Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1878-11-29
oF nuRpEs
4. tn. Verde. ....r~es As.As i.r.lJo.
a Hsnsse ~ tAs yury-Hs WIN
aF9eStast atnSssA ss"tsnes

sftoa. shseted@ With the murder Of Olson, HE
father, after thirty hours' elaboration, re-
turned 1 verdict Of guilty early Wednesday
evening" Tho ehsrgs against the prisoner
was murder. The court instructed the jury
dshati IL ndyt either convietSof aeqnit, under
that Indictment, There VA no intermed'.
ate. deRree4no modification Of the, offense.
The statutes provide y . punishment that
"every person convicted Of murder shall
suffer death for the same" The finding Of
the Jury in hi. case is therefore equivalent
to . death sentence, and the court will, on
7.h day Of December, proceed to pass judg-
ment in accordance with this finding.
The case is q familiar one TO the people
Of this locality. Carl Johan Hanson, the
convicted murderer, is the illesitimate son
Of Hans Olson, a native Of Norway. The
son came to Dakota early last june, in re-
Spouse to the request Of his father, from the
mother. country. The father represented to
the son that he was possessed of a ine farm
here and could make things both pleasant
and profitable for him here. Upon his ar
rival here Hanson evinced great d~isappoint-
ment over the situation Of the old gentle
mans affairs and said he would 60 back to
Norway if he had the money with which to
pay his fare. Not having it, he was COM
Epelled to-semain. Later in the month of
June the sod house Of Hans Olson, on Jim
river, was found burned to the ground.
early one morning, and Olson's half burned
rsusins were dug from the ruins and bur.
ieH.F subsequently euspicions. Of foul play
arose and the remains were disinterred and
subjected to a rigid examination. 1t was
found that his skull had been shattered by
q blow from some heavy instrument. The
TACT that he was murdered in his bed and
tbs house burned over him to conceal the
crime was SO. clearly established as to admit
of no doubt. The only question was in re-
gard to the perpetrator of the bloody
deed. Carl Johau Hanson, who was
occupying an adjoining room tn the house
at the time of the murder and confagratiop,
,was strongly suspected and the investigation
wove about him a combination Of circum'
%stantial evidence which left only the one
doubt--that he might be the victim Of a
peculiar and unfortunate array Of circum'
stances which he was unable to explain
away. The jury took the case at this poin
to decide upon and ithas performed its dut.
Hin strict conformity with its interpretatiol
Of the.evidence. Tuesday afternoon at thrc
o'clock it retired to the jury room. TIL
first ballot, which was Of an informal natur.
was eight for acqui,tal and four for convic
ton. Subsequent ballotinq gave reaults ii
i favor ofconvic,ion Olive to seven, eight I
four, nine to three and eleven to- on
Here the jury hung for about twenty-fo
hours, the decision Of the doubling juryma
: Ringing npon the definition Of the word "hy
pothesis" which occurred in Judge Shan
mems charge. Finally a verdict of convict
ttion was reached and the jury went out ane
reported its decision to the court. 1t wa
then that the juryman who knew
not the meaning of the word hypothesis,
called for a reconsideration and further in
structions, which we're given, and the jur,
once more retired. Its consultation va
brief this time, and about half past sevel
o'clock Wednesday evening, the verdict Q
guilty Of murder was delivered to III
court, and Carl Johan Hanson was remand
ed to his cell, a condemned felon.
The counsel for the defense entered a me
ton to set aside the verdict on account Q
insufficient evidence, and for a new trial
The court fixed the 7th of December as til,
day upon which this motion is to be argued