Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-01-25
Samuel Phillips is Unfortunate
In Resembling the
WHISKEY GULCH MURDERER
Responsible Men in Spokane Say He
Was in Their City in
May, 1897.

Samuel philips, the man now unuel ar
rest in this city on the supposition that
he murdered old Fritz SchWade in
Whisky gulch in May of 1897, has proven
himself a success in establishing an altDl.
During the last two weeks George Dygert,
the prisoners attorney, believing the ar
rest of Phillips in connection with the
murder to be a case Of mistaken identity,
has been making n efforts to
show that at the time the murder was
committed Phillips was in another state
and he has succeeded so we'll that in all
probability the release of the suspect Will
be ordered within the next week.
At the preliminary hearing. which was
commenced before Justice Nichols last
week and continued until next Saturday
in order hat the defendant might have
an opportunity to prove his whereabout
at the time Schwade was killed, Phillips
said that during May of 1897 he was in
Spokane and the records Of the street de-
partment. Of which he vas an employe,
would show it. Accordingly, Mr.. Dygert
wrote several letters to Spokane and to-
day received replies to three Of them. X.
A. Wilson, chief of police at Spokane, was
one of the men to whom he wrote. In his
reply the chief says:
IN regard to your letter of the Goth l
can say that I knew and befriended a
man by the name of Sam Phillips, a Jew,
who chopped his left thumb nearly off
in Spokane about March !, 1897, and if
yUrr client is the same Phillips he will
show the mark of the wound. For his
benefit l will also state that I saw our
comptroller. George Libes, and he found
time checks for work done by Phillips on
May II, Is and IA, 1897. Phillips received
the checks on the 18th, and if you wan
duplicates Of them he will send them to
you. My wife and myself will make an
affidavit to the presence of Phillips in
Spokane from the latter part of January,
1897 until The latter part of June of the
same year. He can write to Hon. c..
Wolf, an attorney, and state senator of
Washington, for whom he worked in the
latter part of May and June. / want you
to write and let me know if l can be of
any more service to you in establishing
the identity of Phillips"
A second letter was received from J. A.
Schiller, a liquor dealer and city council
man there. He corroborates the state
ment made by the chief of police in re-
gard to Phillips work for the city during
May, 1897, and adds: From what I can
gather here | think there is not the slight
est doubt that you have the wrong man
charged with a crime of such enornity,
as 1t can be clearly proven beyond the
pc~radVenturc of a doubt that Phillips was
sick in the hospital here with a hand
nearly chopped off long before the crime
of which he is charged was committed.
He will have no trouble In proving by our
city records that he was here from the
18th TO the 18th of May inclusive and
drew his time check on the 10Th. Human
ity and justice alone prompts me in this
case, and anything that l might be able
to do in the matter Of clearing a guiltlesS
man | beg you to me-"
G. Meese writes Mr.. Dygert as follows:
Or. A. Wilson of this city showed me a
letter addressed to him in regard to one
Sam Phillips, who is held in your city on
a charge of murder. | can state positive
ly that Phillips worked for me the early
part of May, 1897, and after he left me
was with other parties in this city for
some time. l wrote the sheriff of Silver
Bow county to this effect on the 18th inst,
and presume he received the letter all
right. If | can give you any further in
formation do not hesitate to call on me-"
Meese is a dealer in wooden and willow
ware in Spokane.
In regard to the crippled hand referred
to in the letters, Phillips has it all right
and displayed it in court Saturday..