The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-31
TURNER IS CAUGHT
Brother of Mrs. Matthe Ar
rested at NiCkerscn
DO THEY KNOW TACkETT?
New Theory Is Sprung for
Recent Jail Break.

Bill Turner, the sixth and last man
wanted in connection with the sensational
e-AIlgood-Simpson arrest OF last
Monday, was captured in Nickerson yes
terday by Sheriff Simmons, after having
been located by Sheriff Means Of Harvey
county. who also assisted in making the
other arrests. Sheriff Simmons brought
Turner TO this city on the O'Clock Tram
last night and gat him in Jail Turner IS
a brother of Mrs. Matthe, and IS said 10
be connected equally in all the depreda-
lions alleged against the gang, including
The murder Of old man New, of which
Alvin Ballard speaks in his confession
Turner had just arrived from the Matthe
ranch when he was arrested at Nickerson'
and had not read the newspaper accounts
of the affair. He gave the officers no trou-
HE whatever, but with all his dociiity he
could not be induced to make any state
ments regarding the life and habits OF the
Aatthes or the charge on which he was
arrested.
A new theory Of the cause Of the whole
sale jaf delivery here last January was
Matched by the wiseacres yesterday, which
seems very plausible in the face OF recent
discoveries. Tackett, the daring and des-
perate leader of the gang of jailbreakers,
and the skillful manipulation of the modern
tools which he so effectually used, was
undoubtedly a member of some gang
of outlaws. So was Rhodes, his next best
friend. The gang could not well do with
out the services of such a man as Tackett,
and his worth to them JUSTIFIED the rash
est means to effect his escape.
The theory advanced yesterday was that
some one of those arrested had slipped the
tools to Tackett WITH 7=rfcn ne sawed the
bars and cleverly escaped, releasing seven
other prisoners, four of whom are yet at
large These four include Tackett, Rhodes,
Fftzsimmons and Murphy, all desperate
outlaws Not only were the tools slipped
TO Tackett, but the means Of escape We're
perfected with the same care and success.
Whether they were helped away by any OF
those now under arrest and called
gang" by the officers, and finally secreted
in the devious and unfamiliar haunts Of
the Matthe ranch. no one is yet able to
say positively, but many are inclined to
such belief and their reasons seem very
plausible 1t is an undisputed fact that
some one visited the Eureka Jail with tools
which were offered to the then supposed
murderer of New, Dobbs, for the purpose
of effecting an escape, and Alvin Ballard
says that person was Herbert Simpson.
Dobbs would not take the tools offered
him, because he said he was innocent, and
to this day people at Eureka believe he
and Mrs. New were innocent but that their
case was so miserably handled that they
were convicted through trial which has
become notorious for its unfairness.
1t Is recalled that when Judge Shinn
asked the defendants if they knew of any
reason why sentence should not be passed
upon them, Dobbs arose and said:
ST am an innocent man. Joseph New
was the best friend I had on earth and I
did not kill him. All that have on earth
IS eighty acres of land. I ask the court
now to sell this land and offer the price
as a standing reward for the capture of
'the man who murdered Joseph New. I
hope before I die to see the murderer
captured"
Then Dobbs sat down and Judge Shinn
sentenced him to the penitentiary for life
Mrs. New was to be sentenced next and
she made a movement dis if she intended
10 set up and make a statement, too, but
before she could do so her lawyer, James
Schultz, arose and said to the court that
he hoped the court would be lenient with
her because she was led into the murder
by Dobbs.
This admission Of the guilt of his client
was strange thing for a lawyer to do.
but he did stranger things than that: he
did not make a motion for new trial; he
made no appeal Of the case; he is fighting
all Efforts Of other people to get the pris-
oners new trial or a pardon, although
the fee paid him by Mrs. New was be-
tween 5000 and $S,O0o If Mrs New and
Dobbs are freed from the peuitentiary the
lawyer may lose the farm Mrs. New gave
him as a fee.