The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-01-27
WILSON IS FREED
AFTER NUMEROUS BALLOTS THE
JURY RETURNS A VERDICT OF
ACQUITTAL.
MAY NOW SUE THE CITY.
LIVELY Tits IN THE HASKELL
CASE BETWEEN WITNESS F0S-
TER AND JUDGE JACKSON.
MOSHIK KNOWS NOT HIS FATE.
Kept in Ignorance of the Date of
His observation-disclosures News
of minneapolis.
MAY NOW SUE THE CITY,
MosHIK KNOWS NOT HIS FATE

mot guilty" was the verdict of the
jury in the trial of Frank Wilson for
the murder of Rhine Ducharme
1t was shortly before o'clock that
the jurors notified Judge Smith that
they had reached an agreement, and,
as the judge was still in the court
room, the attorneys and the defendant
were Immediately on hand and the YER
dlct given as above.
From the nature of the evidence in
the case it was not thought probable
that the verdict would be other than
1t was, but it was a great surprise that
the jury were so long in reaching the
verdict of acquittal. The Clio b e
learns that the first ballot after the
jury organized resulted 8 for acquittal
8 for conviction and one blank. One
OF those voting for conviction did so
from motives of policy, and the man
voting blank claims he was acting
upon the same impulse. They wished
to appear to change their votes to &C
quittal, and thought to influence some
others by so doing. Thus the jury
practically stood 10 for acquittal and
z for conviction at the time the case
was placed in their hands at about
1890 in the morning.
One man came over without trouble
but one hung out tenaciously This man
argued to his fellow jurors that by re-
turning a verdict of acquittal the jury
would be placing themselves in the po-
sition of saying that no murder had
been committed. SO firmly had this
idea become rooted in his mind that 1t
is doubtful If 1t was completely eradi-
Gated when he finally changed his
vote and Joined the majority.
Wilson, the defendant, was immed1-
ately released when the verdict was
announced and made his way to the
office of the clerk of courts to get pos
session of the valuables taken from his
person when he was arrested.
He was told by Clerk Dickey that an
order of the judge was necessary as a
preliminary. Before seeking the judge,
however, he told the clerk he might
keep the revolver over night
IF L have it in my possession they
Will have me arrested before 1 leave the
building for carrying concealed weap-
onS, he exclaimed sarcaStically
70 reporter Wilson stated that he
did not yet know what he would do.
Are you thinking of suing anybody
or the county because of your arrest
I'll tell you about that later" was
his reply.
Wilson's attorney, A. P. Loomis,
however, was not so reticent He de-
clareS that suit will be brought against
Detective John p. Hoy, especially be-
cause of the fact that he forced Wilson
to have his likeness photographed and
that the pictures were furnished to the
newspapers and published as that of
10 NH Of ba
The question still remains, "Who
killed Rhine Ducharme?" 1t will be
remembered that the body of a man
was found between the tracks of the
Minneapolis & st. Louis and the Mil
waukee railways at Hopkins Station on
July "a last. Investigation led to the
belief that the corpse was that of a
cripple. Rhine Ducharme, whose home
was at Faribault, MINI. Further in
vestigation showed that the dead man
had last been seen in the company Of
Frank Wilson, the man who has just
been acquitted The circumstances
were strong against Wilson. The testi-
mony showed that he had been the la.
known man to see Ducharme. party
named NICK elvey had been with Wilson
and Ducharme during the day of the
murder, and at the time of the tragedy,
at Hopkins, McKelvey had stated to
Constable Cooper and others that the
last he had seen of Wilson and the
cripple the two of them were walking
together down the railroad tracks
This testimony was what the state
wanted, and they sent to Fargo for Nc
Kelvey intending to use him as wit
ness for the prosecution. When placed
upon the stand, however McKelvey
fatty contradicted his former state
ment and claimed that the last he had
seen of the cripple he was walking
down the railroad track toward Mime
apolis and that he was alone. 1t was
the change of this witness that killed
the case of the state.