Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1897-10-01

Ex-Judgc v~inccnt's Opening STATE.
mcnt in the Luctgert Trial.

mcnt in the Luctgcrt Trial.
EX-Judgc Vincent sprung Il surprise OH
the prosecution in the Luctgcrt murder
trial at Chicago in his opening statement
by reference to Il man named Robert
Davcy, who. he said. was the original
medium through which all of Luctgert's
trouble arose and whose actions resulted
III Luetgcrts being arruigncd before the
BAR of justice charged with murder.
~ little over Il year ago Satan i'll the
shape of Il medium-sizcd. well-drcsscd
and educated Englishman named Robert
lavey came to Luetgcrt and was the
rause of all his trouble" said ex-Judgc
Vincent. This man came with forged
letters of introduction representing him.
self as Il man of great means. Luetgcrt
has always carried his heart on his sleeve,
us You will see when he goes on the wit
neSs stand.'
This was the first official notice that
l.uctgert would testify in his own behalf
and the announcement was received with
a show of interest by the prosecution
and the spectators. 'Davcy told I.uc1.
CERT lie could he the sausage king of the
world,' went on cX-Judge Vincent. ".And
l.uctscrt believed him, for DaYey was an
artist i'll painting glowing pictures of
wealth and fame. He told Luetgcrt
he represented an English syndicate. and
that Il company would be organized with
Il capital of S500.0OO and bonds for an
additional 100000 would be issued. The
company would he known as the \. l..
Luctgcrt Sausage and Packing Company,
Davcy said. and I.uetgcrt would be given
S2Oo.O0O cash and 100000 worth of
4 stock. llut nf f1tn .ns1, liz, .,,,1,1 ~ Of
$:M.O0O of indebtedness which was COW
cred by Il mortgage Oh his factory.
Mrs. Luctgcrt Was delighted ovcr the
visions of wealth revealed by Davcy's
picture and I.uetgcrt. uneducatcd. honest
and without suspicion. WAS pleased over
the prospect of ranking with the Ar
mesrs. the Swifts and Nelson Morris in
the meat world. Davcy had expenses
during the time lie WAS negotiating with
l.Hetgclt. whom he had induced to close
his factory. preparatory to the change
which was In have taken place January 1.
1897. We called upon Luetgcrt for money
and got it-in all about $4,000. Finally,
pavcy told l.uetgcrt the money and
bonds were in the custody of the Coutin-
entail Bond Company of New York.
L%uctgcrt and Judge Goodrich, 10 whom
I.uetgcrt had told his story. went to New
York. But none of the bankers or bond
companies of that city had ever heard of
Dave.y. Luotgcrt had been swindled.'
The attorney told of Luetgcrt's strlg-
giles after this. How his business had
been injured by the closing of the fac
tory and i'll addition to the loss of So
600 to Davey lie lost by the failure of
T.. $. Drcycr n Co.'s bank. Then he
borrowed 100000 from Foreman Bros,
bankers, placing another mortgage on his
factory. Finally the failure came and
the disaster drove Mrs. Luetgert to the
verge of insanity. Later the woman be-
came insane. the lawyer said, and wan
dcrcd away.
The life of I.uctgcrt was briefly
skctched. He arrived i'll America thirty
two ycare ago without Il dollar. counsel
said. and by industry and thrift had built
up an enormous business. He made
'.O0O.O0O pounds of sausage a year and
sold it all over the country and Europe.
Often there were 100000 pounds of meat
i'll the factory at one time and the
sales from the factory to local consnm-
crs averaged $50 per day. Nineteen
years ago I.uetgcrt married Miss Louise
BirEncsc. the woman he is said to have
killed. She was his second wife. They
had four children-two boys and two
girls-the latter are now dead. EN-Judgc
Vincent denied that the couple lived UNI
happily. He said their lives were not Il
continuous honeymoon. but the couple
lived as happily as people in their station
usually do.
Attorney Vincent startled the prosccu-
ton by the magnitude of two of his
claims. That Mrs. Luctgert is alive, he
said. he would prove by witnesses who
have seen her since May /. and lie would
also prove that the homes found in the vat
were not human and were put there by
the police authorities. AS for the rings
claimed to be Mrs. Luetgert's, the attor.
ney said he would show that they were
not hers. and that she had never seer
them. The attorneys speech made an in.
preston on those i'll the courtroom.
TROOPS RUSHING IN.