Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-05-25
CONSPIRACY CASES
Col. Bergman Discharged Because
There Was No Testimony But
That of Garner Against Him.
OTHER DEFENDANTS HELD
The Court Says They Gould Not Be Con
victed on Present Evidence, But a
Grand Jury Investigation
Is Warranted.

Yesterday afternoon, after the New
Mexican report closed, o. L. Merrill
and Henry Bergman We're recalled al
witnesses in the hearing of the peniten
tiary conspiracy cases. They wert
asked if they could identify a knife
blade exhibited, and which was in Gar.
ner's possession about a week or more
after he was brought to the county jai
from the ~penitentiary. Both denied
that they had ever seen the blade.
Sheriff H. c. Kinsell was then placed
upon the stand. He related that Gar.
ner, three days after he was taken tt
Jail, asked to see superintendent Berg.
mann at the penitentiary in regard to
statement he had made to him.
On the way to the penitentiary to see
age in a piece of paper out of his pocke1
and u%nraveling it, a small colored pack.
age appeared. Garner threw it out OF
the Wagon and said, Here goes the las
of the poison!" Sheriff Kinsell did mo-
know whether there was anything ir
the package or not. Garner said after.
wards that Merrill had given him thu
poison and the knife blade. Sheriff
Kinsell acknowledged that the prisoner
had not been examined when placed II
the county Jail, and that he might have
,,;,l,ol mn tIa lnifa h1a6n in the iai
yard, but said this was not probable
for the cellmate of Garner at the peni
tertiary identified the knife as one Gar
ner had there. Kinsell stated that h
| was not at the Jail very much, and hal
allowed Garner to walk unattended
| from the court house to the Jail. He dit
not remember of anything ever having
been struggled into the Jail. Once on
of the Borregos wrenched a lock from
a cell door, but nothing, with the ex'
ception of a 20-penny nail, was fount
concealed about him.
Page Otero, who testified in the cast
yesterday, was, by a slip of the pencil
referred to in the report Of the proceed
ings, as Governor Otero.
TO-DAY'S PROCEEDINGS.
Garner was again placed IN the stant
this morning. He said that the piece OF
knife blade offered in evidence by the
prosecution was in his possession a
the penitentiary, having been handed
to him upon leaving by Henry Berg
mann in the presence of o. l.. Merrill
He admitted that he had been in A. c
Ireland's drug store to buy some med.
icine, and that he had been allowed tt
walk from the court house to the jai
without any guard.
Detective John W. Cook, superintend
ent of the Rocky Mountain Detective
Agency, who has been working in this
case in behalf of the territory, was re
called to the stand and told of a con
mann on January 20, 1899, at the gov.
ernor's office, where Colonel Bergman
said that "the wise men up there Gre.
ferring to the l%egislature) had passed
a law to keep Shultz in the peniten'
tiary. They do not need to do so, be-
cause l have already cut off his goo6
time" This statement was to contra
diet a statement made on the stand by
Colonel Bergman that he knew moth
ing of a law passed to cut off the goo6
time allowance of convicts such as
Garner.
While the prosecution sent for anoth-
err witness, counsel or both sides dis.
cussed the length of time they would
take in argument. District Attorney
Gortner wanted only fifteen minutes
and Judge N. B. Laughlin was satisfied
to submit the case without argument
To this Mr.. Gortner agreed.
]. b. Huyler, who is in the peniten.
tiary for fifteen years for murder, wal
the lex witness of the prosecution. He
said that the knife in evidence looked
like the one that Garner had in his eel
for over a year. He also testified thai
on March 80, this year, Garner ha6
shown him a bottle and a package
which he said contained poison.
Merrill was again put On the stand
and testified that at the ~penitentiary
they had a cigar box full of knives an6
similar articles taken from prisoners
while at the penitentiary. He and Mr.
Spear had investigated the report OF
Huyler that Garner had a bottle (but
not a package) of what Huyler thought
was poison. Merrill found some medi-
cine bottles in the cell which Huylel
might have taken for poison. Garner
was i'll nearly all the time, and was
taking medicine prescribed by the ply
stefan.
DECISION OF THE COURT.
Both sides rested, and Judge McFie,
in a very concise and impartial man.
ner, reviewed the case. He said that
the hearing had ended, in a very un-
satisfactory manner to him, for he had
hoped it would remove the mystery
surrounding the introduction of poison
into the New Mexico penitentiary. The
fact of the matter is, said Judge McFie,
that an ordinary prisoner, upon eight
nine occasions, and covering a Pc
riod of about ten months, introduced
deadly poison into the New Mexico