St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-04

consideration to the story of the de-
PENDANT on the stand.
Mr.. Erwin closed his address with an
appeal to the jury to follow closely the
story of the defendant. If he should
lie they would be able to detect it, for
while one man might be deceived, yet
with twelve men 10 watch a witness, it
would be impossible for him to lie with
out being detec ted.
Koran on the and.
Christ Koran, the defendant, ap.
to the witness stand. He spoke in
broken German when testifying, and
especially when questioned about the
relations between his wife and Weisser.
He hesitated and seemed reticent in
speaking of her alleged unfaithfuiuess.
He was born in Austria fifty years ago.
He is a carriagemaker. He came to
the United States i'll 1878 and was
married to Sarapfina Wolf at Still
water in 1877. They lived at
New Richmond, Wis. for time, and
subsequently eleven or twelve years at
Star Prairie. They came to st. Paul
three years ago. They have two chill
dren living and one dead. A house was
rented for while, and then they
bought lot and built at the present
place of residence on Sherburne ave-
nue.. He worked at various places,
earning 81 or $3.50 day, and gave his
earnings to his wife.
County Attorney O'Brien objected to
the defense showing that the wife and
WeiSSer were intimate, claiming that
Mr.. Erwin set up three lines of defense
that were inconsistent, namely. inSan-
ity, Self-defense and accidental shoot
ing.
MIR. Erwin asserted his intention of
making a defense on all of those the
cries.
The court ruled that the field was
open for all defenses.
The defendant, proceeding with his
testimony. stated that Mrs. Koran con-
suited with Weisser about plans for
building the house. He heard that
Weisser was a widower, but did not
know that he had children, until Mrs.
Koran took his two little girls home to
take care of them in the rented house.
WeiSSer did not come to live with them
until they moved into their new house
i'll August. 1890. Mrs. Koran made the
bargain with him, and he began to
board with them about a week after
moving into their own house. The de-
PENDANT worked at various places in st.
Paul and in Minneapolis as a wagon
maker, and gave his earnings to his
wife until June, 1891, after which time
he kept his money, as he had been
driven from home 10y the conduct of
his wife. The trouble about the
Intimacy With Weisser
was more pronounced from about Janu-
airy, 1891. Weisser took Mrs. Koran to a
party. He told his wife that such con-
duct was not respectable and would dc
an injury to their children and destroy
their home. She informed him that it
was none of his business, and after
wards went with Weisser to another
social. Weisser and his wife also spent
their evenings together in the dining
room and would sit up until IL or l
O'Clock at night. To such conduct the
defendant objected, but his wife as
serted that lie had no business to inter
Tere. WeiSser did not pay for his board.
There were number of other boarders
at the house. The income from board
erS and the wages of Koran amounted to
$40 or Sl75 a month Weisser was a
drinking man and generally came to the
house drunk. When urged not to be so
Intimate with WeiSSer, Mrs. Koran
told her husband she did not
care what people said, and did
not care about her husband.
He asked his wife for money to nay
taxes. She said she had none, and re-
fused to tell what she had done with the
money she received, as it was none of
her husbands business. She also re-
fused to ask Weisser for money, and
told her husband to borrow money from
his brother to pay taxes. At that time
WeisSer owed $500 or 800 for board
She told the defendant if he did not like
the way matters were going on in the
house to get out of it, and that she
would not live with him any longer as a
wife. When asked whose wife she was
she replied that the defendant ought to
know by this time. This talk was last
May. The defendant remained at the
house for about two weeks longer to try
and straighten out affairs with his wife,
but she refused to have anything more
to do with him, and for him to get out.
He went to two lawyers to have Weisser
put out of the house, but they advised
him that nothing could be done
In law except to put him
out by main force. He was sick two
weeks or account of trouble, and went
to stay with his brother part of the time,
and slept at home part of the time. Sew
eral persons told him that his wife was
too intimate with Weisser. Among
these were August Erickson, who board
cd with them; Frank Brown, her cousin,
and August Rainbow. He did not at
first believe these stories. On June 20
he went to the house about midnight,
and saw his wife and WeIsser through
the window sitting in the dining room.
He went into the cellar and sat on the
steps. While there he heard them
talking about what people said respect
ing them. Mrs. Koran said she did not
care what other people said, and as for
her aunt, Mrs. Brown, she could
Hush Her Up.
In about half hour WeisSer asked
Mrs. Koran to go to bed. They then
went into her room. Koran took off his
shoes and made his way to the room,
and found them in bed together. When
Weisser jumped up he hit him with a
chair. The children were in the next
room, and hearing the noise came in
and asked him not to hit WeisSer again.
Weisser left the house with the threat
that he would fix the defendant. Koran
then went TO the ROHdO police station to
have WeiSSer arrested. but the officer in
charge refused to act without 4 warrant.
When working on the Como road in
April he was seized with cramps and
went home at night sick. He wanted
his wife to go for his brother, but she
refused. One of the children finally
III