Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1880-04-03
1at eeees TRIAL.

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A Few Facts Not Gsnsraliy KNOWN 60 the
PuhliU, or if Known Not Thought Of.
Communicated to the Press and Dakotaida.
Since the motion for a new trial has been
denied Bsebe and his sentence 10 10 be pro.
nounced At an early day, afew facts not gen.
orally known to the public, or if known not
thought Of, might not b out Of place. Even
while l do not expect that any success will
m efforts in the matter, l will have
the satisfaction Of showing, in my humble
way, how the authorities in this territory
"work up" a case and how INSCRIPTIONS are
the means they resort to.
As in all other cases and trials, the people
Of the territory are not y unit in their.opin-
ion, as to the guilt or Innocence of the con-
demned man; some are convinced that the
murder Of Landphere was committed BY the
three surviving members of the party, viz:
Cammack, Williams and Beebe. Some say
Cammack and Williams, without the as.
sistance Of Beebe, are the guilty parties,
while very few, outside of the United States
attorney, assert that Beebe and he alone is
the murderer.
Looking at the case from an impartial
standpoint it is reasonable TO- suppose that
more than one man was concerned in the
bloody deed. and this belief is strengthened,
not only by the testimony Of Cammack and
Williams. but by the recent indisputable
proof Of the perjury Of those same parties in
the discovery Of the gun said by them to be
loaded, which statement turns out to be
.false.
An examination Of some of the plausible
testimony might be advisable and interest
ing Just now before sentence of death is pro.
nounced on a mar who may be guilty ofthe
crime Of murder, but whose testimony on
some points has proved more truthful than
that of his companions. Cammack and Viii
liams being under oath said: 1--WE reached
Grow Creek about noon; took dinner Beebe
tried to shoot some birds and his gun would
NO: 60 off; he took it BY the barrel and
broke it against a tree; We then went to
sleep-and George Landphere did the same"
Cammack said also /: civilians and Invoke
up and saw Beebe greasing his boots; he
picked up a gun and went toward where
L~andphere was lying and shot him then
turning toward us said talk about sand
or grit, you see 1 have got it, if you boys
squesl on me I, will do the same to you,
Then Beebe took Landphere's body aud car.
ried it away" They also testified as fol.
lows: "We stood like stumps and didn',
say q word to Beebe orto each 9th On its
face this testimony looks plausible enough,
but it has the appearance Of be-
ing too we'll prepared and recent
Developments prove part of it to have been
false. If Beebe's gun was not discharged
when he broke it against q tree, it certainly
would have been loaded when discovered
in the creek, but it was found to contain no
load Notwithstanding the sworn statements
of these two worthless to the contrary. In
q case of life and death this discrepancy
should certainly work favorably for the
ptAsOuSt oCCOV, "uOoO NCSllluOut III IcSdIu
to that matter has proven to be vastly more
truthful than that of his more favored com.
panions. Again, is it liKely that two men
like the witnesses for the prosecution
would remain impassive. or as they swore
"stand still like stumps," during the time
their companion was being murdered ?
Were they SO completely taken by surprise
as to be incapable OF interference by word
or action? Were they afraid to demonstrate,
or did they approve of the murders These
questions are difficult to answer and the
prosecution or be in accordance with law,
but in the opinion Of the public were afarce
on justice. Had they been inexperienced
ledglings fresh from school and in search
of romantic adventures, the murder of q
human being might have SO paralized them
as to incapacltate them from action aud
strike them speechless at tie same time.
But they did not happen to be youths with.
ont spot or blemish, nor were they inexpe
rienced in "ways that are dark" as one OF
them, Williams, has been for years q resi-
dent of the frontier. where be was an adept
in the use Of the revolver. had been an as
sociate with the notorious Jim Somers and
had served q term in the penitentiary, of
which he vas not afraid or ashamed TO
boast; while the other, Cammack, oryoung
Csmmack, as they called him. who seemed
to be the ~shrewdest of the crowd confessed
to haying been implicated 10 q robbery.
These are the unsophisticated and impul-
sive youths whose testimony has deprived
fBeebe of his liberty and probably of his
|life.g Their. record goes to show that state
ments from them ought to be received With
q great deal of reservation. Beebe in his
own defense testified as follows:
"Wnen we reached Grow Creek we took
dinner end I went hunting; when l came
back l saw something was wrong between
Williams and Lspdphere; they went to lie
on their blankets and I ven to greasinp nv
boots; I had creased o boot and had put
t. "a ~-on r.onosn~ ehn oeho.. Vr:1S. -