Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1898-02-16
CONVICTED
LUETGERT.
Sentenced To Life Imprison>
ment By The Court
Receives the Verdict Of The Jury With
Smile. Has a Higher Hope

Adalph L. Luetgert was convicted
of the murder of his wife and sentenc-
ed to imprisonment in the penitentiary
for the term of his natural life, on
last Saturday. Luetgert received the
verdict with laugh.
It was 1850 O'Clock when word was
sent to the court room by the jury that
they had agreed upon a verdict and
were waiting to bring it into the court.
AT HIS Judge Gary entered the room
and at the same instant Luetgert and
his guards entered through the door
leading from the jail.
The prisoner was calm to all appear
ances, and did not seem nervous in any
degree. He smiled at one or two
friends, but after the firit glance
around the court room contented him.
self with watching the door through
which the jury must enter. They fill
ed in, passing to the seats they had
occupied during the seventy-two days
of the trial.
Clerk Knopf stepped forward, took
the verdict, and then read, with a
tremor of excitement in hisvoice: ''We
the jury, find the defendant guilty as
charged in the indictment and fix his
punishm ent at life Imprisonment"
There was hush and all eyes turn
ed on Luetgert to see how he would
take it. He laughed and laughed, in
a manner that showed plainly that
he did not think the verdict serious
matter, comparatively speaking.
The sonnd of the clerks voice had
not died away when Attorney Harmon
was on his feet with the request that
the jury be po1led. This was done,
each juror affirming the verdict. Then
he entered a motion for a new tri Il,
which was entered and will be argued
in a few days. Luetgert was led back
to the Jail in apparently good oiri $,
comforted by the assurances of his
lawyers that he will get a new trial
and that the state will not be at1e to
convict him a second time.
At first Luetgert refused to say
anything, his one response to ques-
tions being, 81 won't talk about it,
AT length he yielded to inquiries
enough to say that the verdict was a
surprise to him.
81 don't see how the evidence justi-
fed such a verdict, but one thing is
sure, the Supreme Court will give me
new trial and 1 shall be acquitted"
From the time when the prisoner
was led in to receive the verdict until
the bailtiffs conducted him back to
his cell his face showed no tremor of
any sort of fear. He smiled repeated
1y, even when the verdict was read by
the clerk, and shook hands with his
attorneys and others who gathered
around him. After arriving at the
Jail he retired as usual, apparently un-
disturbed by the verdict.
The jury reached a verdict on the
first ballot. They retired at 4:5O and
took their first ballot at $40. 1t was
unanimous for conviction. Some
little time was consumed in arriving
at the punishment to be inf1iced, but
this was settled by $50 and then the
jurors sat around in their room until
10 clock when they announced their
verdict.
After the prisoner was removed
Judge Gary expressed his thanks to
the members of the jury for the pa
tience with which they had endured
their long confinement and for the
manner in which they had performed
their duty.