Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-12-04
"Where aha he get i from2n

avssm naso 'ne pistoi IN mis- pocket?"
What did your papa doYp
hole in her head.h
hers = sno
she was in the bed on the bed.n
what did your papa do with the eul
after the s~hootine2"
HE throwed it out the back door,
What did he do then?"
"He went away
Where is he now? Point him out Il
these gentlemen" indicating the jurors.
The chal was turned around, and afteI
considerable coaxing the child pointed ts
the prisoner and said, THAT is my papa
During the examination Of the chilt
Berriere, seated about ten feet to the rear
drew out a red silk handkerchief and FIRE
quertly wiped tears from his eyes. 81,
showed great agitation and frequentl,
shifted his position in the chair. Hi
hands trembled and his facial mus
Giles twitched violently. However, thil
did not prevent the man from lean
ing elgerly forward and listening intently
to the testimony Of the little girl. In per
sonal appearance Berriere is rather pre-
possessing. His face does not bear the i'm
press OF ~viciousness or depravity, excepi
that about the eyes there is an expression
| of cunning that detracts from his other
| wise pleasant features.
Alice Scott, another child of the deat
woman by a former husband, was placed
upon the stand, but having been away al
the time OF the shooting, her evidence wal
not important, save to confirm that hel
little sister was present when the murde,
| occurred.
Edward Shortsleeve followed the child
rem, and testified as follows: Between {
and 10 O'Clock 1 was in my saloon OF
Galena street, and heard q shot. Accom-
panied by Sam Johnson (colored) I went
across to Berriere's place. / asked Der.
riere what had occurr. d. He replied that
she (his wife) had shot herself. l asked
him where the gun was; replied that he
guessed it was under her. We looked fol
the gun but could not find it. Later Ii lit
tie boy discovered the gun partially con.
cealed under the rear doorstep"
Blanche Des Jardin, the proprietress OIL
a dive at No. go Galena street, was placed
on the stand.
Il know nothing particularly about the
shooting. as l was in the house five or six
doors away at the time it occurred. Last
evening l went over to visit Mrs. Berriere.
She told me that she expected 20 be killed
as Berriere had threatened her life. She
counted her money, about 5000, and re-
quested me, in the event that any evil
should befall her to notify her sister and
brother, who reside in Chicago. She said
she was afraid to stay alone, as her hus.
band was liable to come in at any moment
and shoot her. I told her to get some one
to stay at the house, and when | went
away left her in the company OF a little
Frenchman. Mrs. Berriere had applied for
a divorce and would have soon been freed
from Berriere. Her intention was to
marry another man. Berriere, l think,
loved her, and the impending separation
is probably what impelled him to kill his
wife,"
Sam Johnson, (colored) was
standing at the corner oil
Main and Park, W. en- he saw an officer
coming up street with a prisoner in charge.
He learned the prisoner was under arrest
for shooting his wife. He rushed over to
the house to look at the corpse; could not
get 10 the ront way and g around to
the rear. While there, a couple Of boys
who had followed him, found the revolver
partially concealed under the doorstep.
He gave the guR to the officers.
Officer Lelande took the stand next.
About 2 o'clock this morning Mrs.
Berriere called upon me and asked to have
her husband, VIII , was hanging around the
house, arrested. She claimed that he had
q gun and intended to shoot her. a
Berriere acr oss the street and searched
him for weapons. / found none. l never
heard either of the parties threaten to kill
the other.
Lizzie Hall, a colored woman, also q
resident OF Galeua street, was awakened
about 10 O'Clock by Mrs. Berriers smallest
child. rushing into the room and crying
that her papa a shot M
followed the child. Entering the house she
found Mrs. Berriere iDsensible and dying.
s g got scared and vent right back home.
Fred LaChapelle, a saloonkeeper on Ga
lena street, came to the rescue OF his ieop-
ardized coantryman and Ielateda peculiar,
not to ray, gauzy story. Fred claimed
that between 10 and IL O'Clock Friday
night Mrs. Berriere visited his saloon and
asked il he had seen her husband. LaCha-
pelie replied that Berriere and himself had
only o few moments previous played a
game OF cards in his SALOON. II as in the
act OF taking q tray OF drinks to one OF the
back rooms," continued LaChapelle. Il
passed on leaving her in the bar room.
When | returned Mrs. Berrie-e was about
two feet inside the counter. L was sur
or. sed and asked her what she meant. She
remarked that she wanted a drink OF water.
l gave her the water and she passed out
the back door. For several months past
1 have Kept q revolver OF the British bull
dog pattern lying behind the counter l
recognize the gun produced here as the
one taken from behind the counter last
night" The testimony OF Lachapelle
looked like a cunningly devised scheme to
create the impression tt.at Mrs. Berrleie
had stolen the revolver with the deliberate
intention of shooting her husband. When
asked il he could positively identity the
gun, Laehapelle replied in the affirmative,
but when asked it's cahb 9 and number he
could give neither.
Berriere folio wed Lachapelle n related
his narrative OF the affair as follows:
81 live in South Butte. l was up town
last evening and called at her This wife's)
place. She was my wife. She asked me to
fix up the curtains and arrange the shelves
of the store. We were always quarreling.
She mas told different people that she
would kill me. I can prove this. She
slept alone in the cigar storelast night, n
before retiring requested me to awaken her
at 7 O'Clock. 1 did 3D.. When l knocked
at the door this morning she told me she
would get up soon. I vent around
the back way aud entered the house. !
took the little girl out OF bed n
mt her shoes ON. l then wentto my wifes
bed room and pushed the door open. As 1
opened the door I was surprised M fright
ened to see her standing inside with a gun
in her hand. 1t was pointed directly at
nv head. 1 seized her hands to save my
self from being shot. While the struggle
was in progress the gun was discharRed and
INV wife shot. She hal the gun, and the
testimony of the little girl that 1 mad IL
and did the shooting is false."
Berriere was subjected to a searching ex-
animation by Juror Carroll. who among
other questions, asked:
The shot killed your wife almost in
stantly, did it not2"
ayes: she fell to the floor"
How do you explain the fact that the
revolver was found concealed OUTSIDE IL
abe dill the shooting?"
II can't explain it. Somebody could nave
carried it out there. The little girl might
but the child says you took it OUT.
~ can't help VIII t she said. l didn't
do it." :, tbe
hons, after the shooting but you
and the child, until the otheers
arriyed. How could the pistol get INTO the
hack ward under these circ~umstancesf'
The prisoner looked puzzled, but maze