Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1888-12-05
THE PENiTEN114

~ If Choteau County on His Way
pe. with some Noted Prisoners.
"A Back Of Choteau County arrived
oP"" la,t night On the Montana Central
p""" prisnpers convicted at the last
tp ~" the District Court at Fort
frD One Of them is the we'll.
ED'v" Max Hoppe. who murdered
Eo0' mster named Adams while
,ruay to cross the Canadian boun.
% The circumstances OF the case have
t'' ,,taiIsd frequently. There were four
:. the party and two OF them had
%p - ssorcir Of the team that had stray.
norins their absence Hoppe killed
presumably for the purpose Of
DSDry, aud fled. He was traced across
Sns, brought back and tried.
a Matchmaker by trade and
TrI for A snort timein Butte. His mind
'ah ItIy unbalanced and his conversation
tt%ssr nnd rambling. VIII n seen in iail
rs,sht he undertook to give an account
I'm the hilling occurred, but his story
V, disc yunected that it was hard to
lS,s him. From what he stated it was
bor,l that he claimed to have given the
nIrrs "A ring to take him across the
nnJary, aud that they tried to in.
,Jstr HIM so as to get rid
Kim, He asserted that Adams under.
IN rob him while the other two man
,,bs rarfy we're away; that he defended
4.,.slf as we'll as he could, but was un-
ss 70 prevent his being thrown down:
a. Ada : n~ttergoing through his pockets.
wr A knife with the apparent intention
Y rnttiGg au end to him; that Hoppe ia
,pe wav managed to get hold OF a revolt
Y, that in some mysterious way was dis.
E,,,rad, and Il great deal more in the same
,r,io making himself out a much-iniured
.Iridual: hat the only witness he had
not called in his behalf and that he
20 not going to remain long in Deer Lodge
,,bSre was any justice in the Supreme
The jury found him guilty OF MUIR.
N lin the second degree and the court SEN
him TO penal servitude for twenty
The second in Importance is Billy Fitz.1
,-,Id, He is a more intelligent man than
and talked without restraint. The
s,r,c against him also was murder for
,notin Il negro in Fort Benton last
r,tpmbcr. His story is that he had had
nrryiou. quarrel with the negro and that (
The day on which the deed was COM
fitted he was ia Il saloon watching q game
.rribbagr. The negro vas in there drunk,
everyone, but Fitzgerald paid no at
rtion to him. Finally the negro came UP to
tapped him on the shoulder and told
N he wanted to zee him outside He
gt out on the street when,% according to
story. the negro, without a word OF
Iruing. drew Il razor and went for him, I
/ he managed 20 get the drop on him
a pistol and shot him. The shot was ;
+ Immediately fatal, as the negro walked ,
and went into another saloon where he !
akenci. He died from the effects OF the 1
1t nine days afterwards. Fitzgerald was i
nd guilty Of murder in the second degree
4 sentenced to twenty years in the peni- :
tiary, but rays his lawyers will appeal :
case to the Supreme Court. He thinks Z
fact that there were four murder cases C
trial at hat term of court had some- c
to do with the findings of the jury, 9
they were the first that had occurred in I
years IL that section. .
he third prisoner is John McCue who is 7
tcuced to eighteen months in the peni- !
for breaking Jail. G
heriif Black, sho Is accompanied by g
McNaUght, OF Fort Benton, will
w un the morning train with his charges G
Deer Lodge. =