Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1883-02-21
The KOdisch Murder Trial

| der of the mother of the former, and al
legged to have been committed at his
home in the Second ward of this city, on
the night of December 9th last, or on the
morning of the 9TH, was formally opened
last Friday in. the Circuit Court at
Jefferson before Judge J. r. Bennett
Considerable difficulty was encountered
in finding jury, new venire having to
be summoned before jurymen were Sc
lected. The following were finally i'm
paneled on the case: Seymour Haven,
Waterloo; G. E. Clark, Hebron; J. P.
Burman, Hebron; S. Henry, Palmyra;
George Lewis, Sullivan; James Dunstan,
Sullivan; A. B. Smith Lake Mills; L.
b. Root, Cold Spring; L. Sears, Sullivan;
R. Fargo, Lake Mills; S. S. Wick, Water
loo. Among the witnesses called on the
part of the state were the following:
Drs. w. @. Spalding and F. G. Werner,
of this city, and DR.. Curtis, of Chicago,
Albert Arndt, Annie and Louisa Kodisch,
daughters of the defendants, 7. Dorm
scheit, w. Jaerke, j. O'Bren and a num-
Der of immaterial witnesses. The testi-
! mony of the two daughters was the
most important having direct bearing up
on the circumstances attending old lady
KodiSch' death. Annals ,,testimony was
particularly damaging to the defense. 1t
set forth the manner Of the old woman's
demise in an altogether dIfferentligh t from
that adduced in the preliminary examin-
alton before Justice Stacy. 1t was then
made to appear that the old woman had
died in certain small room in the house
but Anna testified that her grandmoth-
er died in the stable which had been her
habitation along with the cattle and hogs
since last fall The old lady had
small bed in this repulsive place for a
human dwelling and used to lay it upon
some hay and here she passed her nights
whether pleasant or stormy. This i'm
portant portion of their daughters evil
dence was coroborrated by John Kodisch
and his wife when they came upon the
stand. The state rested the case Satur-
day afternoon when @. II. Gardner
opened for the defense after which an
adjournment was effected. Monday
morning the trial was resumed and
John Kodisch subjected to direct and
sross-examinations His wife was called
upon the stand in the forenoon and she
continued her testimony until the ad-
journment Monday evening.
Yesterday morning Mrs. Kodisch as
sumed new tactics and created genu-
inc sensation in court When the sheriff
entered her cell to conduct her to the
courtroom she feigned to be sick and de-
volored an apparently unconscious con-
dition. The Court was compelled to take
a recess for the entire forenoon. At noon
the prisoner tried to convey the impress
sion that she had lost her hearing and
voice. Physicians applied tests and dis
covered she was resortiDg to duplicity as
she was in perfectly good health. Judge
Bennett ordered her brought before the
court at o'clock and her examination
was continued from Monday afternoon.
Evidence was all closed yesterday af ter
noon at o'clock and w. II. Rogers &C.
cupied from that time tc evening adjourn
ment in making the opening argument
for the state. The case will no doubt go
to the jury to-day. 1t ID the general i'm
preston that Mrs. Kodisch by her course
yesterday, has greatly injured her chances
of acquittal and her conviction is now al
most certain, while the acquittal of her
husband is altogether probable. The
case has been very ably conducted on
both sides. District Attorney Kirkland
has looked after the interests of the state
with zeal, perseverance and ability and
has been we'll assisted by Mr.. Rogers.
The counsel for the defense, Messrs. D.
Hall and Q. H. Gardner, have been none
the less faithful to their clients cause and
their management of the case is certainly
entitled to great credit.
SAFE BLowN.-The safe in the lumber
Office of J. Weber 4 ISon on the west
side, was blown open by thieves at one
o'cleck this morning. The safe was badly
wrecked by the force Of the pow der and
made completely worthless. The only re-
ward't the robbers received for their trouble
was $3.50 in money and $500 worth of
postage stamps. The thieves entered
from window at the rear of the build
ing. They removed the clock from the
shelf and it stopped at the hour of one
by which the time OF their burglary is
obtained No clue.
Ne1O Postal Regulations.