Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1900-07-06
THEORY PROVED.

STATES ATTORNEY COLE OF
DICKEY COUNTY SAYS THEORY
AGAINST TWO BOYS NOW In
PENITENTIARY is PROVED.
Fargo, July 6. he report coming
from Oakes of the finding of a. musket
in the James River near the 500 rail-
road bridge, the musket having been
used to commit murder with four
years since, is OF peculiar interest to
me, as l was the prosecuting attorney
for the county az that time and prose
cuted the boys, Lauder sitting as judge
and it being the first murder trial over
which he had presided as judge. S. G.
Cady of Oakes was assistant prosecut-
ing attorney. The. finding of this
musket completes che last link of tes-
tiEoly and proves that my theory was
correct all the way through the trial. e,
said A. T. Cole, speaking of the rather
sensational find reported few days
ago.
The murdered man, John A
Brown, was a Swede bachelor, living
on farm alone, some three miles west
|sof Oakes, and some years since was
engaged in the grocery business at
Moorhead, and is we'll remembered by
many of the old citizens of the two
cities. He was murdered on the night
of June 20, 1896, ,)ut the crime was not
discovered for some two or three days
afterwards, at which time the body was
so badly swollen and decomposed that
the physician who made the examina-
ton or held the inquest, in the absence
of Coroner Boardman, did not succeed
in getting all the facts necessary, SO I
ordered Boardman to disinter the body
and make a critical examination,
which he did, and round the charge of
shot lodged on the cheek bone, being
twenty 1.-TWO or twenty three in number.
Brown had been shot while he was
asleep in his own house, with the per-
son standing over him with a gun
pointed that the. charge would pene-
trate downward. The gun VITA which
the shooting was done was an old army
musket, loaded for gophers. This,
Mr.. Chamberlain, who owned the gun,
kept standing loaded in claim shanty
on his farm near Oakes, he working on
the farm in the day time and going.
home at night. He carried his lunch
with him in manila paper sacks, which
he used for wadding, the musket being
a bored out muzzle loader using pow
der, shot and army caps. When the
discovery was made that the gun was
gone, it was noted that the powder had
been used, as. a little was spilled, and
the caps were gone, but the shot had
not been disturbed When the boys
took the gun at night, they did not
know it was loaded until they had
poured in a charge of powder and put
on a wad OF mama paper. When
Brown was shot he was shot with
charge consisting of powder, wadding,
shot and wadding and a charge of pow,
der on top of that with more manila
wadding, and the gun was but few
inches from his head Deputy Sheriff
L. Dean and M. e. Randall, mer-
chant of Glendale, discovered that the
suit one of the prisoners wore was
one Randall had sold to bachelor liv-
ing northwest of Ellendale, and which
had been stolen some days before the
murder. This was proven at the
trial. The murderers escaped to Can
ada, by way of the 500 line, and were
arrested by the Canadian authorities
a day of two before the arrival of
Sheriff Coleman from our county, and
they were given ninety days for vag-
rancy. When it was made known to
the Canadian authorities ait Ottawa
that they were wanted in the United
States for murder, they were ordered
taken TO Regina penisentiary for safe
keeping during their period of incar-
ceration, after which they were turned
over to our sheriff under extradition
proceedings. The selection Of the
jury, trial of the cause, making the ar
gunnents, and sending the case to the
jury was accompl plished in four and one-
half days, including two short night
sessions, although nearly sixty Wit
5nesses We're examined, some being on
the ttie stand three times, and the evidence
being cireumstantial except the finding
ofsthe body. The boys were convicted
and sent to the penitentiary for life,H
where they now are. Both were un-
der 20 years Of age when convicted.
DeWitt's Little Early Risers are
famous little pills for liver and bowel
troubles Never gripe. Z. S. Boards
lev, Fourth street