The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1901-02-11
or THE
HAMILTON DAY
:nQKDEK CASE.

bled about the dead man, and they
stared first at the surgeon and then at
the corpse. as if unable to believe the
statement of the man of medicine.
Only for a moment stood they spell
bound; then came an incident so thrill,
ing and so dramatic that those who
witnessed it Will never forget it. Ham
/ iltOn and Bennett, moved as if by a
single thought, fell upon their knees
by the side of the dead and with their
hands clasped and their eyes closed
TeCited in unison this prayer, sacred in
the ritual Of the Episcopal church, to
which both men belong: ''Oh, Almighty
God with whom do live the spirits of
just men made perfect after they have
been called from this earth" etc. AS
these words broke the silence the sur
geOn and the men who had witnessed
the tragedy bowed their heads and per-
hapS thought of the scene but a few
moments before, when Day and Ham
iltOn were struggling for the mastery.
While this dramatic scene was being
enacted in the presence of the dead, the
police had been sent for, and an officer
arrived at the hotel in a few minutes.
All of the persons in the room were
detained pending an investigation, and
when this was ended Hamilton was
taken into custody, but not placed be-
hind the bars for the time being. As
he was still far under the influence of
(
the chief of police, where he sat, sur
rounded by his newspaper friends, un-
/ til morning, in consultation with an at
torney who had been summoned.
Meantime the entire detective force
had been at work on the case, and af-
ter they had made their report Hamil-
ton was locked up with the charge of
murder against his name, To this his
friends objected in emphatic tones, ar
guing that as other men, notably Fred
/ George, had to some extent partici-
pated an the fight, it was unjust to
hold Hamilton and allow all the others
TO go free.
When the people of Minneapolis
awOke Sunday morning and read in the
extra editions of the papers the details
Of the killing they were shocked as
never before since the Cling murder,
when d handsome young woman was
slain at the order of Harry Hayward,
a young society man, who afterward
paid the penalty of his crime on the
| gallOws, going 20 his death with the
/ GOODNESS of q man accepting an invita-
ton to a dinner. Claus Blixt, the man
who did the actual killing of the wom-
an, is now serving a life sentence in
the penitentiaTy at Saltwater.
Within a few hours after the news
papers made their appearance on the
streets the city prison and the office of
| the chief of police were filled with
/ The most wealthy and influential resi-
| dents of the city were there, and With
! them came dozens of women, maids
and matrOns to whom both the pris-
oner and the dead man were well
| known.
I Pressure was brought to bear upon
/ the coroner, and for the first time in
/ the history of the city an inquest was
/ held on the Lords day All of the men
/ present at the time of the tragedy
were summoned, but some of them
made such poor witnesses and were so
I reluctant TO tell what they knew Of the
matter that much unfaVOrable COM
ment was caused. Not one of them
would admit having seen the knife with
which the killing had been done, and
which was found lying on the floor,
with both blades closed, when the body
/ OF young Day was picked up and laid
/ cut on one of the billiard tables after
! the coroner had been summoned.
/ As a strange thing was the failure to
/ see this knife regarded, inasmuch as
/ the autopsy upon the body of Day
| showed that several blows had been
struck with the weapon, and that the
small blade had been broken off in the
/ head of Day before the fatal blow with
/ the large blade, was inflicted. The
/ wound that caused death was a stab
+ at the base of the left side of the neck
/ which severed the sub-clavian artery
/ and caused the victim to bleed to
/ death in short order. It had evidently
] been made with the big blade of the
/ knife, which was found to be covered
1 with blood.
I There was . general feeling all over
the city tnat much of the story was be-
/ ing held back. and when the coroner
! jury returned d verdict holding Hamil-
/ ton responsible for the killing OF Day
/ by reason Of having welded the knife
with which the fatal wound was in
/ fiicted cry went UP from one side OF
/ the city to the other that men high in
/ society were being protected, and that
Hamilton was being made a scapegoat
/ for others, who were using money to
/ protect themselves. The manner of sew
eral of the men against whom this ac-
cusatiOn was directed was peculiar, to
say the least. and for time their posi-
/ ton in the community was ANYTHING
+ but pleasant.
Meantime, stories of all kinds con-
corning the killing and the causes that
had led up to it were flying about the
cit- as the case was discussed. There
] is o. was hardly a better known man
in the city than Hamiiton-and Day
/ was not d stranger, by any means
and whenever two persons met for a
! moments conversation the tragedy was
I the sole topic under discussion. That
Hamilton had repeated to others stories
J rejecting seriously uDOn the character
J of Day which. it was said, had been
poured into his ears by Miss Slagle,
I who is one of the handsOmest girls in
/ the city. and the leader of the younger
/ upper tendOm,' was admitted by his
friends, even, and that the men had
/ quarred over her was not denied.
Other Women in the Case.
Tor the first few days the name of
/ Miss Slasle was mentioned only in
whispers; then other names began to
be heard in connection with the case
and at last there was no secret of the
fact that half q dozen or more women,
nearly all Of them respectable and OF
prominent families. were directly OF
indI eCtly connected with the two men
Miss Slagle denied emphaticaI that
she had ever told evil tales of the dead
man, but she admits that before Ham
ilCOn appeared upon the scene she was
a warm friend of Day, and that of late
she had frequently been in the COM
pany of the newspaper man, much 70
the displeasure of Day.
Day was in Europe with his mother
when Hamilton first came to Minneap-
oils, and it appears that the news that
Miss Slagle had forsaken him for Ham
iltOn reached him while he was away
several days before the tragedy at the
West hotel, that when he returned
home he would have to settle with a
man who had stolen his girl from
him. The defense will make much OF
this remark, and WILL it is believed. en-
deavor to show that Day first made
an attack upon Hamilton, and that if
Hamilton did use a knife upon the
young millionaire it was for the pur-