Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-03-22
ARE THEY GUILTY?

The law presuTnes a man innocent
until he is proven guilty. In this case
one man pleads guilty and duplicates
two others as principals. If his con-
fession is true land we have every
reason to believe that it is true) then
Mr.. Emery is guilty of doing the shoot
ing and w. NJ. Lord was the principal
spirit in the crime. The murder was a
cold blooded one and the work that of
the worst kind of towards. Three full
grown men in the darkness of the night
shooting neighbor down in his own
house like dog, without warming. The
examination which was held in the
Office of T. J. Cooper Centralia, Friday
and Saturday March 10Th and 18th
brought out the following facts:
David Jacobs said that on the I'd day
of June last he was working in his field
and that during the afternoon some one
fired two shots at him from the road.
About twenty minutes after the shots
were fired VIM. Lord and Chas. H.
Emery drove past in buggy going in
the direction of Grand Rapids. They
came back about half or three quarters
of an hour before sunset and stopped
at his place. They had bottle of
whiskey, of the contents of which all
partook. Lord asked him if he was
ready to 60 to the killing, to which he
(Jacobs) replied that something must
be done as he had been shot at twice
that afternoon. He then told them to
drive on and he would overtake them
on horseback, He is q widower and
says he told his boy to get supper and
that he then mounted his horse and
followed Lord and Emery, overtabing
them near the forks of the road. That
they then tied their horses in the
woods and approached nearer Houston's
house and waited until it became a
little darker. He says Emery offered
him the gun and asked him if he would
do the killing, or should he Emery do
it? There was tree about sixteen feet
from the house, from which Houston
could be seen sitting in his house, close
to the window, playing on an accordian;
that Emery got behind the tree, stopped
down, rested his gun against the side of
the tree, and fired. He says Lord stood
about one rod behind Emery and that
he stood about a half a rod behind
Lord. All then ran away, and he got
on his horse and went home as quickly
as possible,
On the evening of June 2, 1898, Peter
Houston, a young German farmer re-
siding in the town Of Saratoga, Wood
county, was shot and instantly killed.
He was sitting in his house and was
engaged in playing on an accordion
when the shot was fired through the
window from the outside.
VIM. Lord, David Jacobs, Chas. II.
Emery and Peter Houston were all
residents of the above named town.
Houston married daughter Of Jacobs
and their homes were about three miles
apart. After the murder suspicion fell
upon Emery and he was arrested and
confined in the Wood county jail.
Jacobs went to Vernon county where he
was arrested about two weeks ago. He
was brought to the jail in Stevens Point
on the Sd inst, and on Monday Of the
past week Sheriff Wheelock succeeded
in getting from him what purports to be
a full confession and all the particulars
of the murder. After Jacobs had ex-
pressed his willingness to make a clean
breast of the affair District Attorney
Goggins of Wood county was sent for
and now has the sworn confession Of
Jacobs i'll his possession. When Jacobs
was first arrested he was charged with
rape, but on Wednesday morning last,
after the confession was made, he was
taken to Marshfeld. Here the charge
was changed to murder and the next
train took him to Waupaca. There he
went before Judge Webb, plead guilty,
received life sentence and o'clock
that evening found him back in jail, at
Stevens Point.
Geo. L. Williams, appeared in the
defense Of W. NJ. Lord, and B. r.
Goggins as district attorney for the
The testimony Of Mrs.
Emma Houston, wife of the deceased,
David Jacobs and DR.. A. L. Ridgman
was taken after which the examination
was adjourned until Saturday March "a
The sheriff took David Jacobs to
Waupun the first of the week and he
has already commence to serve out his
life sentence.