Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1895-04-04
VILLERS AND KEECAN.
Taken to State Penltentiary to
Serve Out Their Sem
tenCeS. .
ViIlers' Family Visit Him in
the Jail-keegan's Light
Sentence.
From Thursdays Daily.


Sheriff Ii. M. Jones and Deputy L. A.
Bennett, brought NJ. j. Vlllers and Ihos.
keegan from LaMoure last evening and
this morning took the prisoners to Bis
marck and the penltentiary, where Viii
lers will serve sentence of w years and
Keegan years. The prisoners were
placed in the county jail during the
interval between Trains and were seen
last night by an Alert reporter.
Joe Vlllers did not look as hearty and
ruggeda when he left this county to
stand trial ut LaMOure several months
ago. The confinement, the continuous
mental strain and his disease, have pulled
him down considerably and he looked
thin in the face. He SAID that he did not
sleep we'll at nights on account OF his
sickness and during the past three weeks
while the trial was in progress. got very
little rest. DIR. Boyd of LaMoure, he
sald, was good physician and cared for
him we'll. he was somewhat anxious az
to the medical treatment he would re-
oeive at Bismarck and expressed his
belief that it he did not receive good
treatment would not live long-and
would not serve out his sentence. He
thought the sentence was pretty heavy
and seemed affected when he considered
the number of years that he would have
to remain IN confinement. He consid-
cred his trial fair one and compli-
mented Attorney BALDWIN for the fight
he put up against the state. "But then"
he said, everyone who came to town
seemed to be against me-" He would
have liked to have secured change OF
venue and had the trial occur in another
county. He became quite talkatlve and
complacently began to figure up the
number of Jurymen that had been called
and the witnesses put on the stand testi
flying for and aRainst him, entirely
oblivious of the heavy expense which his
case has cost LaMOure county. When
his memory seemed at fault he would
refer to Keegan for corroboration or cor
Iection.
His sons accompanied him from La
Moure az far as Montpelier, leaving the
train there TO 90 to the farm to bring up
Mrs. Villers and the two daughters,
Agnes, years old, and Ella, II years OF
age. Villers was quite anxious to see
them and requested. Jailor Potter that
he be called immediately upon their
arrival. It was after 10 o'clock when
they reached the Jail and an hour OF
more was spent together. Mrs. Vlllers
was more collected than during former
visit to her husband and the meeting
passed without any unusual incident
occurring.
Thos. Keegan, who disembowelled bis
companion With a knife while in a
drunken passion, is u bright, clean look
ing young man, % years old. He has
been railroader all his lie and said he
had worked on almost every northwest
ern line except the Northern Pacific. He
is unmarried and came from Iowa. He
was somewhat nervous and seemed to
feel the disgrace OF his position. He
looked forward to his term OF imprison-
ment with considerable anxiety, but
hoped by good behavior to shorter it
materially. His friends in Iowa, he be-
lieved, would DO what they could, TO
shorten the term as much as possible.
The lightness of the sentence which he
received is explained by the fnct that
while indicted for manslaughter the jury
returned verdict of guilty in lesser
degree. the maximum penalty for which
is confinement in the penitentiary five
years. The sentence of the court was
the full limit which the law allowed and
could not have been greater according
to the jury's verdict. Had they found
according to the indictment the sentence
would have been much heavier.