
Local Intelligence.

THE KILLING OF WASH ROCKWELL
Judge Mccormack yesterday made a pre-
liminary examination in the case of the
killing of Wash Rockwell, shot at the lake
on St. Patrlck's day by Robert Dssposito,
a. lie charged. The following evidence was
taken down:
Antonio Cordero-Reside at the lake end;
l am keeper of . restaurant and drinking
saloon known as "Tony's House," recog-
nize the accused at the bar, but do not
know his name; ON st. Patrick's day the
accused and another came there and or
dered dinner; don't know who the other
party was; never saw him before; there was
NO one else at my place that day at that
time excepting those two; they gave orders
for their dinner; the two gave me the or
dere; they were both on the gallery, on
the right hand side of the gallery
toward the canal, down stairs: after Or
dering dinner they both went off to take q
walk and returned three-quarters Of an
hour after " ard to eat their dinner; it was
about five o'clock when they had dippsr;
waited ON them myself; they took drink
when they came back and they took their
seats at the table; they ordered wine; the
dinner aud wine were ordered equally; they
/ overheard harsh words used and went
there, thinking they wanted something
else; deceased ordered me away; told me
to get some cognac; remember that de-
ceased ordered me away to get some
brandy; the deceased was mad: the Ian
guage used by accused and deceased was
"a English; understood all the orders they
gave me; when I was behind the counter
getting the cognac heard three shots; was
%rvn r1o Vii Is yyhi fnQ
deceased had ordered, when l heard the
shots: went outside, and saw one man
sitting on chair and the other one gong
of, about ten or twelve feet from the table;
the man going off was the partner Of the
deceased. Witness here pointed cut -ac-
cused as the party seen going off, Ac-
cussed was in his shirt sleeves, when going
off; ] do not know whether he was bare
headed or not; there was one hat On
the gallery; / do not know who it be-
logged to; when / saw accused going Oft,
he was going toward q wagon; l did
not see the wagon; the wagon shed ID in
my own yard on my premises; saw both
accused and deceased when they first came
to the houee in the evening in question;
they both came in wagon together; the
wagon was placed under the shed; accused
was going toward the shed who're the
wagon had been placed; l went imme-
diately to Hoyt's to notify persons that
there was dead man on my gallery; l did
not see accused any more after / started
for Mr.. Hoyt'e: did not see the wagon
after returned from Hoyt's; when saw
deceased he had blood ON his face, and l
knew then he was killed; was frightened
when heard the shots; when went out
saw the man bleeding; l then went to
got out on the gallery; did not know from
where the shots were fred; the shots seemed
to come from q distance; saw no weapon
of any kind; when l went back from Hoyt's
the deceased was in . chair, but he was
afterward laid ON the gallery; I saw hat
and coat after accused left; saw the coat
at the inquest; both men we're friendly
when they arrived at my house;
deceased was in his shirt sleeves after the
shots were fired; they were still friendly
on returning from their walk; when they
were eating dinner they used high words,
speaking in English; deceased was almost
twice as big % accused; heard deceased use
q bad epithet toward accused; was be-
hind the counter when i heard the harsh
words; recognized the voice because it
was louder than the accused's.
Mr.. Benjamin S. Harrison was the next
witness, whose testimony was the same as
that given at the coroner's inquest, which
cOrroDoratec the evidence OF MAJOR V. A.
Ryan and Mr.. Leon Lamothe.
Colcma Vidal, the cook at Tony's House,
did not know anything about the shooting.
The testimony of Sergeant Taylor and
Officer Bergaminis was the same as that
taken before the coroner's inquest.
Officer w. j. O'Conuor-I arrested the
accused by order of Captain Grey, at his
saloon, at the corner of Basin and Common
streets; when accused was searched at the
station pistol was found on him, every
barrel loaded; charged him with killing
Rockwell and also with carrying con-
cealed weapon.
After hearing the testimony the case was
submitted without argument, whereupon
the Judge sent the accused before the Second
judicial District Court on the charge Of
murder, without the benefit of bail.