Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-03-22
THE END.
CONCLUSION OF THE CASE OF
THE STATE VS.. LANSING.
The Testimony Of the Defendant
Circumstances of the KMIIng-
Incidents of she Trial.


Circumstances of the KnIing-
Incidents OF the Trial.
The large courtroom was crowded yes
terdsy to hear the conclusion Of the trial
Of O. ]. Lansing, Esq, on the charge of
granddaughter for the killing of his wife.
Several ladies we're present in the gallery.
Very great interest has been manifested
by the public in the case from the Begin
ming, on account Of the high character Of
the defendant, the deep sympathy felt for
his daughter, the fiendishness of the dead
woman. and the general horribleness Of
the whole affair. When Court was called
at 10 o'clock every seat in the Courthouse
was occupied by eager listeners, and others
kept coming in afterwards until there was
scarce standing room left. The court
room was never so crowded before, except
perhaps during one or TWO days at the
great suit between the Richmond and Al
bion. The defendant had been reserved
by his counsel as the last witness to be
put on the stand. When he was called
upon to testify the eagerness Of the Gu
rious throng to hear what he had to say
was excited to the highest pitch. 1t was
known to only a few what his line of evil
dence would be. The anxiety Of the crowd
to hear the circumstances Immediately
connected with the killing OF Mrs. Lam
sing by her husband from his own lips,
the whole horror being known by nobody
in the world but himself, was intense. His
testimony is long, and we reproduce only
en- rnr1ch ~ ~ 90 haa MT ham rQportad oil
ready and is OF such local and general in
terest as to demand publication.
SKETCH OF DEFENDANTS LIFE.
Said the witness: / was married to my
deceased wife in the Fall Of 1862, in Ala
media County, California. We lived in
San Francisco Immediately thereafter for
about three months. / then returned to
Virginia City, in Nevada Territory. She
remained in San Francisco a short time
and then went to Boston. Our daughter,
Ada, was born in September 1868, in Bos-
ton, and my wife and daughter came to Vir-
ginia City in 1864. l am So years Of age;
commenced practicing law when was Il
years of age; came to California in the
Spring Of 1852; practiced law in Califor-
mia until the Spring Of 1860; came to Vir-
ginia at that time and lived there until
lows hNtu tutI6 uull tuc DpIluB Vi
1869; vent to White Pine; removed from
there to Eureka in 1870, and nave lived
here ever since, with the exception of a
portion of 1872 and 1873, when 1 resided
in San Francisco, continuously following
my profession.
ANXIETY, DISTRESS N oRTUR
1t is, of course, painful for me to recur
to the events Of the past IS years, or to
say aught against a dead wife, but counsel
require it, the case Of my daughter COM
pels it. Ever since my wife's return
from the East she has, in every imagin-
able way, made my life wretched, and I
had feared for long time that she would
kill ne. She was violent and ferocious-
especially 80 when intoxicated, which was
She has assaulted me agreat many
times and in very many different ways,
evidently with the intent to take
my life. She was physically my equal at
least, and my dread Of her was only too
well founded. In Virginia City, in 1865,
she mashed the big toe of my right foot
with q rock which was aimed at my head,
but which / lodged. When l stumbled
and fell she thought the blow had been
better aimed, aud she cried out: 81 have
killed you, damn you, and l am glad of
it," She lay in bed intoxicated after this,
locked the house so that / could not
get in. The ~neighbors came and looked
after her and Ada. She sobered up and /
went back to her, but in a few weeks she
got intoxicated again and behaved as bad
as ever.
ATTACK WITH A BUTCHER KNIFE.
In the Summer of 1866 l had a case at the
night session Of Court, and she emptied
the tea kettle on me to keep me home, but
finding that ! was going to Court anyway
she came after me, having a large kitchen
knife in her hand concealed in the folds OF
her dress and at the door tried to stab me
it. Anticipating something of the
sort I was on the alert. and as she raised
the knife above her head ! struck her q
blow with hickory stick. that / used for a
cane, and knocked her down. The
blow broke the skin only, and / ordered q
Doctor to care for her. l felt like letting
loose all holds, and I drank heavily, too.
| was very poor at the time, and my wife's
nearly drove me crazy. She came
to my Office one day, in 1868, and charged
with having ordered the Bank Ex-
change saloon not to let her have any
more whisky. She was very angry, and
exclaimed,
DAMN YOU; I'LL KILL YoUl
/ tried to get away from her, but she
struck me with a rock before l cleared the
was stunned, but found the steps
and crawled into the street. Months after
this, on Treasure Hill. she told me that II
she had killed me in Gold Hill she was all
right, as she had my pistol fixed. I want
cd to go to Los Angeles from Gold Hill,
but she wanted to go to White Pine and
she made me go there. The same story
in the latter place-deliberate at
to kill me, followed by empty
promises OF reform. She would come after
me in the Courthouse and make such in
terruption that the police would have to
carry her back home. One very cold night
she kicked mt out OF bed, and l begged to
be allowed to come back. She would not
relent until l swore / would never attend
another night session of Court. When
preparing to leave White Pine for Eureka,
/ had q purse of $500. She made me give
it to her. Threw it down the hillside.
This was early in the morning, but she
made me go ont and look for the money,
and she had me picking it up until day
light. I ran away to Elko to get rid OF
her after this. while still under the in
fiuence of drink, but after being gone q
week I came back on Ada's account.
WHY HI DIDN'T EAv HER.
Sometimes, when drinking, ] became so
discouraged that / would give up all hope
would buy poison. but would think OF
my daughter and desist using 1t. Some
times l would start to run away, but
would think Of Ada. Did not know what
TO do. Have thought over the matter
much, but could devise no plan. She was
a woman Of more than ordinary common
when she desired to be; was smart
and ingenious. She seemed to think q
great deal Of Ada. to me, at times. 1
tried to leave her. Several times, when I
was in good circumstances, I offered her
everything I had II she would accept a
or a separation, but she would
never listen to such a proposition. She
would answer always: IF you try any
such thing I'll follow you to the end OF
the earth and kill you" I knew she meant