The morning call., 1891-05-18
THE AcQUITrAL OF AUGUST OLSEN.


The most sensational criminal case ever
tried in the San joaquin Valley was brought
to a close on Saturday, after trial lasting
fOrty-four days, by the acQuittal Of the de-
PENDANT The criminal calendar and the
chronicle of fiction contain lev cases which
are as exciting.
Something over q year ago John Ivett
wealthy rancher Of 81 years Of age, married
a girl Of II. nam ed Sophie Olsen, whose
family were his neighbors. There was no
issue of the marriage, but young Mrs. Ivett
fell into bad health and was compelled to
came TO San Francisco to be treated by med
ical specialists. While she was here, on
October 10th, her husband was murdered on
his own doorstep. The murder took place
in the evening; lamp had been lit, and by
its light Ivett had been writing a letter to
his young wife, when he was called out of
the room by his murderer. From the fact
that when his body was found the keys of
the wine-cellar were firmly clutched in his
hand.it was inferred that he was on his way
to get wine when he was struck down.
Death had been caused by repeated blows
on the head, inflicted with blunt instru-
ment; the skull was shattered and the brain
exposed. In the pocket of the dead man
able property were undisturbed, from
which it was inferred that the object of the
assassin was not plumber. Near the porch
of the house stands a fence; the ground
near the fence bore hoof-marks, such as a
horse would have made if tethered to it; the
tracks were traced for some distance, and
it was noticed that the horse which had
made them wa unshOd.
Iaf hn do
and her friends began to search for the
murderer. They were unable to find any
one who could have had a motive for such a
crime, or whose conduct on the 10th Of Oc-
tober naturally connected him with it. De-
tectives believed that they were more sue
cessful. The widow had a br0ther-August
Olsen-around whom they wove a net of
suspicion. His antecedents were not such
as rendered it impossible that he could be
guilty Of crime. A motive was supplied by
the fact that old John Ivett had made no
settlement on his wife; if she died first,
without leaving issue, the estate reverted
to Ivett and his kin, whereas if
he died first the widow would be
entitled TO her share. 1t was admitted by
Olsen that he had been at the Ivett
ranch on October 10Th. He had ridden a
marks on the Ivett place. He had been
seen to carry a miners hammer. with which
the wounds On IYett's head might have been
inflicted; the hammer could not be found;
Olsen said he had lost it. These various
circumstances constituted a body of cir
cumstantial evidence, which impelled the
District Attorney to arrest Olsen on
charge Of murder. Special counsel were re-
%ofs cd Iryf hn Int rzcfc n liufr ri
Attorney, and it looked, few weeks ago,
pretty black for Olsen.
Nevertheless he has now been acquitted,
mainly on the strength of the alibi which
his witnesses proved. The evidence must
have been pretty strong, for unanimous
verdict of acQuittal was found by the jury
on the fifth ballot. On the first ballot eight
jurors voted for acQuittal; on the other bal
lots, except the last, ten jurors were Of the
sa me opinion. The verdict seems to have
been received with general satisfaction at
MERGED. In that community public senti-
ment was clearly in favor of Olsen, and
against the Iyetts. The employment of
special counsel to assist the prosecution in a
criminal case is apt to be dangerous ex-
pertinent
And now the question arises: II Olsen
uiu not Xii Isett, WHO ulu OOueDoUt must
have committed that horrible murder, ard
that somebody must have had a motive;
who could it have been? TO whom was it
of sufi lent Importance to wipe that old
man off the face of the earth that he was
willing to run the risk of the gallows to ac-
complsh that object? The usual incentive
to crime-robbery-ws wanting; the as
sassin did not even take the trouble to
empty his victims pocke 1t may have
been re venge; the capture of the young
Swedish girl by this Sexagenarian may have
filed some one of her old suitors with fury;
but the District Attorney. who followed up
this trail with care seems to have found
nothing in it, The case is mystery in
whichever direction it is viewed. 1t must
now go down to history in the long list Of
undiscovered crimes.