Bismarck weekly tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1884-1943, 1895-12-13

Young and Grozier, and examined the
first two as to some points in relation to
the position of Severson's body in the
corral, and the latter as to some particu-
lars of his visit to the Wadsworth ranch.
THE
This afternoon at 100 court convened.
Mr.. Simpson opened the case for the
defense. He insisted that the attorney
for the state had failed to support by
testimony the statements that he had
made to the jury in his opening. Mr..
Miller had said that there was a lack of
feeling on the part of the defendant in
that he had urged the placing of the
body in an clubhouse, and the defendant
had further not urged that any investi-
cation be made. Both of these points
made by Mr.. Miller he had failed to
support by proof. He claimed that the
state had failed to prove any motive on
the part of the defendant for the killing
Of Severson. The evidence shows that
a cowardly, dastardly crime had been
committed. The defense would show
that MI. Wadsworth was a stock mar
of integrity and honor. All went we'll
until the unfortunate day when he met
the boy Fred Roehm. The defense
would show the jury that irrespective of
any conversation with Marcus Wads-
worth, the boy Roehm-a quarrelsome,
vindictive, wicked boy--had a motive
for killing Severson. In killing Sever
son he carried out his general character
istic of fiendishness. He was jealous of
Severson, who was practically a member
of the Wadsworth family; he had stated
that he would throw lead into Severson,
and there would be a dead Swede
around there. Roehm had a disposition
towards wickedness, and this would be
shown by men Of character. The de-
Tense would show that the alleged con
versation between the boy Roehm and
Wadsworth on the Goth of December
never took place = that the whole
story of the boy was a fabrication.
SiCAClloC Noulu SllOW CudL lII. "dUS-
worth got up after the boy and Severson;
that Severson went out of the door just
after Wadsworth came out of his room;
that the defendent sat down and stayed
in the room till breakfast time. They
sat down to breakfast and Mrs. Wads-
worth asked where Ed was. After
breakfast the boy asked if he should
turn out the COW, and was told to do so.
When the boy returned he stated that
Ed was lying dead in the corral; alarmed,
they all went to the corral to see what
the facts were. Mr.. Wadsworth was
physically weak, and Mrs. Wadsworth
urged him not to go up to the body, as
she feared the excitement would bring
another stroke of paralysis on the de-
PENDANT. Then they sent the boy for
the Reads. When they discovered the
cal cause of Severson's death, they asked
the coroner to make a full investigation
Of the case. 1t was a physical impossi-
bility for the defendant and his wife to
be present at the burial of Severson be-
cause of the distance, the weather, and
their physical incapacity. The defense
would show that the statement at
tributed to the defendant by Schuyler
Lebo was never made by him--that the
defendant was not there at the time Lebo
says he was. They would show that
the boys story had been built up piece
, by piece. All he had said had been
t drawn from remarks he had heard from
other sources. The boy had acquired the
, idea if he laid the murder on Wadsworth
5 he would go practically free. This idea
of the boy was at the bottom of the
:, prosecution, and it was because of the
+ possession of this idea that he had false
;ly tried to put the crime upon the de-
: PENDANT. He was satisfied that when
l the case was all in, the jury would bring
in Il verdict of not guilty.
DIR. V. H. Stickney was the first wit
e ness for the defense. He knows the de-
e PENDANT: has been his family physician
t for eight years: attended him for paraly-
p sis in the summer of 1894: his sensibili-
ties and faculties were dulled. The
whole body Of the defendant was lowered
its vital condition. He would not
: think it would have been possible for
s the defendant to help to carry the body
: of Severson, as had been testified to by
the boy Roehm.
q
. Yesterday afternoon Mrs. Wadsworth
e was called as a witness for the defense.
8 She said she had been married twenty
s three years; had one child living, aged
16 years, and three children dead. The
! witness then described the surroundings
/ at the ranch. She stated that Severson
was a true and trusted friend, and more
Y than a mere employe. From twelve years
! ago, when he first entered the employ of
i the defendant, he had been away on
three occasions for short er;o1e-op