The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1895-06-27

ac ;Lat he had not left his house dur
/ .Hr the evening Living alone, w
i had only his unsupported word foT
! this. and ascertaIued that lac WIS
/ lying to me. Three different persons
4 had called at his house between 7 and
/ I0o'cI0ck and found him absent Then
/ Black made a confession 10 me. The
farmer with whom he had quarreled
had large barn on a farm three miles
avry, and Black had gone there TO
/ burn It. He had gone thCre in dis
/ guise. and he told me the names Of
! the people he had seen while lodging
about His intentions were bad enough
/ but the fire he sindled went out and
! the barn did not burn, To clear him
sell Of the one he must own mp TO the
other
A II the case wa5 not complicated
enough, the sheriff took another step.
| He worked at the two men who were
first arrested putil they confessed"
that Black planned the whole affair.
/ did the killing. and that they only
] watched - see that Le was rot inter
ruptel The prosecution now felt is
~Gred that it had straight case. while
realized that Black mustrQu a gauut
LET for his life Nothing is more abu-
eG than the law. bay ] reiterate Jlat
tue general public is more to blame
than the lawyer, who is seeking to Sc
cure d Favorable verdict for his Client
| mere wish 10 say word about such
"cJlfes-IOus" IS were made in this
case Once IN great while there may
uo one with some little truth in it. bat
,le majority are "cJoked' Tor the
occasion. \ man arrested on d charge
serious enOuga to send him 10 state
prison for ten years viii, If guilty,
make any sort Of confession deman-
led, except to confess his own galit
Il ha is 10 be tried for his life he VIII
swear the murder against any party
the sheriff o. chief Of police desire
him 10. It is ANYTHING to pail his
own neck out Of the moose. The sheriff
naturally wanted to convict Black,
and when Cune5 and Fisher We're
"prcssed' they cooked up very
plausible .'confession."
l had verified Blacks story. I ha3
gone to the barn and found a candle in
box inst where lie had told me to look
for it. | had timed the Journey to
and fro, andfOund il occupied the
interval stated. | had found mud on
his boots which had come from spot
near the barn, had found people who
met him that night and took Tim for
a stranger. However, when the case
was called in the higher court | was
appalled, at the strength Of the eyi-
dence against my client. As is in
yariably the case in a small town,
everybody wanted to appear to know
something Men were pat on the
stand who swore they saw Black in
town at I O'Clock; others saw him an
hour later: others still "beIieycd' they
saw sim have the club found at his
bou5e. All this was nonsense, as you
viii discover, but ii told with the Jury
/ could only ploye two things IN
defence previous good character and
how the oyeralIs came to be stained
with blood. Black boldly confessed
that he had intended TO burn the
bacn, and thus accounted for his time,
but ii only hurt his case. Everybody
jumped to the conclusion that man
who would commit arson would not
scruple at murder True, he had been
known for years as a peaceable farmer,
bat his opportunity for making q
strike had not come until the stranger
appeared. 1t was shown that he was
hard up iinancially; that certain men
were rather afraid Of him; that ne had
been heard to make dire threats. and
they could not have painted him
biacker had he been one Of the Young
CT brothers.
On top Of all this came the econ
fassi0n." Carnes and Fisher had occu-
pied the same cell for days and there
fore agreed IN all the details. They
swore to meeting Black just outside
the village They entered the town
to look for Williams and found him
on the street. Fisher sWora that he
acsostod mm and directed him t. the
millrace. telling him tha5 the owner
of the mill wanted TO see him. After
the murder all went TO Blacks house,
where the money vas TO be divided.
He had given Carnes and Fisher fifty
dollars apiece and put off the division
for week. While neither saw the
blow nor the body flung into the
water, both agreed as to what Black
SAID on the way home He had told
them that Williams ,emed suspicious
and was about to -uu away when
struck down.
| lost my case, of course The jury
wont olt simply for appearance sake,
and in seven minutes returned with
verdict of guilty" You may ask
what had been done 10 trace Williams?
/ Very little. He had said he was from
1 Chicago. No one knew his full ai
dress. The affair had been published
in the Chicago papers, but no one had
/ identified Williams as Williams. He
seemed to have neither relatives nor
acfuaintances.
/ Black was to be sentenced to death.
and Carnes and Fisher were ID get off
| with d term In state prison. They had
not vet been sentenced when Williams.
/ the man who had been murdered and
buried, returned to town rs quietly as
any other traveller, You can imagine
the public amazemeut. lie left town
on the night Of the murder at 3 9oclock.
going to Milwaukee to see about
bank safe and other things. He was
I taken III eu route and left the train at
a small village where he had relatives.
/ He Lad been sick with fever for weeks
aud nothing whatever was known Of
the case At the depot he conyersed
with two citizens and the ticket agent
and ali saw him board the train. Not
one OF them came forward to testify
to these facts They had forgotten
/ al about it, In all such eases the
/ average man Is either over anxious TO
60 GA the stand or he obsunately re
I fuses to remember anything in favor
/ OF the prisoner.