Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-12-12
GARDNER IS IN JAIL
/! Colored Man Charged With the
Murder Of Julia Barber.
SAYS HED DID NOT STRIKE THE WOMAN
Sheriff Suits Returned This Morning
From Brookfield, mo-, with Prise
oner- Waived Examination
and Held to Grand Jury.

oner- Waived Examination
and Held to Grand Jury.
[Frcm Saturdays Daily.]
Sheriff Frank SHUTS returned this
morning from BrooIfeld, Mo-, having
\ in custody Fred Gardner, the colored
man, whom it is alleged, caused the
death of Julia Barber, colored wom-
an, Monday evening. Gardner, this
morning, emphatically denied. that he
struck the woman, as was brought out
in the evidence before the coroner's
jury this week, the jury rendering a
verdict that the woman came to her
death from the result of the blow. The
prisoner was taken before Squire
Campbell this morning and arraigned
on the charge of murder. He waived
examination and the case will be refer
red to the grand jury which convenes
Jan. 9, 1900.
to the alleged fight and the subse-
have been published in the Courier
from day to day as the case developed,
and are familiar to ALL The charges
substantially are that Gardner and the
Barber woman quarreled at the Ballin-
gall hotel on the evening of Nov. %;
that Gardner struck the woman on the
| jaw,death resulting from Inflammation
from the injury extending to the brain.
The woman called at the Office OF
DR.. E. A. Sheafe the day after the
fight is said to have occurred, and the
injury did not have the attention of a
physician again until the following
| Friday, when DR.. Sheafe was called to
the residence of the Barber woman,
No. Alb West Main street, where he
found her in critical condition. Her
death followed Monday, Dec. A.. In the
4 meantime Gardner had left Ottumwa
and went to the home of his sister at
! Brookfield, Mo. As soon as the Bar
Der woman's death occurred, the au-
/ thorities at Brooktield were notified to
arrest Gardner, and his subsequent re-
turn to this city, where he is at pres
ent incarcerated in cell at the coun-
4 ty Jail, followed. Mr.. Gardner claims
he did not strike the woman, and that
he knew nothing of her condition until
he was arrested. He says he did not
leave Ottumwa to evade the officers,
or because he feared arrest, as he was
Ignorant of the fact that the woman
4 was even injured.
\ Gardeners Story.
Fred Gardner was seen in his cell at
the county Jail this morning by a Cou-
rier reporter, and very willingly relat-
ed what he claims to be truthful
statement of his trouble with the Bar
Der woman. He says he did not strike
!. her, although he admits having quar-
. relied with the woman on the night of
; Nov. %. He said he was at that time
I employed as third cook at the Ballin-
gall hotel, and that the Barber woman
came to his room on the night above
referred to for the purpose of getting
him to accompany her to her home on
West Main street. Gardner said he re-
fused to go, explaining 10 the woman
that he was not feeling well, and that
he wanted to be left alone. He said
she was under the influence of liquor
and became persistent in her demands,
but that at first did NOT appear to be
angry. Gardner said that he had pre-
viously befriended the woman, and that
she had agreed to pay him Sc. This
she did on the evening of Nov. 20.
When asked what this amount of
: money was for, Gardner said that it
j was matter that he did not care to
= ~ tutO dCtdll eaOOuls 10
, tell that part of the story. However,
j he said he took the money from the
!. woman when she first came to him
: that evening, but that he disposed OF
!, it before the quarrel began later in
: the evening. He claims that when he
refused to go home with the woman
, she then demanded that he return the
! Sc to her but he told her he had spent
Il it, and could not comply with her re-
quest. Gardner claims this enraged
her, and that she began TO curse and
| abuse him, and acted frantically. He
left the room, and had the woman es-
cortsd from the house. Garner said he
then returned to bed, and had not been
there but short time until the wonl-
: an again appeared on the scene, light
ed lamp, and renewed the quarrel.
Gardner said he again arose and Went
' down stairs to have the woman put
/ out. The man who went up to the
room came back and reported that the
woman had left, and Gardner says he
, then returned to his room, thinking
, that the trouble was at an end. In
, this he said he was mistaken, for, as
. soon as he entered the room the wom-
J an sprang out from under the bed, and
began the quarrel anew. The woman
he said nrSt came 10 MS room ABOUT IL
o'clock, and it was about 2 before he
: finally got rid of her. Gardner denies
the charge that he struck her, and APP
pears to be very much disturbed over
his trouble.
: To the reporter he said that this is
the first time that he has ever been in
: any trouble of this kind. His mother
resides at Stewartsville, DeKalb coun.
ty, Mo-, and he has been living in OF
tumwa and Des Moines before coming
here. Since coming to Ottumwa he
hes been employed ut the Ballingall
hotel. He is 23 years old and single
He claims that the Barber woman has
a husband living, but that she was
more or less infatuated with him.