Omaha daily bee., 1889-10-13
TRIED TO PACK The JURY.
A Bold Plot Discovered in the Cro-
min Case.
TWO sAlLlFFs UNDER ARREST.
LonRnecker's Representative Says the
Country Will BE Astounded When
IL Learns of the Prominent
Men in the Conspiracy.
A Special Or ana Jury Summoned.

public was outlined by States Attorney
Longenecker's right-hand man, Mills, this
afternoon.
The conspiracy not only includes county
officials, but outsiders of high standing, and
several arrests have already been made, but
more will follow before sunset this evening.
Not content with the bribery of men, an
attempt has been made to drag even inno-
cent women into the plot, and thus gain the
ends which the friends of the defense have
been working for for the last five months.
Estates Attorney Longenecker desires me
to say" said Mills, who was commissioned
by the states attorney to talk to the rep,rt-
eIs, that this plot has not been dis
closed before because IL would have
defeated justice had the information
we possessed been made public. We cannot
now give any names or details, but the out
line of this conspiracy can now be given to
the public.n
ut will be remembered" continued the
attorney, "that on last Wednesday afternoon
an honest young man who is employed as
foreman in q large establishment in this city
was examined and excused for cause.n
1t is understood though not stated by
Attorney Mills, that the name of the venire-
man attempted to be bribed is George
Stschappat He is foreman for E. V. Page.&
Co., oil merchants of this CITY,
''On Thursday afternoon" said Mills, "a
very prominent citizen Of Chicago entered
the court room and very privately communi-
Gated to counsel for the state that his
foreman, tho venireman in question, before
being called to the jury box had been ap
preached by bailiff CT the court with
an offer of $1,000 to vote for
the acquttal of tho defendants. He says,
'this ls not cock and bull story, and 1
bring it before you IN the interest of public
JUSTICE He then went away and the next
morning one of the counsel for the state
went down TO the factory of the man whose
foreman had been offered q brib,, and the
moment he saw the foreman he recognized
him as the man whose honesty and inde-
pendence had impressed itself upon the
counsel for the state while he was sitting in
the jury box. The man made a full state
ment and was requested by the counsel for
the state to come to the states attorneys
office and repeat his statement in full. The
man, with tears in his eyes, said: 1T in
wolves friend, but if it involved myself l
would uphold law and order.' The gist of
his statement to the counsel, which he sub
seuuently gave to the stately attorney, is as
follows:
In obedience to summons he came to the
court house Tuesday afternoon and sat in
the ante. room, but was not called. He came
again Wednesday morning and stayed in
the ante room again, and about 80 o'clock
a man came from the court room into the
ante-room who was an old friend of the
venireman. The fact also appears that the
wives of the two men were friends before
they were married. The man who came to the
court room to the venirenan suggested
that they go out and have cigar. While
there the man from the court room said to
the veplreman:
"Do you want to make some monevl"
The venireman innocently answered.:
"Certainly, 1 do"
'.Well, you get on the jury and stick
for acqulttal and you will have $1,000. The
contract and arrangements can be carried
out with your wife. 1t can be arranged that
she shall wear a certain colored dress If the
money is to be paid to her on certain day.
If The money is not TO be paid to her on that
day she Is to wear a different dress and the
contract is to be off,"
The yenireman turned reproachfully to his
friend and sald:
clam not that kind Of man. whereupon
the bailiff replied:
81 am working for the court" He then
pointed to buggy standing outside and re-
marked: "That is my horse and buggy"
At the noon adjournment the venireman
went back to his place of business and sub
seqnently returned to the court house at 2
o'clock, when he was excused for cause. He
left the court house, intending TO return to
his place of business, and on leaving
the court house met on the steps leading to
the sidewalk the man who had attempted to
bribe him. TIE man turned to him and said :
"Where were you this noontmel looked
everywhere for you. They said, we will
make it 5000, damn him, to make him
do it.'n
II was too late, however, for the venire-
man had been excused for cause, but he at
once returned TO his place of business,
| having reproached the man for putting such
| q low estimate upon him, and reported to his
| employer, the prominent citizen, what had
| taken place, who the following day reported
| it to the prosecution. Pursuant to appoint.
| ment the venireman attended the state q
| attorneys office, and having made q full
| statement of everything that took place was
| requested to step into an ante-room and the
| balliff was summoned. He proved to be one
| OF the baiIffs OF the criminal court, who,
| during the trial or attempt to procure a jury,
| has been IN charge Of one OF the five prs.
| oners, Coughlin. The bailiff was questioned
| closely by the states attorney and his asso-
ciates, but professed profound ignorance
| until the venIreman was called from the
| ante-room. The venireman was requested
| to repeat the statement he had
made, which he du, whereupon the bailin
made complete confession, in which he
| implicated several prominent persons, also
another bailif. The attorneys for the
prosecution, together with Chief Hubbard
and Others AZ once went to work on the case
and have disclosed one of the most deliberate
attempts to corrupt q jury and to defeat the
law Of Illinois which has yet come to public
| attention.
We have had confessions here this very
day." said Mills at subsequent interview
late this afternoon. "These confessions are
from six TO ten In number. They are abso-
Lutte, giving US the whole miserable con
spiracy. They reveal a most damnabl'
organization against the law Of the land, |
conspiracy against the Jurisprudence OF thi
country that will startle the continent wheI
1t is thoroughly known a conspiracy Of rami
fications, OF audacity, conspiracy involving
men whose names will Do o surprise 10 tn
- ~.