The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1898-01-20
TRIAL, OF MICHAEL O'BRIES,

the term RS the question OF sanity is hrs
to be tested and should there be disagree
ment on this and the regular panel dis
charged, with the exception OF the trla
jury, considerable Inconvenience wonlc
result. The work of selecting jury oc
cupied all Monday afternoon. 1t was not
necessary to go outside the regular pane
; to secure the Jury, though the panel was
exhausted before the - men were select
ed.
1t is Jury Of farmers with four exec /
lions. They are NJ. r. Madison, Fr,
jacob, Knud Nyhagen, Bernard DELI
man, Joseph Ioucial, Hubert Simon
John Kcenig, Michael Pankratz, VIM
Boeringer, Henry houiller, Charles
) Krause, Richard jacob. This jury will
try both the question Of lity and HON
icide. Should OBrlen be pronounced
insane that ends the trial; II sane liz
trial for murder will begin at once.
There is a cloud of witnesses. The
train FROM Grimms was crowded on Mon
day with Maple Grove people, witnesses
friends OF both parties and people feeling
they are personally interested 10 the ont.
come of the trial The court house ls
daily packed to its utmost capacity.
Schenian & Kelley are conducting the
prosecution and the defense is 10 the
hands OF Nash h Nash.
O'Brien sits just inside the bar. lie is
neatly dressed, quite good looking and is
perfectly self possessed. He has an intel
lgent and strong face which shows bat
little of the prison pallor. Hlsgray hair
ed father sits near, a fine looking old &c o.
tleman. Patrick Fielding, the father OF
the murdered man, occupies place net
the city attorney. Heis also gray haired
but sturdy in appearance and intelllge Mt
in feature.
O'Brien's sister was in the most difficult
position of all, as she bad to appear as
the principal witness against her broth
er. She aroused the sympathy OF all
She Is a young woman of more than az
erage culture and with face which
shows benevolence. Her brother lm-
proves every opportunity the Iecess offers
to cone near her and converse with her.
She it is who prompts the attorneys on
the facts and watches the conduct OF the
case with absorbing interest. In her
testimony she gave an account vi he
shooting which is familiar to the readers
of The Pilot.
The defense has the affirmative on this
trial as 1t must prove insanity. The full
facts of the killing are brought out just
as if it was trial for murder. The form
of insanity which is to be proved is known
as Paranola, or systematic insanity. The
case was opened for the defense by L.. }
Nash on the question of insanity and b..
q. Nash Oh the facts. The district attor-
ney diG not open at the commencement
of the trial.
The first witness called was Mary
O'Brien, sister Of the accused. She was
vislbly affected but by an effort retained
her composure. The substance OF her
testimony was that her brother who had
been cheerful some years ago, had OF late
years become nervous and even morose.
Formerly he liked society but for five
months preceding the homicide he bad
not Quit his fathers farm. He had an
idea that he was bounded by Catholic
Knights and Free Masons. He frequent
ly spoke to her of The prosecutions ae
suffered at the hands of his former COM
panlons He complain ed that they haunt
ed the house and trieo to lure HIM out
during the night and that they were try
ing various schemes to infect him with
leprosy. He purchased a book on medi-
cine and was in the habit of writing pre-
scrlptions, some of which he had filled
He had accumulated vast amount oil
medicine. He would tell his sister Of
threats made against him, stating In one
case that Tim Keehan had said to hin
J you won't live long my lad" Such re
marks she had satisfied herself had never
been uttered. He generally took his gnr
with HIM when he went to his work, hav
s ing it wrapped in a horse blanket,
When Miss O'Brien was asked by TIT
district attorney why she did not take
steps to have her brother isolated If sh'
thought him insane, she replied that sh
had made up her mind TO do 80 the morn
ing of the tragedy, after he threatened
: TO assault her father.
John Duscoll of Appleton, sewe
pipe dealer WAS the next witness. ii
was IN the police station with officer W
j. Baker when O'Brien entered to sur
render himself, He described the diff
Officers w. j. Baker, E S. Stroebe, an
. James +. McCabe testified to O'Brien
. conduct while IN the cell. He had bee
searched and 60 cartridges taken fror
him. There was ventllatlng t1ne IN th
cell. and O'Brien fancied some one Wa
going to shoot him through this L
u protect himself he stood up holding
blanket against the aperture. Whe
z the blanket was removed he used bis ha
: for the same purpose.
Michael, O'Brien the father of the pr
y soner, was called on the stand Tuesda
: evening. His testimony was continue
: Wednesday morning. He had noticed
growing reticence in his son in late year
but did not attribute it to insanity. Ii
had frequently heard HIM make com
:, plants of the bad treatment he had re
celved at the hands of young men in th
neighborhood. His son had not cease
to be industrious because OF his imagine
troubles.
4 A letter written to the district attorne
d Iy O'Briep, deted March -, 1897 wa
a admitted. lie this letter he relates hl
. urisyapcas and demands the prosecutiO