Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-05-15


that after careful review of the evi-
deuce, Mr.. wright had advised accept
Ing the plea Of msnslsughter; and thai
after looking the matter over carefully,
and considering sli the circumstance,
acting under Mr.. wright's advice, though
With grea, hesltAncy he had DECIDED To
accept the plea.
Mr.. wright gave his views OF the mat
ter briefly.
Mr.. swasey addressed the court brief
IL, saying that he didn't think the con-
ce..lon ~as all on one side; that In his
Own mind the shooting MAS indetermi-
nate between q lo~ degrre ut man
slaughter and Ju.tihsble homicide.
The court said that he shoald allow
the acceptance of the plea, and Ryerson
Vas brought In and srraign~i on the In
dlctment charging him With the murder
OF Joseph A. stevens. Asked the usual
question as tn whether he was guilty or
not guilty, he replied, "Nct guilty of
murder; guilty 90 msnslsush,er. Sew
eral witnesses we're then order~i sun
monssi To be- In court Thursday morning.
that the curt might hear the evidence
to determine the length of sentence.
Thursday morning the hearing OF
IuE EVIDENCE
was begun, some flfteeu or twenty Wit
ne-ses altogether being In attendance.
sIp>Nr A. srrvE>s
OF Norway, surveyor, presented a
pan % the premises In Milton Pisn,s-
ton ~hsr, the shooting cccurrcd. show
ing the locatlon % the house upon the
Rad and q plan Of the ilrst nocr Of the
house.
ADELAIDE A. RirRso>,
wife ~ George ". Iyerson, testified.
Was al home on the slst % Msrch. Joe
stevens came to our house. lie beckon-
Ell INV husband cut of the house; asked
him II he didn't want something Ia
drink. Nv husband asked Tor s~eeten-
ing. Joe aid he had the stun all fixed.
Joe STAYED to dinner. and after dinner
he and my husband wen; up Ia sumner
>essions's. when they came hack Joe
Wa. driving. joe came In aud aid he
should liz. To Law down. lie went Into
the front room aud laid down. My hus-
hand came In aud sali Joe had abused him
aud aid, "Ihe son 20 a bitch has Got Ia
leave nv house" Then Zoe came out
and he and nv husband ellncbed. Then
they went into the pantry and had an
other cllnch, and heard = report OF
something. Then they cane out, and
Joe had hold 30 the gun. lie threw J,
down on the noor, and thew had snotber
chnch. They were coming right over
on to me, and said. "Jcs, your clothes
are Afire." lie went out and laid down
In the yard, sDd I csrricd out some
water and put out the hv. Then Jcs
aid he VAS shot, aud We unfssiened bis
clothe. and found that he Ma. shot.
Questioning showed that the meu
seemed Ia be all good insured when
they came In, though they had evident
IN had some trouble.
Mrs. Rye.son denied that she told
Mrs. Hannibal Andrews that her hus-
baud approached stevens With = ham
mer, and that witness aid To him, "lou
cowsrily fool, are you going To strike
that boy With q hammer
Cross-sx,mlned: I remember Stevens
saving something about psintin. Milton
red. The men we're drunk sben they
started for >ss.ions'.. whea they Got
bacs felt brui.e on INV husbands head
which he sai Joe had made. The cir
cumstances of the ARRAY we're reviewed
al some length.
Witness aid that the men hal ham
msr In use In the forenoon, but that she
saw no hammer after they came back
FROM ~s-sious's.
The witness wss asked 10 describe the
brick oven Nhlch projected into the
pantry.
Witness t.siifl.Si that the gun had
been loaded = hong iime. and that sever
NJ Intellectual attempts had bccn made to
fire Il.
VIRGIL u. CoLE,
/. near neighhof, te.iihei that be- went
Ia Mr.. Eyerson's Immediately after the
shooting. Went With Mr.. Harlow. ssw
steven. king In the yard. lie said
George had shot him without any provo
cation. We carried stevens Into the
house. Ryer.on said b. had right Ia
defend hi. own house. Heard Hyers"n
.av later that he took down the gun Ia
Iii. bid not think stevens WAS intoxi-
Gated; thought Ryerson Was somewhat
into xicatcd.
Cro-.-examlned: Heard stevens, after
he Was PLACED upon the bad, say, IF !
die, want YOU to punish Ryerson; III
live, III do IL my.slf."
Thought Ryerson was Intoxicated
enough so be- made some Mild talk, be
generally talked somes hit Wildly when
Intoxicated.
Gu redirect examination witness aid
that he regarded stevens a. PesceSole
man. Had heard Of his getting into a
row at a dance, q short time before.
OTis IIowE.
postmaster AZ l,umford, testified: Heard
% the shooting ARRAY BY Ryersons
daughter coming after the doctor. She
sald that Joe came there drunk. and
wouldn't leave the house, and her father
shoi him. Went down there With the
doctor. Ry,r.on Vas there. should
.ay he MAS somewhat Intoxicated and
excited. lie Was talking about the
shooting. said that he triei Ia get
stevens out Of the house, but Stevens
wouldn't 20. said then he got his gun
aud shot stevens. Heard him repeat his
story several times. lie wanted Ia have
hi story reduced % writing, but I re-
fused Ia do II. lie said he shot To Kill,
aud wished II had gone through his
heart. Heard Ryerson's wife tell him
he had shot stevens without any just
cause. Later he described the shooting
to me. lie said the gun had been load
I'll some time, and he had tried Ia hre u
several times. lie had no idea IL would
20 on when he pointed u az Stevens, and
MAS sorry Il had happened.
Cross-exsmlned: Was on good terms
with Ryersoa. Have not been promlpen,
In looking this case up.
1 asked Ryerson 10 tell me about tie
because his wife had referred
10 his trying To shoot some other people,
aud I never had heard about 10, aud
wanted To md out about IL.
7. hRApLr, STEVENS,
brother Of Joseph A. Stevens, testified;
Went down Ia Ryerson's as soon AZ I
heard Of the shooting. Joe ssid II he
died he wanted I should lick George.
said GEORGE had shot him without any
Described the events Of
The shooting. said George came at him
With hammer, couldn't drive him With
10, then said he had something that
would start him, and got the gun AMI
shot him.
Witness described finding. Ryersou In
the hAymo~. I said % HIN. "WhAt In
hell are yoa In there fory" lie made no
reply. lie got down the ladder without
any apparent difficulty.
heard George say 10 the evening,
hat he shot Joe, and Was damned glad
Of 10.