The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-09-08


were scored by the prosecution in the
Luetgert trial to-day and unless the
defense is able to impeach the testi-
mony of the witnesses, their evidence
is likely TO have considerable weight
with the jury.
The two witnesses were Nicholas Fa-
ber, who testified that on the night Of
May !, he saw Luetgert and his wife en-
ter the sausage factory, and Charles
Hengst, who swore that on the night OF
May /, he passed the factory and heard
cry from within as though some one
was in pain. At the hearing before the
police justice by whom Luetgert was
held to walt the action of the grand
Jury, Hengst said that he could not tell
whether the cry was that of human
being or Of an animal. To-day he said,
however, that he was confident that the
cry came from human being. The de-
fense relies greatly on the statement he
made before the trial to impeach his
testimony.
Faber grew confused somewhat on
cross-examination and could not tell
whether the moon shone. or whether II
was cloudy night when he saw Luet-
CERT and his wife enter the factory on
the night OF May !. but he stuck stoutly
to his story that he had seen the two
people enter the factory shortly after 10
o'clock on the night of May l.
The reading OF the love letters which
had been written by Luetgert TO Mrs.
Feldt was great fun for the crowd In
the court room, and It was very embar-
RAISING for the defendant, as In several
OF them he had spoken in q sighting
manner OF the lawyers who are now
conducting his defense. saying that they
were greedy" and mot able TO handle
q trial Of such importance"
He laid particular stress on the In
competence of Judge Vincent who Is
now the leading counsel for the de-
fenso. When these portions OF the let
ters we're read, the lawyers laughed and
nobody enjoyed them more than Judge
Vincent. but It was not pleasant for
Luetgert, who twisted around In his
chair mopped his face with his hand
lkerchief and seemed to be uncomfort-
able generally.
The defense made n strong fight
against the introduction Of the letters,
and when the court decided that they
were proper evidence, the defense ask
ed that they might be read In German,
as they might lose some Of their oriAi-
nal meaning by being read In English.
This the court also overruled and the
letters went before the jury as the
translator made them out. he. however,
swearing that the translation was en-
tirely correct.
After the letters were oil read the re-
ciplent, Mrs. Christine Feldt. a middle
aged widow, was called to the witness
chair for the purpose of finishing her
testimony for the state,
When Mrs. Feldt was called to the
stand her former lover, TO whose case
she had done 80 much damage. refused
to glance in her direction. He twisted
uneasily in his chair and then leaned
over TO Attorney Vincent and consult
tation was held. Meanwhile Assistant
States Attorney McEwen proceeded
with the direct examination which dealt
largely with the financial relations be-
tween Luetgert and Mrs. Feldt. The
latter admitted having received funds
from Luetgert prior to his arrest and
said she had withdrawn the money at
his demand from a safety deposit vault
for HIS use. The sums she had with
drawn at different times footed up A.-
900, the entire amount which she had
received. She asserted her ignorance OF
how this money was used by the pris-
oner, but admitted that portions OF Il
had been retained by her on his order
for the care OF his children. She also tes-
titled as to the substance OF the letters
and asserted that she had refused to
lend Luetgert her own money upon the
requests which she had received from
him In the letters. She testified TO hav-
ina received in all eight letters from the
big sausage manufacturer.
The state regards Mrs. Feldt MS one
of their most important witnesses, as
through her testimony they expect TO
establish the fact Of Luetgert's motive
in the alleged murder of his wife.
The last witness called by the state
wns Nicholas Faber. Faber was em-
ployed as fireman in the sausage fac
tory and said he had seen Mrs Luetgert
enter the factory about II o'clock on tho
night of the murder.
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