The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-03-01
NOVAK'S TRIAL DRAWS
FIFTH WARD PEOPLE CROWDED
JUDO KELLY'S COURT
ROOM YESTERDAY
GHoULIsH CRIME CHARGED
Prisoner Is Accused of Taking
$1,000 in Gold From the Bed on
Which His Sister, Mrs. Albert
Buck, Was Lying Dead-Hus-
band of the Dead Woman Wakes
WrOth.


band of the Dead Woman WAKES
WrOth.
Did Anton Novak steal $1,000 in gold
from the mattress on which the dead
body Of Mrs. Albert Buck was lying:
That is the question that a jury has
been called upon to decide In district
court. The case came up for hearing
yesterday before Judge Kelly and at
tracted a crowd Of interested specta-
tors. who occupied every available seat
1E the court room and blocked the
aisles. County Attorney Bigelow ap-
peared for the state and Thomas D.
O'Brien for the defense.
Novak is indicted on charge of
grand larceny in the first degree, the
specific Offense alleged being the theft
OF $1,000 in gold belonging to Albert
Buck, who lives at Toronto and st.
Clair streets. The money In question
was part of a sum received by Buck
from a fire insurance company. 1t was
kept In a shot bag concealed between
the mattresses of Mrs Bucks bed. On
Nov. 20 Mrs. Buck died, and after her
death the money was found to have dis
appeared. NOvak had been at the
bedside and was arrested and charged
with the theft.
The morning yesterday was spent in
drawing a jury, and it was not until
after the noon recess that the state
placed its first witness, Thomas A.
Hunt, on the stand. Hunt, who is an
insurance agent, told Of having paid
Buck $1401, part of which was in gold,
on a fire loss.
The star witness for the prosecution
was Mrs. Mary Wagner, who told the
court that she had been married three
times
ct have two husbands living and one
Dead she said.
her mother Sunday evening, Nov 20,
and related how she had sat by the
bedside until early on Monday morn
Ing keeping watch. Then Novak, who
is a carpenter and had been doing odd
jobs of repairing on the house, came
In and Joined in her vigil. Buck was
with them for a while, but left to go
down to the undertakers. Afterwards
Novak had been in several times dur
ing the day. 1t was Immediately fol-
lowing his first visit that she missed
the money, which she knew was con-
cealed in the mattress. Mrs. Mathis,
Mrs. Barbara Bacufa and Mrs Rosa
Samec, three neighbors, came in to pray
with the corpse, and while they were
there the witness slipped her hand into
the mattress and found that the little
shot bag and its golden contents had
disappeared. Then when the visitors
had gone she took the mattress out into
the woodshed and tore it to pieces but
without any result. When Buck came
home and was informed of the loss he
had created great deal Of fuss and
cOmmotiOn.
Mr. Buck became greatly agitated
as he told his story, with the aid of
an interpreter, and once during cross
examination positively refused to an
sWer questions asked by Attorney
O'Brien. He said he wished lawyers
would stop bothering him with their
questions, and Judge Kelly was COM
pelled to Interfere in the interest of
harmony. The witness told of having
received the 81, 4O1 last fall in the pres
ence of Novak, with whom he was
quite intimate, and who had gone with
him to get the money. At the bank
Novak assisted in stuffing the money
into the pocket Of the witness and on
the way home advised him to keep the
wealth in the house and not trust it to
banks. Afterwards Novak's visits to
the house had been more frequent than
formerly.
Mr. Buck, according to his testi-
mony, liked to have the money around
the house, and after great deliberation
had decided that the safest place
would be between two feather ticks
| under the mattress. where he slyly
tucked away $1,010 in gold in an old
shot bag, and was careful to tell no
one but his wife and daughter When
he heard of the loss he had Immediate
ly accused Novak of the theft. and de-
clared the latter had said he would
bring the money back and the Bucks
were all crazy. In his entreaties the
witness had offered $25 for the return
of the gold, but Novak had only laugh
ed. The undertaken had advised him
to notify the police, which was done
during Monday afternoon
Sergeant Frank Horn, who, with
Chief Schweitzer. had arrested Novak,
described his visit to the house accom-
panied by the chief. They had found
the door ajar and heard voices within.
1t was dusk, and they listened to the
conservation inside for some time be-
| fore going inside. The people talking
were Mary WAGNER and Novak The
woman was very much excited and
Novak apparently very calm He
laughed heartily when accused of the
theft. and the officers had heard him
say eff anybody has money they can
get out of anything When arrested
NOvak had $189 in paper money on his
person.
Chief Schweitzer corroborated Ser
geant Horns testimony, and the three
neighbors who bod prayed beside the
corpse swore that they had not taken
| the missing money.
The trial was adjourned in the mid
die of the testimony Of L. r. Schultz
who said Novak had told him that Blu
eek had 81, 400 in his house
to keep the customers he gets is every
hatter's aim; that is why the far-seeing ones