The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-05-18


and four hours the jury in the Lutz
murder case came into court at Wilkes
Barre yesterday afternoon and rem
dered their verdict, finding Lutz guilty
CT murder in the first degree. A good
deal of interest was excited in the
case, owing to the long time occupied
by the jury in reaching a verdict. With
one exception this is the longest time
jury has ever been out on murder
case in Luzerne county.
The exception was in 1861, when
Henry w. Palmer was clerk of the
courts. a Juror became sick and his
fellow jurymen were compelled to re-
main near him for 80 days.
The verdict in the Lutz case has
been anxiously awaited, and when the
jury came in at 405 yesterday after
noon there was a large crowd in at
tendance. Every juror answered
guilty of murder in the first degree"
Since the Jury first went out the vote
polled showed ten for conviction and
two for insanity. A few days ago,
however. one man was won over and
the vote then stood eleven to one in
favor Of conviction. Recently the
Jurors came out for dinner at the EX-
change hotel, eleven of them were no.
ticed to have a bow of baby ribbon
in a button hole on their coats. The
one Juror without a ribbon was Fore
man +. A. Il. Rooms, giving the inn
preston that Koons was the one hold
| ing out for insanity, and when the
verdict of each juror was polled this
afternoon it was shown that he was
| the man that had hung up the jury so
| long.
WANTED TO SPEAK.
When Mr.. Rooms name was called
| by the court yesterday afternoon he
started to make a speech in justiflca-
| tion of his action, saying he signed
| the verdict under protest, that he be-
| lieved I.utz did not know what he was
doing at the time. Judge Halsey,
however, interrupted him, and asked
him what his verdict was, to which
he replied, guilty of murder in the
| first degree"
| The crime for which John Lutz, was
| found guilty was one of the most hor-
rible ever committed in Luzerne coun-
| ty. Lutz, with his wife and family of
four children, lived in a neat little
home in West Pittston. On the night
of Nov. 2S. 1899, Lutz and his wife
had slight quarrel. The mother and
her children went upstairs to bed.
About Il o'clock Lutz quietly sneaked
up the stairs and into the room in
which his wife lay in bed asleep with
one child by her side and another in
a crib bv the bed.
With the sharp edge of long
handled axe Lutz struck his sleeping
wife several blows. cleaving her skull.
Her hand was also split open, evil
IDENTIFY as she raised it to ward off a
blow. Lutz then stepped into the next
room and attempted suicide by cut
ting his throat with a pocket-knifc.
The first intimation that a crime
had been committed was when the
| little daughter in bed with her mother
| awoke and found herself lying in q
pool of blood and her mother moaning
Mrs. Lutz fingered between life and
| death for three days. Lutz was ar
rested and quickly recovered from his
self-inficted wounds.
THE TRIAL.
He was called up for trial on Mon.
day, April 30, and the case was giver
to the jury at 12.4j o'clock on Wed.
nesday, May @ James L. and Charles
b. Lenahan were the attorneys fol
the defense and District Attorney Mar.
tin and Assistant NJ. ]. Mulhall ap.
peared for the commonwealth. The
jurors were James Barrett, Newpor
township; NJ. c. Andreas, Wilkes
Barre; John Fell, jr, White Haven
George Hinkleman, Newport; Jacot
Meyer, Ross township: Winn Harrison
Huntington township; Elias Lloyd
Nanticoke; Silas Nevil Ross township
David Renshaw, Halle township: +
A. B. Koons, Huntington; Daniel Lew
is, Sugar Notch; S. r. Buckalew, Fair
mount.
Koons would probably have stayed
out for an indefinite period had HI
not become i'll yesterday morning. II,
said he was unable to withstand tn,
siege any longer.
When dizzy or drowsy, take Beech
| ans Pills. ~