Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1890-12-18
HE MUST HANG!
So Says the Jury in the Orrick
Murder Case.
END OF AN EXCITING TRIAL.
Friday, February 27th, Named
as the Day of Execution.

| 20 AtiS 10y VI |NSS ~ SiO'i'
The jury in the case of the State OF Mis-
souri, vs.. JnO. Henry Orrick Tuesday morn
ing returned verdict of guilty of muder in
the first degree against the defendant The
| announcement was somewhat of surprise,
but the result is generally approved as q
triumph of law and justice over cool, de-
Iiberate and cowardly murder.
AS announced in last weeks REGISTER
the forty men competent to serve Is jurors
were secured by Monday evening and the
attorneys had the following forty eight hours
in which 10 make their challenges. They
| appeared in court promptly Thursday morn
| ing, and the names of the twelve men who
| had been chosen to try the case were an
nounced as follows: B. +. Russell, Wyatt
| King. ii. B. Jones, Chas. Newman, AL
WOODEN, John Stafford, Jas. Presnell, VIM.
Henson, NJ. B. Tetwiler, VIM. Maybee, Giles
G.. Henderson and VIM. McClurg. The jury
were sworn and the trial Immediately be-
gan.
| The indictment was read charging Jno.
Henry Orrick with the murder of one Hiram
Ants alias Jno. Martin at Gad's Hill, Wayne
county, Mo-, on the night of January 18th,
1888. In support of this charge, Jno. H.
Raney, who was assisting Prosecuting At
| torney Sheets in the prosecution, stated that
| the facts as they were expected to be deVel-
| oped by the testimony would be as follows:
| That on the night in question the defendant
| Orr;ck went to the house of the deceased
Ants for the ostensible purpose of sitting
up with some member of the family who
was sick. That on reaching the house Or
rick was informed that the patient was i'm
| proving and his services would not be need
ed Orrick remained for some time, APP
peared nervous and Ill at ease, frequently
telling Ants that he had better not leave his
home that night or he would regret it. The
family were living in the second story of
little cottage and as Orrick took his depart
ure he asked Ants to step down stairs with
him. The deceased's wife protested against
his going, but he remarked that he was not
afraid of OrrIck and went down stairs and
out into the yard. 1t was 4 bright moon
light night and the ground, covered with
sleet, reflected the rays and made the night
almost as light as day. Oriick and Ants
had scarcely stepped off the porch when the
report of a gun was be ard and shortly after
wards the family up stairs heard Orrick
calling for them to come down stairs, that
some one had shot Ants. Mrs. Ants rush.
| ed down stairs, saw her husband PROSTATE
on the sieet with the blood flowing from
gaping wound in his breast, and as she
raised his head in her arms be.tried to speak,
but it was in VAIN, and the words only died
In grOans as they left his lips. She turned
to Orrick and asked him, who did this"
He replied, ~ do not know; | saw the flash
of the gun, but couldn't tell who fired it,"
Ants was then carried into the house where
in few moments he breathed his last.
The corOner'> jury was summoned in due
time and the verdict at the inquest was in
accordance with these facts. These were
the facts that would be proved by direct
testimony. The further evidence and cir
cumstances on which the State based lis de-
mand for Orrick's conviction were: About
two weeks previous to this event sold man
Antis," father of the deceased. had been
SHOT in the arm from ambush and Ants, Jr.,
had been heard to say that he knew the
crack of the pistol and could indemnity the
tracks Of the man who did the shooting;
that John Henry Orrick, hearing of this re-
mark of Ants, had sent one Dan. Chance to
him to ask what he had to say in reply to
the shooting of "oid man Ants" Ants,
Jr.'s, reply was that he knew who fired the
shot and that Henry Orrick had better never
darken his doors again. That when this
message was impaired to Orrick he replied
that he would give Hiram Ants dose of
the same medicine that he administered to
the sold man." that he (Orrick) had had
the drop on Ants Il few days previous near
a black>mi shop in the woods, and he
would have dropped him in his tracks if it
hadn't been for a little boy that was with
him aud he didn't want to Kill the boy. That
the night was light and the view unob>truct-
ed and Orrick had every opportunity for
seeing and knowing who fired the fatal shot.
Two weeks afterward Sheriff Daniels
appeared at Gads Hill with warrant for
Orrick's arrest. Orrick was pointed out to
HIM over on the hill whele he was chopping
wood. The sheriff walked up to OrrIck and.
presenting pistol, told him to consider
himself under arrest. Orrick quietly sub
mitted but told the sheriff he had the wrong
man, that his name was Mcmillan. on this
statement the sheriff withdrew his pistol
and asked his informant if he could direct
him to where Orrick was. Orrick replied
in the affirmative and asked the sheriff to
wait a moment until he got his dinner bucket
and informed the boss. Orrick disappeared
and after four or five days hiding in the
bushes. took bis departure, together with
the wife of old man Ants, and no more was
heard from him until he was captured in
South st. Louis on the l4th OF June, 1883.
Sheriff Daniels was the first witness in
troduced and testified as to the facts of ths
attempted arrest and Orrick's escape.
Other witnesses were introduced in sue
cession and the facts proved were, on the
whole, much the same stated by Mr..
Rqney. An important witness for the State.
tie wife Of the deceased Ants, failed to put
in her appearance and special deputy
sheriff was dispatched 10 her home in Craw-
ford county with an attachments, Friday
N orning. Awaiting her arrival, but littls
was done from Friday noon until Monday.
About ten O'Clock that day, however, the