The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-20
WAS ROSE INNOCENT?
DOUBT CAST ON THE GUILT OF A
MAN HANGED FOR MUIR
DER
OLD CASE AT REDWOOD FALLS

Report From California of Death
bed Confession by Old Man Slower
Man Was Convicted on Cfrcum-
stantiaI Evidence-His Speech on
the GaI1ows Was a Declaration
of His Innocence-Trfed Twice.
REDWOOD FALLS, Mimi, Jan. "a
report has just reached here, said to have
come from relatives of the deceased, that
old man Slower recently died in Call
fornia, and that he made a death-bed
confession to the effect that he killed
Moses Lufkin, in Gales township, this
county, some twelve years ago, instead Of
William Rose, who was afterwards hung
for the crime.
The crime was committed at night. Luf-
kin was sitting in the kitchen of his house
reading a paper. All of a sudden there
came the expression of a gun and a charge
of shot passed through the window into
Lufkins body, killing him instantly. The
states testimony was that Rose was in
love With Grace Lufkin, and that Grace's
father forbade him coming around the
house.
On the night in question 1t was proved
by circumstantial evidence that Rose,
on a buekskin pony, rode to within a half
mile of the house, hitched his horse to
tree of grove and then walked over
to Lufkin's house and killed him.
Rose was tried twice, the first trial re-
surfing in a disagreement, and the sec
ond, in which he was defended by Bill
Erwin there WAS convictions The 9c-
cused was game to the last, and made
speech from the gallows telling the peo-
pie to look out for old man Slower, that
he was the man who committed the crime.
Attorney w. w. Erwin, of the firm of
Erwin & wellington, who defended Rose,
is convinced that when Rose was hung
an innocent man was swung into eternity.
| But for the fact that a series of cold
blooded murders had aroused the peo-
pie of Redwood Falls and vicinity to
| fine frenzy, he doubts If the ends of JUS
| tice would have been so signally de-
| feated." Public sentiment demanded VEN
geance on some one, and, when Rose was
suspected, it was a foregone conclusion
| that popular feeling would deny him
| fair trial. That, says Mr.. Erwin, was
! the reason why Rose was led to the gal
| lows, there to eXpiate the crime Tor
! which another was guilty..
| Rose always claimed to me, as coun-
| SELL said MIR. Erwin at his residence,
| 1922 Hawthorne avenue, last evening,
| that he was innocent, and l think Mr..
| Wellington shares the same belief that
/ have-that he was absolutely innocent
| of the murder of Moses Lufkin. | am
prepared to accept the story attributed
to the man Slover-that he himself killed
Lufl1in. and that he took advantage Of
| the hostile feeling which existed be-
| tween Roses father and Lufkin to charge
| the crime against William, the son. Bill
Rose, as he was Familiarity known in
| his neighborhood was a big, strapping'
American boy-one of the handsomest,
bravest young men on Minnesota's from
| tier He wore a broad-brimmed hat and
! dressed In regular cowboy styie, but with
| excellent taste. He was fearless, and 1t
! seems impossible to think, while in his
presence, that he could harbor for an IN
| slant the idea of an ASSASSINATION.
| never for a moment believed him guilty,
| and this belief was the joint judgment
of all the intutitive emotions of my life,
| and the logic of the testimony, as l I'M
| derstood It, I regarded his conviction as
due to the violent prejudice which often
times sweeps entire communities OIL their
feet From this thought L am sincerely
glad that the blind, unreasoning prejudice
which once possessed the Redwood Fails
community has new evidence In relation
TO the person who really killed Lufkin. =
1T tell you frankly that I never got
over that hanging. 1t is terrible to think
Of an innocent young life being forfeited
by prejudiced society. When l think of
the finale of the case, there comes vivid
| ly back to me the scene in the court room
| late in the evening, when the, jury re-
turned the verdict of guilty. Roses lit
tie sister, beautiful girl of 10 years.
| stood by his side with her arms around
| the big fellow, weeping.
"A short time before his murder, Luf-
kin had received large amount of
money on a pension claim, the disposition
| of which was never satisfactorily ac-
! counted for. In the room with him at
| the time of the killing was Slower, who
was related to him by marriage. AT the
same hour of the shooting, William
Rose, who resided with his father six
| teen miles south of the Lufkin residence,
| claimed to be at the house Of an uncle,
eighteen miles further southeast Of his
fathers house. 1t is claimed that Roses
father had some dispute with -Lufkin
in relation to land matters. Rose, at the
| trial for the Lufkin murder, claimed that
he had ridden hot from his uncle's farm
| on a buckskin pony the morning after
| the crime.
Shortly after the murder, Slower re-
ported that he had seen running from
a window man who resembled William
Rose. In the morning an investigation
showed that some one had run through
the garden from a rear window, and
climbed over wire fence, In doing which
a wire had been pulled loose, and had
continued to point where a pony had
apparently been tied for some time to a
tree.-With this clue, the sheriff and
posse the next morning visited Roses
home, where they found the buckskin
horse, jaded from a severe ride. Roses
arrest followed. At the preliminary ex-
animation, Slover's memory had been
refreshed to the point where he said that
he thought the man whom he had seen
running from the window was William
| Rose.
"Rose had three trials. In the first two
he was defended by Cy Wellington. In
| the first trial, to show you how strong
| was the conviction that Rose was inno-
cent, the jury, after some deliberation
| during the night, stood IL to l for ac-
| uuittal In fact the jury finally agreed
| practically to return a verdict of acquit-