The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1893-05-09
RECORDS Tempered WITH
An Unheard of Case in the State
Supreme Court.

The filing of ordinary motions in
the supreme court is not usually a sub
ject of public interest, but Attorney
General X. +. Walker, has filed a
motion in division No. 2 of the co Irt
To set aside former order OF submis-
sion in the case of the state against
Joseph \. Howell, of Linn county,
that is of rather sensational nature.
1t is alleged in the attorney generals
motion that the state has discovered
since the argument of the cause last
month that the bill of exceptions does
not contain a full and true transcript
of the evidence at the trial rs shown
by the afhdavits of Judge Goodman,
who tried the case, the official stenOg-
rapher, the prosecuting attorney and
half dozen witnesses; also, that the
transcript as written by the official
stenographer and delivered by her to
the attorneys for the appellant has
been 50 changed as to falsely present
the testimony given upon the trial,
and that the transcripts are false and
untrue.
\ brief statement of the case is es-
sential to Il full understanding of the
matter. On the night of january ~,
1889, Mrs. Minnie Hall, widow liv-
ing ON farm in Linn county, and
her four children were murdered and
the house set ON fire. The blaze
aroused the neighborhood and brought
number Of farmers to the scene. but
too late to subdue the flames. When
the wall partially gave way the body
of one of the children, Nettie, rolled
into the cellarway and was dragged
out and identified by relatives and
others. The other bodies were badly
disfgured. There was IA fresh snow
on the ground and tracks were found
leading away from the building. These
were followed to BrOokfeld immedi-
ately and Joseph H. Howell was ar
rested as the inhuman fiend who had
committed the crimes. He had not
yet gone to bed, and his pants and
shoes were wet, showing that he had
been walking through tho snow. He
was cousin of the murdered
woman and had been teaching school
and boarding with her. 1t is the
theory of the state that Howell had
performed an unsuccessful criminal
operation on the woman, and evidence
of this crime was found. In fact the
state has a purported confession in
which Howell gives the horrible de-
tails of the murder. In this confession
he says that when he discovered that
Mrs. Hall was likely to die, he picked
up an AK and finished her by striking
her ON the head. He then started to
leave when the little boy began crying.
He returned and picked up Ratchet,
when the little boy, seeing HIM, hid
behind some barrels. Howell reached
over the barrels and knocked the
little fellows brains out. By this
time the little girls were screaming
and he took the AK and Drained them.
Howell was indicted ON separate
counts for each of the murders, but
was tried on the Indictment charging
him with the murder of Nettie Hall.
The state selected this case because
the little girls identity could be easily
established, las it was to the entire sat 5.
fiction of Linn county jury and
Howell was promptly convicted of
murder in the first degree. An ap-
peal was taken to the supreme court |
where the judgement was reversed and |
the cause remanded for new trial ON
account of some error in the instruc-
tons. The defendant then obtained |
A change of venue to Grundy county, !
where, after one mistrial, Howell was
again convicted of murder in the first
legree. The case was again appealed
10 the supreme court, where, as indi-
;ated at the beginning of this article,
t was argued last month. |
Now it seems from the affidavits re-
erred to that transcript has been mu-
Hated, pages taken out and false
natter supplied until the identity of
he little girl is not established. The !
,ticial stenographer, Miss Josephine
Vandivert makes affidavits that
he preserved her notes containing the
violence taken at the trial and that
he made the transcript therefrom,
nd In the particulars alluded to it
as been changed by taking out sheets i
therein testimony tending to identify
he little girl should be and pages in
erted that were made on different