Wichita eagle., 1889-03-22
UXORICIDE
is THE CHARGE WHICH W. a. MIL
LER MUST NOW ANSWER
The Day That Wilson is Found Guilty Of
the Murder Of Bertha Miller, Her
Husband is Arrested for the
Same Crime-New Com
plications in State
VS.. Wilson.


VS.. Wilson was opened in court and the
defendant was foundto have been returned
guilty of murder in the first degree as
charged in the Indictment. The case had
been given to the jury at $50 the evening
before; from the first a majority were
in favor Of returning the defendant guilty
and the other members were gained to
their belief one by one. The verdict was
sealed and when opened and read the de-
PENDANT showed the first evidence of agita-
| ton and unusal interest manifested by
| him during the severe ordeal of the trial
A motion was made Immediately for new
trial by the attorneys for the defense upon
the grounds principally of the verdict not
being in accordance with the evidence.
The verdict caused considerable sur
prise and comment. Many persons who
| had read the case and heard the evidence
produced were of the opinion that the de-
PENDANT would be cleared and to them the
! result of the jury deliberation was as great
a surprise as to the defendant himself and
to his attorneys, who were sure OF an &C
| quittal.
| Last evening, however there was a de-
velopment in the case that will have a
| tendency to at least compllcate
| it, and perhaps put an entirely new phase
upon it. This circumstance was the arrest
! of w. A. Miller, the husband OF the muir
dered woman, for the very crime which
| Wilson had in the forenoon been returned
| guilty by the jury.
1t will be remembered that the evidence
was throughout circumstantial, and many
persons doubted from the first the advisa-
bility of even holding Wilson for the MUIR
der. Still lis evidence at the coroner's
| inquest was somewhat conflicting
and inconsistent, one of his
worst errors being his state
ment that he did not know Miller,
when 1t was clearly shown that that he
was quite we'll acquainted with him. The
superstition upon which this circumstan-
cial evidence WAS based was the finding of
a letter addressed to Paige near the place
| of the murder: the undoubted forging Of
the postmarks "Kingman" and witch
| ita" which the envelope bore, and the sus-
picious behavior and unguarded, to say the
least, remarks of Wilson.
1t was Under Sheriff Brown that made
the arrest of Miller, and ii was
| he, too, that made the arrest of
Miller He had spent much time
upon the case and had great difficulty in
unraveling the stories of the multitude of
poor detectives at work upon the case; but
yesterday, as soon as he returned from
! Goddard. where he had been on business,
and as soon as he heard the verdict, he ar
rested Miller without warrant aAd al
most unknown to any one else.
81 am fully aware" he said, "that it
would be best for me TO keep my mouth
| SHUT in this matter, for arrested Wilson
| before the coroner's inquest and was really
| entitled to the reward now since he
| has been convicted. But i am OF the
| opinion that Wilson Is not guilty and it Is
| fearful thing to have to serve out life
sentence in the penitentiary. There is no
doubt but that Wilson has been lied
about. l have been at work upon the case
for some time and now seeing the serious
turn it is taking am determined to ferret
it out and get at the truth. The evidence
1 have succeeded in securing against
Miller is as strong if not stronger
than that against Wilson and l
think will convict him. OF course
/ can not give away all of my evidence
now, it will come out soon enough. But
this can say. know exactly where the
ropes with which Bertha Miller was
strangled came from; yes. and / will, too,
show who wrote that letter"
''Will this new evidence clear Wilson,
"Well, l will not answer that; there are
several persons implicated in the murder
and they will be found out"
Miller was at the time of the crime en-
ployed on the Eichholtz motor line
and slept of nights in his cab.
He and his wife were not at the time on
friendly terms although it was stated that
they were about to live together again as
man and wife He was employed when
arrested at the engine house of the motor
line over in Riverside. Being quick
tempered eXcitable man. he became very
indignant when arrested and disclaimed
not only any connection with the crime
but questioned the right OF the officer to
arrest him.
His conduct has for some time been sus-
picious, or at least so considered by those
who have been watching him.
Some who have been working upon the
case are inclined to the belief that Wilson
was not alone in the crime and have been
expecting him to give something away"
and this something" they thought,
would implicate "Old Andy" as Miller
is familiarly called.
In view of the present status of the case
Miler's evidence before the coroners jury
may not prove uninteresting. On the oc-
casion he said: II am an engineer on
Davidson's line. ] board at Mr.. Davis
and sleep in the motor barn. Deceased
was my wife. l did not live with her and
have not since June 1st 1887. There WAS
no application for a divorce, we had just
separated on account of family trouble
gave her her home property and gave her
money; visited her frequently three or
four times week; saw her on Monday,
Tuesday and Wednesday. Her
health was good and she seemed |
in good spirits / had no trouble |
with my wife in last year, our relations |
have been friendly. There was no one liv- !
ing with her; nearest neighbor was one |
block away to the northeast. l don't |
know and never saw or heard Of Page. !
don't know ii my wife ever saw or knew |
him. was at the Almo addition last |
night, ran out there at : o'clock and slept |
in the motor. The deceased did not keep |
money about the house; never more than !
$50 or 10. gave her s., 035 10 put in prop |
erty on Fifth street. She had about $500 |
in bank.
What will be the outcome OF the case re-
mains TO be seen. A motion is now PEND |
ing for new trial, and to the causes there |
set forth will be added, no doubt, that of |
newly discovered evidence. Whatever may
be.said. the case is nowgrowing exceeding /
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