Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-05-17
The Prisoner Takes a Bite OF
Plug Tobacco
AND APPEARS APATHET TIC
While Witnesses for the State Are
Telling Their St0rlcs--
Legal Points Argued.

The last Juror required to complete the
twelve men necessary to seal the tate OF
James j. Neary for the murder of Alex'
ander Murray on the night of u l
was secured at $40 O'Clock yesterday az
ternoon n the taking Of testimony
commenced shortly afterwards. DR.. q.
NJ. MacNevin was the first witness. lie
told of the condition of the wounded mar
after his arrival at the st. James nospi-
tai and described the decorations made by
the knife welded by Neary. He also stat
ed what he had done in an endeavor to
save the life of Murray, but the wounds
were OF such a nature that they would
not yield to treatment. Murray. he SAID,
entered the hospital on the night of the
1st and died on the 4th from the effects
Of the injuries and exposure. the latter
being due to the fact that three or four
hours elapsed between the time the
wound were inflicted and the time they
were attended. The witness further said
there We're several of the Wounds-sorne
in the back, one about an inch be;oW and
back of the left ear and one in the abdo-
men. TIL latter was, he said, u fatal one;
the one near the ear was dangerous.
Neil Macdonald, a brothel-ln-iaw OF
the murdered man. testified that he was
present when Murray made ms dying
statement at the st. James hospital. DR..
MacNevin had informed him that the
wounded mar could not live and the
statement had then been made and
signed by E. J.. Groeneveld and himself.
The statement was shown Macdonald
and identified him. Ii was as follows:
alexander Murray, believing that he
is going 70 die, makes the following state
,-,%. r oty,,1a5 a chIcEor Eohf AT tho
Boulevard house Sunday night. January
/, 1899. After The first chicken fight, the
man who afterwards stabbed me having
lost $40 on said fig mt, began to abuse
everybody, calling them - - l
was sitting alongside of him, and. on ac-
! count Of his vile language. struck him.
l went down to the Boulevard house with
James Dumfrey. Five minutes after I
struck the man. who afterwards struck
me. / was taking a drink at the bar IN
another room with Jack O'Neill. superin-
! tendent of the Anaconda mine. n 9TH
ers, when l was stabbed twice IN the neck.
l turned and was table again, this
time in the abdomen. l did not know the
name Of the man who stabbed me, but
those present called him "Neary."
John Eakin, a brickmaker, testified
that he was in the bar-room when the
death wounds We're lnfilcted. Dut had
not seen the knife welded. A child had
llAddC I = oiSN NAH1 ~ 'S"'
picked it up and carried it out.
Mr. Eakin was on the stand when court
adjourned for the day. When the trial
was resumed this morning he further said
he did not know whether Murray had
| ANYTHING in his hands while he was
standing at the bar.
On .cress-eXaminatiOn he said he had
been intimately acquainted with Murray;
had known him six or seven years. To
the best Of his recollection Murray had
entered the bar-room from the back yard
and there was nothing out of the ordi-
nary in his conduct. Murray was drink
ing a glass of beer at the bar at the
time the trouble occurred and witness
was with him. More than twenty men
were present. The scuff1e between Neary
and Murray had occurred just as witness
was in the act of taking possession of
the child in order to get it out of the
way. In the melee witness had received
a blow on the back, but did not see who
struck him. AS he raised up with the
child he loked back and saw Neary and
Murray scuff!ing.
Edward Bishop, a bartender at the
Boulevard house, testified that he had
measured the space between the doors
of the cock pit and the saloon and found
it to be AZ feet. The bar in the saloon
was 40 feet long: the room 20 feet wide al
the rear door and up to the bar. Beyond
that it was only II feet.
Bishop further said he was tending bal
at the place when the stabbing occurred
and had seen the scuf1ing, but at that
thine he did not know the two men en-
gagged. The favorite route from the
street to the cock pit was via the sa-
loon.
John Fox, a bricklayer by occupation
testified that he was one of the people
present at the cock fight. He described
the premises and tho means of ingress
and egress, following it with a descrip.
ton Of the first fracas between Neary
! and Murray. A dispute has arisen be,
tween Neary and Con Gibbons at the side
of the cock pit and witness asked Gibbon
not to cause trouble In the meantime
someone caught Neary and threw him
over against the edge of the pit. Neary
told the thrower hat Gibbons and him.
self would not fight. Neary then stepped
up to the rail of the pit and told Gibbons
he should not call him such names a.
that Tepcating the words). Short,
afterwards Murray struck Neary, ant
witness asked him why he had done it
Murray laughed, n witness then TOLD
him to get out, his object in so doing be
ing to keep the men from having further
trouble. Witness thought it was JOIN
Kiley who pushed Neary back.
1T was not Murray, was it?" asked
Mr.. Connolly.
mo; it was not Murray. The latte,
was standing against he railing of Thu
pit"
Fox further said he had not seen tn
cutting; that it had occurred in the bar
room and he had not heard of it unit
probably seven or eight minutes afte
the fracas in the cock pit. After Near,
was struck by Murray in the cock pi
he roared and bawled like a mad man
4 r.. ~z.,-lA AIo% a.. -.