The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1897-01-26


he be an honest man why he had
not come upon the stand and told
what had become OF the ninety.
thousand dollars unaocounted for
Mr.. Buerhaus having figures at
hand showing that the bank was
indebted to depositors in the sum
of one hundred and sixty-two
thousand dollars, and that Culver
had testified to only having loaned
$4,000 to the Racoon Coal Com.
pany, and various other sums, in
a aggregating $4,000, leaving a
balance of $4,000 unaccounted for.
AS a spacific act of embezzlement
he presented and read two checks
calling for sums of money after the
resumption Of business, also a de-
posit slip signed by l.. A Culver as
president of the bank wherein ii
stated that w. j. Frasch had de-
posted for safe Keeping the sum of
$l,700 in their vaults only three
days prior to their closing, which
had never been returned, going Oh
to prove that were Culver an hon
est man this money would have
been returned as it did not belong
to the properties of the bank and
was only deposit made for safe
keeping. Mr.. Buerhaus' argument
was II flow Of oratory and captivat-
ed the large audience present, and
no doubt carried weight and con-
viction to the jury.
AT 4:45 the Judge gave a brief
but exhaustive charge to the jury
after which he permitted them TO
go to their supper before retiring
to the jury room, to weigh the evi-
dence as heard in this celebrated
trial.
Although the jury had arrived
at verdict about O'clock a. m.
they were compelled to remain
locked up until this morning as the
court said if they would not arrive
at a decision of some kind by IL
o'clock p. m. he would retire and
would not return to'the court house
until morning.
Promptly at O'Clock this morn
ing Judge Slough was on hand to-
gethcr with the council on both
sides, having been previously noti-
fed that the jury had agreed on
virdict. and ordered that the pris-
"ner be brought iuto court. AT
6:05 the jury filed into the court
room, the Court in the absence of
the Clerk receiving the paper
which held the fate of a once prom
inent citizen of Logan, and with
the OHIO DEMOCRAT reporter and
Columbus Evening Press CORE
spondent as tho audience, with the
exceptions Of Court officials and
those connected with the case, read
the cheering words the verdict Of
the jury, ave, the jury, do find the
defendant not guilty of embezzle.
mrnt as charged in the indictment"
which made Lawrence A. Culver a
frna man onna mara
1t is the opinion Of the OHIO
DEMOCRAT reporter that the YER
dict as rendered was somewhat of
an unexpected surprise to Mr.. Cul-
yer, for after hearing his freedom
proclaimed he sat as one stunned
for moment and then suddenly,
as though recalled from q dream,
he arose from his chair and with |
tears Of joy coursing down his
cheeks approached the Judges
bench reached forth his hand and
in a'husky voice thanked the Court
for its impartiality in the case and
then crossing over to where the
jury sat shook each one by the hand
rendered them his most sincere
thanks for this unexpected boon.
And thus The last chapter in the
great fight for liberty Of l.. A. Cul-
yer draws to nm end and the cur
tain is rung down OH this, the. most
peculiar case ever tried in this
county, and we will now let Law
renee A. Culver pass on to pastures
new in search of other and larger
fields in which to seek that fortune
which is to pay off those promises
made In the long ago.
Below we give for the persual of
our army of readers the special in
3tructions to the jury from counsel
Tor their guidance while in the jury
room, also the Courts charge in
Tull:
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS TO JURY
AS MODIFIED BY COUNSEL.
The defense requests the court
% say to and charge the jury that {
t is not sufficient that they' find
rom the evidence that the defend
mt at the time OF the failure of the
'eOple'5 Bank was indebted To II. |