Omaha daily bee., 1884-12-09

sell an aDsOluUe dlNOrCe. Inc papers max
an account the other day of the assassi
nation of one of the notorious Alsur
family, of Douglas county, Missouri. Thii
reminded me of the murder trial of the
elder Alsup, who was the terror of south
west Missouri, and at the time a very In
huentisl politician. He was tried in
Webster county on the charge Of murder
in the second degree before a Judge
named Heckert and a jury. The Jury
returned a verdict of guilty of man.
slaughter in the third degree. When the
jury had retired, the judge, in q tremb.
ling voice, said:
"tMr. Sheriff, have the prisoner stand
up until sentence is passed upon him.
after Alsup stood up, his honor con.
tinued: Have you anything to say why
sentence should not be passed upon youf
"'Only this, judge said the prisoner,
coolly. If you sentence me will cut
your heart out
ellis honor took out his handkerchief,
blew bis nose, looked at the ceiling, and
then, turning to the sheriff, said: Mr..
sheriff, this man is a very bad egg; !
guess you had better turn him loose,
and Alsup walked cut a free man.
"Soon after the wal Judge Wilson, of
Shannon county, killed a man in a quarrel
over a horse. At the judges request he
wss indicted for murder in the first de.
gree. Tho case was Immediately called
for trial. Wilson announced he would
sit upon the'case himself, which he did.
II anything, all his rulings were against
his own interest, and he acted very fair
ly all through the trial. The evidence
all went to show hat he had committed
the deed in self defence and he was ac-
quilted.
''There was another queer old Judge
named Armstrong. He was a very large
man, with a high opinion of himself, but
he knew very little law. He made a
ruling one day which the prosecuting
attorney disagreed with and q heated
argument ensued between the two.
"'There is no such decision as that
justified by law, and a Judge who had a
grain of legal learning would not give
such a ruling said the attorney.
"'You dirty little shyster,' roared the
judge, for a cent would throw this law
book at your head
"'If you did you would throw away
more law than you ever had In your
head retorted the attorney.
''This was more than the Judge could
stand, and he got down from the bench
and wiped the attorney all over the floor.
Then he climbed back on the bench and
said:
"'Mr. Clerk, please enter q fine
against me for $780, and he paid 1t on
the spot.
Another amusing case occurred at
Mo-, about a year ago. The
railroad agent at that point was on trial
for embe zzlement. He was superinten-
dent of q Sunday school and was a MEM
Der of a highly respectable family, The
case was dead against him and there was
chance for his acquittal. His attorney
General Mitchell saw that his only hope
lay In escape. In order to render this
possible, Mitchell took his first occasion
TO tell the opposing counsel, Colonel
John ODay, chairman of the democratic
committee of the state that he
was a liar. The two men clinched and
the excitement the prisoner es-
capped and has never since been arrested. |
"This same General Mitchell was the
for the notorious outlaw, Sam
aelderbrand. One Of the %latter's mum.
trials for murder. Mitchell told
ais client to pretend to be blind and set
up the extraordinary defence that Hid
while walking along the street,
had accidentally run into his victim and
the knife through his heart. This
successful, and Hilderbrand was
Iet free. Before the trial Mitchell was
,iv @ n a farm, q wagon and team and
fifty she pskins as his fee In the case.
After Hilderbrand got out he walked In
o Mitchell's office and told the lawyer
10 would kill him If he did not return
he farm, wagon and team. what am /
o get for my fee2' asked Mitchell. The
answered Hilderbrand, pull.
ug out a pistol. Mitchell returned the