Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-04-16
DAVE WALKERCoNVICTED
THE KNoBeER CHIEF TO SWING
WITH THE OTHER CONDEMNED.

Stanley and Jones Sentenced to the Peni-
Tertiary for Twenty-one Years Each,
and Parson Simmons for TweIve-Pa-
thetic Scenes In Court.
OZARK, Mo-, April fudge Hub
bard held court till II O'Clock, waiting
for the Walker verdict. At that hour
the jury informed Deputy Sheriff Miller
that no verdict would be returned before
morning, and the court was adjourned.
At 8 O'Clock in the morning the jury re-
turned the following verdict:
aWe, the jury, find the defendant,
David Walker, guilty OF murder in the
first degree, in manner and form as
charged in the Indictment.
[Signed.l ROYAL LUCE, Foreman
Walkers counsel requested that the
jury be polled, and as each members
name was called the clerk read the YER
dict and Judge Hubbard asked, SIS that
your verdict" Each man gave q clear
and affirmative answer, and the jury
was discharged.
The Bald Knobber chief listened to the
thirteen readings of the verdict with as
much apparent composure as though the
WoAao ittl III lSlSlChCc W uililSClt,
and smiled sarcastically as the jury left
the court room. When asked what he
thought Of the verdict, the prisoner re-
marked.
"Wen, 1t was about as | expected after
them bloody lies was swore. 1t was them
lies about going bnck to kill the
women and children that convicted
me. Pete Davis was the only man that
| swore l was in the house. II he had
told the truth his own neck would have
been in the halter. He was in the house
himself, and knows I did not go in. But
| they haven't hung me yet"
The reporter accompanied the con-
victed Knobber chief to the jail, and
found Bill Walker waiting in the corri-
dor in front of the cells to meet his
father, and hear the verdict.
"They struck 1t to me, Bill,' was the
laconic manner in which Chief Walker
announced the verdict to his son.
Bill Walker heard his fathers fate
| with thet Spartan nerve which has al
ways characterized the bearing of the
youthful vice chief of the Christian coun-
ty Knobbers, and, turning to the cores
| pondent, said:
"They have done Bull Creek up, too.
Well, Ozark is trying to get even with
1 SliiShSo. SAlta5o hubS lOuI dhdICIlSUS,
and some people here think If chat many
Bald Knobbers were swung up it would
give the town a boom. It's hard, but /
can stand anything when I have to bear
1t. They can do anything with me but
scare me or make me beg. II I have TO
hang they won't need to carry me to tins
gallows. ] will be able to walk
The conviction of the Knobber chief
had o different effect on Parson Simmons
and Amos Jones, and when court again
opened at 8 o'clock 1t became known
that these two terror-stricken prisoners
were anxious to plead guilty of murder
in the second degree. Judge Hubbard
ordered the sheriff to bring William
Stanley, who had already entered a plea
of guilty, Preacher Simmons, Amos
Jones and Jimmy Matthews into court.
Messrs. Boyd and Payne, attorneys for
the Knobbers,y offered to sign young Mat
thews' bond, and the boy was discharged,
after having been in jail nearly thirteen
months.
William Stanley was addressed as fol-
lows:
"Mr. Stanley, it requires t~wenty-one
years to become a citizen in this country,
and I think you ought to serve that
length of time in the penitentiary to
" v ~ y LA yum oChGCnCc
at twenty-one years.
Amos Jones entered a plea of guilty,
and received a sentence of twenty-five
years, which the court afterward re-
duced to twenty-one.
Parson Simmons then took the floor
in his W behalf, and made an earnest
plea for mercy, asserting his innocence
of any part in tina Edens-Green murder.
The, preacher shed tears copiously
during bis fervent address to the court,
and the Congregation" as he
repeatedly addressed the audience.
Judge Hubbard even wept under the
influence of the parsons pathetic plea.
The preachers wife and sister became so
much affected that the sheriff had to take
them out of the court room. The Judge
gave Simmons onlyltwelye years, in con-
sideration Of the fact that he was un-
armed the night of the murder.
The Knobber chief was then brought
into court to receive his sentence. He
had nothing to say except all possible
trickery had been used to convict him.
The court hen passed sentence on
Walker, fixing the 18th of May for the
execution, the same day on which his son
Bill and the two Matthews are to be
hanged.
This ends the Bald .Knobber docket
practically, as the other parties indicted
for the Edens-Green murder are out ON
bail and will never be tried.
4 ~ eLN LaLHa