Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-12-06
GUILTY
Jacob Opera is Found Guilty of the
Crime Of Assault With Intent to
Infflict Great Bodily Injury.
JURY WAS OUT FOR FIVE HOURS.
The Indictment Charged Mr.. Opera with the
Crime of Assault with Intent to Kill,
but the Evidence was not Strong
Enough to Convict him
on That Charge.
THE SENTENCE IS NOT YET PASSED.

On the evening of the 18th day of
August last, about 8 o'clock Frank
Novotnev and Charley Kalisheik went
into Jacob Cipera's cornfield for the
purpose of soaring some boys out of his
melon patch, and when Frank had
gotten into the corn field about four
rods he saw man rise up and he
turned to run away, and just as he
turned, this man, who proved to be
Mr.. Cipera, fired two shots at him, the
first of which took effect in his back,
passing entirely through the left lung
and lodging In the plural cavity.
The. boys straightway, ran to the
house Of Mr.. Kodelka, a neighbor,
where they had been helping to thresh
that day, and some of the boys hitched
up team and took Frank to Fort At
kinsOn to see DR.. G. d. Horton, where
he remained for two weeks under the
physicians care Everything was
done for him that could be done, but
the ball could not be extracted. The
boy is now up and around but will
probably not be the man physically
that he would have been.
After firing the shots Mr.. Cipera ran
northwest for about 100 rods and laid
out in cornfield until near midnight.
Then, chilled through, he went to a
neighbours, Mr.. Joseph Kovarik's
house, and applied for admission.
When he was admitted he told Mr..
Kovarik that he was afraid, and when
asked the cause of his fright, he said
he had shot boy.
On the next day, the 3Oth of August,
he came to Decorah to give himself up
to the officers, and made statement
to the effect that he had shot Frank
Novotney the evening before, and
signed and swore to the same before
r.. F. Gibson, notary public.
On the Monday following he was
given preliminary hearing, and after
the examination of several witnesses,
was bound over to appear before the
next Grand Jury, and bond fixed in
the sum of $1,000, which was furnished.
The Grand Jury at their September
term found true bill against him and
charged him in the indictment with
the crime of assault with Intent to
Kill"
Not being able to reach his case at
the September term of the District
Court, his trial was put over until the
November term, which is now in ses-
sion. It came on for trial last Friday,
E. P. Johnson, ESQ.,, County Attorney,
appearing for the state, and E. r.
Acers, ESQ.,, appearing for Mr.. Cipera.
After the examination of an army
of witnesses, and a careful rehearsal OF
testimony by the attorneys on both
sides, the case was given to the jury
Tuesday morning about 10 o'clock,
who after being out about five hours,
returned into court with their verdict
as follows: 1--WE, the jury, find the
defendant, Jacop Cipera, guilty of the
crime of "assault with intent to inflict
great bodily injury; and beg the court
for leniency," which was signed by
their foreman.
Sentence has not been passed upon
the defendant yet, and will probably
not be until the last day of the term.
The plea Of insanity was set up as a
defense in the case, but 1t not being
proven, did not have much weight.
In conclusion let us say that 1t is
always best to keep out Of other peO-
ple's cOrnfields, especially when they
are In the immediate vicinity Of q mel
on patch. And OH the other hand
should you find some one In your
cornfield 1t would be we'll to learn his
mission there before you shoot.