Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1897-10-06
telling about the missing womans
threats to leave home.
Il have" rephed the witness.
"How many?"
"She wore two"
crOld Ri 0O


How many?"
"She wore two"
Were they gold rings?"
"They were
You saw them often?"
Eyes, very often"
Describe them, can you?"
Both were plain gold rings nearly
equal in size-as to the width l mean.
One of them, l am sure. perhaps both,
contained Mrs. Luetgert's initials.
Did you ever see this ring | now
hand you?"
1t was one of the rings found in the
vat. People in the court room stood UP
and craned their necks with GREATNESS
interest while the witness examined the
ring. The big court room was hushed
as the crowd of spectators strained their
ears to catch the reply of Mrs. Cnaries'
mo, sir; | never saw that ring De
| FORE she finally answered. ~ is mar
| rover than either of those Mrs. Luet-
! CERT wore. The other ring was handed
| to her and the witness gaZed at II IOr
! some time.
This ring is about the size of one of
| the rings she wore" said Mrs. Charles,
| finally "but cannot tell-do not think
| it is one of them
/ States Attorney Deneen questioned
the witness sharply. He asked her why
she Did not tell this story to the police
or'to Justice Kersten long ago. She
Ifeplied that she had told it to Luet-
gerts attorneys and was not asked to
/ tell it again.
Fred Miller, a nephew of Luetgert,
who had worked for the latter in the
| grocery department of his sausage fac
| tory, testified that he had the watch Of
Mrs. Luetgert, which he produced upon
the witness stand. The witness said
that Mrs. Luetgert gave it to him to
carry, saying she feared Luetgert would
take it away from her, as he scolded
her about having so much jewelry,
| when as matter of fact her watch and
rings were all the jewelry she had
The unexpected cessation of the evil
dence of the defense found the prose-
cutlon unprepared to go on with its
reSuttal. Court was adjourned until to-
morrow morning. States Attorney
Deneen said to-day he would put on so
witnesses in rebuttal, and that ten of
them would be from Kenosha, Wis,
Where 1t was said by witnesses, Mrs.
Luetgert was seen May 8, and 5.
AS the evidence in this famous trial
is now practically all in, an estimate
OF the relative strength of the pros
! ecution and defense respectively is
the sole topic of discussion around the
Criminal Court building The attor-
neys engaged are probably the best
| Judges Of the weight of the evidence
! All Of them have made close analyt-
ical study of every bit of evidence pro-
| duced on the trial. They are likely
to be biased and one or the other of
the cOntending sides must be entirely
wrong, for both are sure Of winning.
I'VE have made out as strong a
eircumstantial case as it was possible
= eeh tsaid States r-AAte was CON
nected and the story moved along in
a smooth, natural groove. | cannot
conceive of case being made out
more completely on circumstantial
evidence. Our case will be strength
ened by the rebuttal evidence yet to be
heard. The identifications of women
/ at kenosha, Wis, and Lake Zurich,
Wis, will be absolutely obliterated be-
fore the end of the present week.
That will add another link to our
strong circumstantial chain. We are
| fully satisfied with the situation. do
not care to enter upon a detailed dis
cussion of the case in all it's varied
features, inasmuch as it is still open
and we are to present more evidence.
OF course it would not be proper for
me to express an opinion relative to
Luetgert's failure to go upon the wit
ness stand"
Ex-Judge Vincent was apparently
highly pleased over the status of the
| case.
I'VE have met them at every point
and checked Them" said he. I'VE
have impeached several of their wit
nesses and they have failed to show
beyond a reasonable doubt that Mrs.
Luetgert is dead. In my judgment, d
case has not been established under
the indictment. And we are not
through yet"
Luetgert is confident that he will
| be acquitted. While apparently re-
GREETING that he had not had the op
podtunity to tell his story to the jury,
the big sausage maker said he was
satisfied that the jury could not con-
Wet him under the evidence presented.
Luetgert was in an ugly humor during
the afternoon and not inclined TO talk
much.