Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-26
PETERS TRIAL
COMMENCED
WAS COLBY KILLED BY PETERS
KNIFE OR BY THE SURGICAL
OPERATIONS
SEVERAL PHYSICIANS ARE
QUESTIONED ON THE POINT.
Say Immediate Cause Of Death Was
Shock of Operation-But Colby
Could Not Have Lived .

Contrary to expectations. a jury was Sc
cured at 4:10 o'clock yesterday afternoon in
the case Of the state against Harry w ~.
ward T. Colby on the 18th Of last January.
The defense exercised only four Of it's ten
of it's Ave. When the twelve had been
chosen they were requested to rise to their
feet and be sworn. Eleven responded. but
the Sw swset'n up nas th hepna as yeiled II the he Judge.
This is no LODGING house house rolled over and
The twelve men in whose keeping rests
the fate of Peters are: John F. Hogan; ":
+. s arrinason tob nor Tipeet tar A. e. M fGhn
tyre, Harry North, James Guest, II. N.
Walker, NJ. v. Elvers, Robert Hauswirth
In his opening statement Mr.. Connolly
said that the prosecution expected to snoW
that on the night of February ID; 1900,
little Ie1efs east ato of the notwithstanding store,
on West Park street. Colby was on his
way home from a visit to his haneee. a
sister of the defendants wife. The two
men had some words in connection with
the alleged bad treatment of Mrs. feters
sister b. Peters ro, and 18th it haa q I Enife tha IT had had
never fallen into the hands OF the autnorl-
Mr.. Connolly further stated that IT would
be shown that Peters had a. motive for
the crime: that Colby was paying attentlon
to the sister Of Mrs. Peters and that Peters
mad gone out OF MS way " "asA
them: that on the night of the stabbing he
had in his heart malice, hatred and i'll VIII
towards Colby; that he was accompanied
by E. L. simons, who, outside OF Colby
himself, was the only eyewitness to the
stabbing. He would show, he said, that al
though Colby had lived nearly three weeks
death had been directly .traceable to the
knife thrust of Peters.
The defense reserved lts Statement men, ~ :.
Simons, the man in whose company Peters
was at the time Colby was stabbed. Simons
s St ef , tna 1t ns a and e ~ea II Il g sears s oId: He He
met him in Louisville, Ky; Peters had
had known Colby about fifteen days before
the stabbing, he having met him IN the
Weyerhorst block at the northeast corner
of Galena and Idaho streets. Drifting from
the frills Of examination, he told of the
fatal meeting between Peters and Colby
as he had seen it. He said that Pe eIecs ana ma
gether, and when about midway of the
block which extends from Main to Montana
street from on Park fhe op aney had di seen Gol0y pe eems
had remarked: q.
Lets cross the street. Here comes a
addressing Peters, remarked:
What have you been doing to Louise?"
1T is none Of your 49, business",,
Colby had then called Peters a coward
ana a cur, tOiQ MIN ne WOulu INK ulH anu
struck him with his fist. Peters had then
had clinched and gone down., with Peters
on top. When they arose Colby had asked
! Peters If he had cut him. they separated
and Peters had gone in search of Officer
Bryan, Peters saying he intended to have
Colby arrested and put in jail, as he did
not wish to have any more trouble with
him.
IT asked him if he had stabbed Colby >
said the witness. land he said he did not
know; he hoped not"
Simons also said he had seen the knife
blade glitter in Peters hand. He des-
cribed the clinch between the two men
after the knife had been used, and said
he had heard of no previous trouble be-
tween the two men.
Mrs. r. s. Colby. mother of the dead
man, stated that her son would have
been 50 years old in May and expressed
the belief that his death was due to the
stab wound inflicted by Peters.
DIR. J. w. Alexander, one of the sur
geons employed at the st. James hospi-
tai, to which institution Colby went fol-
treatment after being stabbed, testified
to a conversation he had with Colby. 81
told him I thought it impossible for him
to recover" said the witness. "At frs
he thought he would get we'll, but after.
wards ave it up. I told him he had bet.
ter make a statement to the district at.
torney. He afterwards said he believed h
was gone"
DIR. A. P. O'Leary testified tina he hat
attended the post mortem examination