The Saint Paul globe., 1900-06-01
RUNNING DOWN THE CLUES
ANOKA'S MURDER MYSTERY HFtNSE
ING A PUZZLE FOR THE
AUTHORITIES
BALCoM MAKES A STATEMENT
He Still Maintains That He Was An
Wisconsin When the Crime
Was Committed Sun
day Night.

| NCSC4NOS I-tdWISIlCS anu murphy trying 10
run down the assassins of the Wise fam
| lily. Whether they are any nearer a So
| luton Of the mystery time will tell While
| they seem inclined to follow more care
| fully everything that points to Balcom' s
| connection with the affair." the latter de-
pends upon his ability to prove he was
| miles away from the scene of the shoot
| ing when it occurred The Wisconsin Of
| ficers are authority for the statement
that Balloon and his wife left that village
last Sunday morning, driving red-gear-
! ed buggy. They went some distance
in the rig, when they discarded it, and
| started on horseback in this direction
The sheriff believes this is the most i'm
! portant piece of information he has yet
| received. Every effort will be made to
! corrOborate it.
In confirmation of the telegram, the
| farmer residing on the second farm from
| the Wise home says that his son, on thu
! night of the murder, about the time It
| would have taken a man to ride from the
scene of the tragedy to his place, heard a
| horse gallop by. Sheriff Merrill inves-
tigated this report, and believes it has
| foundation. 1t will be a material piece of
| evidence. Notwithstanding the statement
| made by Balcom (which appears below,
/ the authorities here are working on the
| lISOTy lIldl bdlCOll was SOllllSCbSN Wall
! the crime.
Joe Wise, the brother of the wounded
man, throws a light on a possible motive
| for the murder. He says that William
Wise loaned BaIcom $500, and in order
! TO give security for it, Balcom, when he
| fed the country to avoid arrest placed
| Wise on the farm. Balcom's wife owned
1ive-sixths interest in it at that time.
| A number of months ago Balcom had a
| chance to sell the property, and asked
| Wise if he would leave The latter said
| he would when Balcom repaid the loan.
| Balloon tried to induce him to leave,
promising that as soon as the farm was
sold the loan would be taken up. Wise
would not listen to this, and as result
a quarrel ensued, in which Balloon is al
legged to have said:
'Well, If you don't leave by yourself L
will see that you do.
Both Joe Wise and the oldest daughter,
whose rather strange actions are believed
to be more the result of her surroundings
than anything else, believe that Balcom
knows more Of the crime than yet ap-
pears.
The officials meanwhile are diligently
following every lead, determined to let no
point escape them.
Balcom made a statement yesterday,
and this will be looked up, as 1t may
throw some light upon the intricate and
mysterious case
Insanity now threatens as one more
woe to be added to the lot of the unfor-
tunate Wise family. Eliza Wise, the
youngest daughter, has shown signs of
dementia Last night she heard singing
and playing of music, and, rushing into
the house, she called out: Here am,
mother" All day yesterday she wan
dered about the house and the farm list
leSsly, sometimes breaking Into tears. To-
day she lies in a sort of stupor in the
front room on a couch beside her father
She paws no attention TO anybody or to
ANYTHING that goes on. Her uncle, joe
Wise, is greatly concerned, and believes
that the death of her father or brother
would be sure to affect her mind.
BALCOMS STATEMENT.
A Grantsburg, Wis, dispatch says that
Harry Balcom the brother-in-laW of Will
liam Wise whose name has been connect
ed with the Anoka affair, was here last
Sunday night when the crime was com
mitted This is eighty miles from Anoka
Balcom made the following statement OF
what he knew about the affair:
'Wise and l are good friends and never
had a quarrel. The story of his lending
me money is false; so is the one about
the poisoned cattle. l was here, eighty
miles away, when the shooting was done,
and knew nothing about it till afterward.
See Charles Estes who lives in southeast
Minneapolis, and 1 wouldn't wonder II he
could tell you something about it. He is
down on me- and he got an interest In the
farm by paying the taxes. Mrs. Aleck
Eagan claims the farm through a defect
in the transfer to me. Her son, Frank
Shepard, got a white team from me when
1 sold the farm. Frank has a A Martin
rifle Shepard is supposed to IVe in Little
Falls, and for many years lived in Anoka
county. Both he and his stepfather
Eagan are handy men with guns. Eagan
is half Indian
WHAT ESTES KNOWS.
Charles Estes, of 1926 Seventh street
southeast, one of the best known men on
the East side, Minneapolis, was seen yes
terday by a reporter He knew Wise and
his family we'll when they lived in Min
neapolis He also knew Balcom, and IS
familiar with the gentleman's record.
When questioned Estes said:
''I know Wise and all of the family, in
cluding Balloon. When Balloon left the
farm where the tragedy occurred
to skip to Wisconsin, he sent
Wise to live on it, Balcom asked me to
look after the tax titles, but L told him
I didn't have the money to handle them.
This was several years ago. l got
friend of mine, a Mr.. Harris, of the Smell
ing hotel, St Paul, to take care of the
taxes. and I acted as Mr.. Harris agent.
But 1 never could do anything about
them and I don't know now how the
matter stands-whether the taxes were
ever cleared up properly or not [ Just let
the matter drift after while without do
ing much about it. The last time 1 saw
any of the Wise family was two years
ago. when 1 went up to their farm to see
about the tax business"
Mr.. Estes was not surprised when In
formed that Balcom had told people in
Grantsburg that he (Estes) knew all about
the recent trouble of theWise family. Bal
com, he says, is an ignorant man, and
was probably alluding to the tax title
business, If he mentioned the name of
Estes in any connection.
Estes has his own theory regarding the
murder. He is convinced that the crime
was committed by an Indian or half
breed. He recalls several crimes commit
ted by Indians in Minnesota which show
ed the same insatiate fury and savagery
as the tragedy of the old Shepard farm
near Anoka.
THE OTHERS MENTIONED.
Both the Eagan and Shepard families,
who have been mentioned by Harry Bal
com as probably knowing something
about the Wise affair, are well remem-
~,aazaaEzzzz.ss|