The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-09-18
HIS ALLEGED MOTIVE
THEORY OF THE PROSECUTION IN
THE LUETGERT MURDER CASE.
The Big Sausage Maker Supposed to
Have Killed His Wife in Order to
Marry Servant Girl.

CHICAGO, Sept. 1.-THE prosecution will
rest its case in the Luetgert trial to-mor-
row after three weeks given to the presen-
tation of evidence against the prisoner and
four weeks spent in the trial. The prosecu-
ton will close it's case with some strong evil
dence tending to prove the motive for the
alleged crime. The state will endeaVor TO
show that infatuation for Mary Siemering
the servant girl in the Luetgert household
was the of the murder. 1t will be
claimed that the big sausage maker desired
to make the girl his wife and that he put
Mrs. Luetgert out of the way in order to
permit his marriage with the girl. To prove
this theory Frank Bialk and Frank Odorof-
sky, employees of Luetgert, who have al
ready testified in the case, will be put on
the stand and will give evidence relating
to the domestic affairs of Luetgert. They
are expected to testify as to the fondness of
Luetgert for Mary Siemering and the in
dignant opposition to the girls presence in
the house made by Mrs. Luetgert. The fire.
quent visits of Mary Semering to Luetgert
in the sausage factory at unusual hours of
the night will be detailed. Both men will
tell of seeing Luetgert chase his wife on
one occasion with revolver, and they will
tell of threats which they heard him make
With this evidence the state will rest
To-day was given up to technical evil
dence and there was little of interest in the
trial for the outsider. Professor Dorsey
was questioned as to the comparative
nature of the sesamoid and femur bones of
a calf, sheep and a human being. His
answers were technical and adroit, but of a
character that supported his original identi-
fication and testimony with reference to the
bones in evidence. When Attorney Vincent
completed his crOSS-eXaminatio of the pro-
fessor he moved that the court exclude
from the record all of the evidence of the
witness and also all evidence of DIR. Norvall
Piery in connection with the Identification
of the femur and temporal bones on the
ground that the identifcationS were not
based on legitimate or substantial basis,
but merely the opinion of the experts
based certain alleged conditions. The
motion was overruled. The attorney then
moved to exclude all of the evidence of
Professor Delafontaine in which the latter
had stated these may be human bones"
This was approved and sustained and the
motion allowed.
The closing hour of the afternoon session
was devoted to the Identification by Prof.
Delafontaine Professor Haines, Sergeant
Spangler and other witnesses of the prose-
cution of exhibits used in the trial, all of
which will go into the jury room when the
case is submitted to the jury.
The most notable visitor to the famous
trial to-day was United States Senator
William f. Mason. Senator Mason came
into court at l:3O p. m. ana was escorted TO
the bench by a court bailiH. He sat beside
Judge Tuthll for over an hour an inter-
ested observer of the court proceedings. 1t
was the opinion of the attorneys in the case
to-day that the trial would last at least
three weeks longer.
There is said to be a difference between
Iuetgert's counsel with reference to the de-
PENDANT taking the witness stand in his own
bahalf Attorney Vincent is not inclined to
permit Luetgert to do Attorney Phalen
believes the sausage maker should tell his
story to the jury. Luetgert himself is quite
determined to go on the witness stand. He
not only desires to tell his story, but he also
wants to address the jury. In all likelihood
he will testify.