Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-29

SOLD either or us the watch that was at
forwards found in the mattress by the of.
ficers when they made the arrest. While
in Jail at BOzemarl, DOtsOn and Persingel
both requested ME to swear with them
to the fact thai Persinger bought the
watch hat was afterwards found in tho
mattress aforesaid from a stranger. ]
agreed to do so, and SO first informed J.
H. Duffy in my statement, which was re-
duced to writing, and which I heretofore
signed. My statement in that respect
was false n untrue. I made 1t because
Persinger and Dotson requested me to
! make it. I now desire to state The truth.
! After leaving the place where we had the
wagon hid. about a mile and a half from
Eugene Cullinane's place, we Travelled
that night.
1--WE passed through Blackfoot City,
going towards Helena, at about midnight
on the Sth of August. We continued on
our way the balance of the night and
finally arrived at Helena the night of the
9th Of August and remained in Helena
the 10th and 18th.
II make his statement freely and vol
UNFAIRLY. expecting no reward. as no
! promises have been made to me, but with
a purpose to tell the truth and the whole
truth, and let my punishment be n 1t
may. l did not consent to go with Dot
| son or Persinger voluntarily, but was IN
! duced by them to go with them for the
purpose of robbing Eugene Cullinane. l
told them 1 would have nothing to do
with robbing Cullinane.
"(signed) c. o. BENSON"
Subscribed and sworn to before me thds
25th day of August, 1899.
J. II. DUFFY.
County Attorney of Deer county,
in the presence of j. II. Duffy, Jack
Conley, Dave Morgan, Joe Stevens and
Jack Walsh.
Each of thin were held for the district
court without bonds. Benson, who made
the confession, is a young man and seems
to be weighed down with remorse for the
part he took in the terrible crime. His
uncle, Clinton Dotson, sat in the court
room with half closed eyes as II trying
to forget the past, while Ellis Persinger
always holds his head erect and watched
everything which t~ranspired during the
hearing. All his looks and actions are
defiant, calculated to impress that he had
no part in the murder, but the coils of
justice are Tightening around Inn.
Today was a busy time in the county
Jail which was searched by the deputy
sheriffs from corner to corner as a safe
guard for the safe keeping Of Charles
Benson, Ellis Persinger and Clinton Dot
son. who are held to await trial for u
der in the first degree.
After all the prisoners. 40, more or
less, had been served with breakfast.
they We're transferred to the cells in the
Jail and securely locked while the county
Jail was being searched. Under Sheriff
D. NJ. Morgan stood guard at the iron
grating door Of the entrance to the city
Jail, while Deputies DAILY, Walsh and
Robinson made the search. All Of the
cells and the hunks therein We're searched
as they never were before. The tables
and benches and every other article We're
turned upside down and examined care
fully for anything that might be secreted
by the numerous prisoners who are IN
generated there from time to time. With
lighted candIes all the dark holes and
corners were probed. The greatest care
has always been maintained in allowing
parties in the Jail, and with Benson, Dot
son and Persinger held there for a cold
murder, the vigil will be in
There was considerable hilarity among
the prisoners this morning While in the
cells, who seemed to take delight in
casting Jail phrases at one another across
the corridor. The number OF men in each
of the four cells was SO great that h
all had to stand up, showing a sea OF
faces and hands as they held the bars
ard peeped through the grating here and
there. At noon they were taken back to
their old quarters in the county jail.
County Autorny ]. H. Duffy filed infor-
nation in the district court this morning
charging Charles O. Benson, Clinton Dot
son and Ellis Persinger with murder in
the first degree. The informations re-
lates to the murder of Eugene Culhnane
at American Gulch, Aug. 5, 1899. The de-
fendant's are charged with unNa wfully,
willfully, p%urposely, deliberately. feloni-
ously, premeditatedly and of their willfu1.
deliberate and premeditated malice
a~forethought, kill and murder Eugene
Cullinane, a human being, all OF which
is contrary to the statutes, peace and
dignity of the state of Montana