The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-02
BfUTLER MURDER CASE
What the Line of Defense
Will Be.
DEAD MANS COMPLAINT IN THE
DIVORCE PROCEEDINGS.
1t Is Shown to the Herald by Attor-
ney Winters-Vain Search For
the Fourth Suspect.

At the preliminary examination o.
the Buetler murder suspects on Thurs
day morning, Elvin Mitchell, No. >
will put in defense through his at
torney ]. NJ. Hamilton, while both Johr
Rice, No. 1 and Mrs. Harriet Buetlel
will waive their rights to an immediate
hearing.
Attorney Hamilton has forsaken Rice
after a more careful inquiry into the
merits of his case. The attorney who
arose at the inquest to remove the
! prejudice produced by the demeanol
/ of Rice on that occasion, has prac-
tIcally admitted his belief that No. is
implicated. He believes Mitchell to be
innocent of direct connection, an opin-
ion shared by more than one person
and forecast in the Herald of yester-
day 1t is also quite possible that
under advice of counsel, Mitchell Will
not surrender his secret, thus lessen>
ing the chance of convicting Rice, I'M
less the "other man is forthcoming.
IL was expected throughout yesterday
that another arrest would be booked by
the police at any moment, but for some
reason best understood by the depart
ment the expected event did not oc-
cur.
The remains of Buetler were buried
on Sunday evening. Edgar E. VIM
tiers, who acted as attorney for the de-
ceased in the matter of drawing d.
Vorce papers, has shown The Herald
the draft of the application in which
Buetler alleged but one fault in his
wife. She is charged therein with hab-
itual drunkenness and attendant foul
language to the plaintiff. This docu-
ment was drawn on Feb. Is and on that
day the umbrella member paid the at
torney a fee of $3.50 and asked for time
TO scrape together the balance. MI.
Winters says that Buetler was in poor
circumstances and actually had accu-
mulated little money. On the We'd
nesday preceding the murder Buetler
called on his niece, Miss Bessie Buet-
ler at los Third street, where she Is
employed as domestic, and asked her
for some money for which she had
been indebted to him. 1t was to have
been put toward the payment of fees
for his divorce, he explained. She
promised to bring the money to his
place the same evening and performed
the errand.
About one year ago Attorney Win
ters defended Buetler in the police
court of this city. He was, at that
time, charged with assaulting an Itai-
ian with Ratchet. 1t appeared that
Buetler then occupied one end of
small frame house just opposite the
KnutSford on the southeast corner OF
State and Third South. The Italian
in question rented the other end. He
was in the habit of entering his rooms
rather late in the evening and playing
some musical instrument. Buetler OBJ
jected but the disturbance was not
abated, whereupon the old Swiss broke
into his neighbor's apartments and
struck him with the instrument named
La
for this exhibition of temper. He was
then engaged in mending tinware.
Mr.. Winters says that his client was
never afraid of Harriet Beutler, as
represented by so many persons. What
he dreaded was contact with her when
the woman was in. beastly states of
intoxication. When he separated from
her, Beutler came to Winters and
sought his advice as to the disposition
of some household furnishings, a por-
ton OF which belonged to the wife.
He was advised to allow her to have
all of it, and respected the admonition
This was all of Beutler's stock when
he left the woman now charged with
being the cause of his destruction, and
his former counsel does not think that
he gathered together anything since
that time.
Beutler's manner would lead observ-
jealousy guarding something which he
feared might be taken from him. When
this impression was deepened by the
display of very handsome gold
watch and chain, which he always
wore, knaves might not be amiss in
forming evil-minded conclusions. That
such suspicious induced the thought of
robbing the old man, is no more
doubted. They may explain the singu-
lar conduct of the man who accosted
the restaurant keeper on South Tenn
pie street, which has already been de-
scribed in The Herald.
More information about this individ-
ual was secured yesterday and the po-
lice are of the opinion that he is the
partner in the crime. /
The suspect was about five feet four (
inches in height, solidly put up, round
full face, and was dressed partly in a
gray coat, wearing upon his head a
broad brim white felt hat, and was
perhaps q years of age. He excited /
the curiosity of the restaurant keeper 4
BY his low demeanor. There was all /
sorts of disrespect in the tone he used /
when inquiring for the umbrella /
member Say, you can't tell me where
IN old guy named Beutler lives, around /
lere? I want to see him. Then he
vas directed to a place further up the
street and loafed away upon his quest
No person answering such a descrip-
ion has been met in the city since
he murder, but the department is alive
o the Importance of apprehending
who answers the bill. There
S now a theory extant that the men
Who did the strangling did not leave
he scene by way of South Temple,
tut went back through the vacant lot
behind the Cave. Less credence is be-
ng placed in the story that the two
men whom the Hollis saw were the
mes who did the murder. In other
aspects there are no new develop
nents of the mystery