The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-01-21

cut Ia the yard Fletcher came oct. an 4.
noticing that the dead dog xas bis. made
sorne remarks concerning the motive oil
tSe man IN killing the Animal. he said he
Was g5scg 20 ind oas why the n an had
shot the dog. and stsr.ed after Raste1- A
woman ran oEs and grabbed his arm. She
asked bin not 20 so, SAYING that be might
E~s into trouble. Fletcher tod her 20
leave hirn alone and 20 home: that be
would De hack for his supper IN = few
minutes sne went back and then | said
BUY. you had better not 20 down
there's lianis 20 be trouble
He said he didn's think there would be
any troahae. | told him the MAI had 3
gun and might shoot. but be said he
guessed the fellow wouldn't shoot him.
he went On and 1 followed after him. He
walked 10 within few feet Of the bridge
which crosses the gaich and looked dorm
~ the shack where Rutten had gone. He
picked up . small stone snd tossed IL down
on the porch Of the house. Then Larsen
came out and. stepping into view. told
Billy not 70 throw any more rocks down.
70 which Bill replied that he did not want
20 bother him, but that he wanted 20 see
that ID Dutch -- - He
said 10 Larsen:
!" Tel him 10 come out like . man and
put down his gun
A8tH DsAEt G8&sc1 cut 10 hUstsu asA
asked him what he had shot the dog for.
and told him that be would have - pay
for IL. Rutten then asked how much he
wanted for the dog. and Billy said $40.
They xrangled over the money. and Billy
said that If be did not get the moaey the
next morning he would give Rutten .
d-n good licking. A voice in the shack
said
"'oh. l. that you Billyf Come down.
L thought IL the rarsair
Billy vent down by way of devious
path l thought the dog would be paid
for, and had turned 10 90 back to the
house. when heard Billy cry out:
oh, don't shootp
Il turned and saw the fash and heard
the report Of gun. l think there were
two shots. Fletcher threw his hands up,
doubled up like . iack-knife and SANK to
the ground. ] started back toward Capt
Sesmore's house and cried out that Billy
had been shot. Two more young men ran
near ana one Of them said:
Let's get gun and shoot the - -
Capt. Seymore came out and We again
started back. l saw Rutten walking along
the beach and told the captain that he vas
the man. The captain covered him with
bis revolver and made HIM give up his gun
and submit TO arrest"
The witness described how Rutten was
tied up TO the mast Of the steamer Che
halls and held until the sheriff arrived
he could not remember anything that
Rutten said after being arrested, except
that be claimed the shooting was done in
self-defense. Mr.. Lilly proved = good wit
ness. and gave his testimony In q straight
forward way. without apparent prejudice.
The most vigorous cross-examination
failed to cause him to deviats from
or contradict his statements in any
particular. Although he did no:
see Ruttsn do the shooting.
he saw and was familiar with every phase
of the tragedy up to that point. He could
not swear whether or not Rutten covered
mp Fletcher's body after the shots were
fired. When Mr.. Lilly finished his testi-
mony there was buzz of whispered con-
versation among the spectators. of all the
evidence introduced his having been the
most damaging for the accused. At this
point the state rested its case. and, after
Attorney Randolph had made statement
to the jury, in which he said the plea Of
the defense would be that the shooting
was accidental. court adjourned until the
following morning.
When court opened yesterday morning
eleven witnesses in all were put on the
stand by the defense to testify to the de-
PENDANTS previous good character. Among
the witnesses were Joseph Pitt. sheriff of
Kitsap county: Ella, ID. Pearson and
Henry Mclean, prominent farmers.
Though ii was shown that none of the
witnesses were friends of Rutten, they all
swore that his reputation for peace and
sobriety was good. Rutten was placed on
the stand At 10 80 o'clock, bnt at o'clock
this afternoon, his testimony not being
finished, court was adjourned until Mon
day morning. Though very slow and de-
libera:e. Rutten was q good witness in his
own behalf. He answered all questions
shortly. taking plenty of time. and
throughout the entire day he bore the ap-
pearsnce of being one of the most de-
jected, forlorn and unhappy of men.
His story OF the shooting of the dog was
very different from that told by Mr.. Lilly.
He said that when near Capt. Seymore's q
boy set . dog on him three different times
and the fourth time the dog attacked him
he shot and killed IL. At the Larsen
shack, he claims, Fletcher threw a stone
at him. which struck the porch of the
shack. crashing through the shakes and
hitting his hat and shoulder. Then
Fletcher came down and used abusive and
threatening language. Not wishing to
fight the steamboat man. he started out of
the house toward Fletcher in the hope of
getting past him and running home. At
the door Fletcher. Who was standing on
the porch, drew his arm back as if to
throw q stone which he held in his hand.
Rutten then lifted up his gun to q bayonet
charge hold and cooked il for the purpose
of frightening Fletcher. The hammers
had been freshly filed. and they slipped
out of his fingers. crashing down on the
shells. The result was that Fletcher was
killed. Rutten says that he knew Sheriff
Pitt was visiting his father-in-Iaw near
Chico. and that he was on his way TO give
himself up when arrested by Capt. sey-
more.
Monday morning his examination will
be concluded. Though a densely ignorant
man. be made no bad impression on the
jury.