Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-13
IN THE HANDS
OF THE JURY
ARGUMENTS WERE MADE IN THE
FELKER MURDER CASE
TODAY.
Mr.. MACKEL SCORED
THE MOTHER-IN-LAW.
Knife Wound in Back Was Suspicious
The Defense Eulogizes Mrs.
Felker For Her Actions.

remained TO be said in the trial of the
ease of the state against l.. l.. Felker
yesterday afternoon, a few words from
Mrs. Anna Anderson in relation to
statement alleged to have been made
! by Mrs. n Higgins, a former witness for
the defense, in her presence on or about
| February at No. 81 West Broadway,
| being the finish. Mrs. Higgins had
been accused of having Aaid that Fell
ker would be cleared and that Mckin-
/ stry would be sen; to the penitentary
for five years, but on the witness stand
She denied it. Mrs. Anderson swore she
uttered the remark.
The remainder of the afternoon was
spent in the preparation of the instruc-
lions to the jury, which We're given by
the judge in advance of the argument
today. an hour being consumed in theii
delivery.
The argument in behalf of the state
was opened by Alexander Macilel. one
of the two chief deputies to the county
attorney In the course of his remarks
Mr.. Mackel referred to the killing as
one of the most cold blooded assassina-
tions that Silver Bow county had ever
produced. 40 this statement Attorney
Cotter took exception and appealed to
the judge. but the latter said he thought
it was all right. and the speaker con-
tfnued. He mentioned the fact that
Cunningham was a cripple and had ac-
cumulated some property: that he was
surrounded by retinue of relatives,
including motherin-law II ask you,
gentlemen of the jury" said ne, IF
man, having a mother-in-law around
him. might not be embitte, ed at
times?'
Mr. Maciiel quoted the language at
trihuted to Mrs. Felker. Cunningnam's
mother-in-law, at the time she is al
legged 70 have told Cunningham, during
ms last visit to his home. that if she
had possessed an ak or Ratchet at the
tine he assaulted his wife on the night
OF November 80 he would not be there
to talk the matter over. He referred
to the mother-in-law as a fighter, bas-
ing his allegation on the fact that on
November 80 she snapped the hammer
of revolver twice at CUNNINGHAM and
then struck him on the head with the
weapon. He said she had claimed on
the witness stand to have been SPELL
bound during some of the scenes of the
last trouble and therefore could not re-.
helnpef clearly what had taken place.
put she was not Spellbound when she
snapped the gun at Cunningham and
then struck him with the weapon
HoihS INTO the prospective motive for
the crime he mentioned the S., 600 insur-
alce policy held by Cunningham on his
life and expressed the belief that the
defendant considered him worth Ss 600
more dead than alive. He advanced This
theory OF the motive. he said in Justice
10 the man whose body rested in the
grave yard but still the motive. as al
leged by the defendant himself might be
coIiett' 100 much mother-n-law and
nolhll'S more is the cause of poor Jack
cunningham's death and noth;,c.
more said he, with emphasis
In the course of the talk Mr. Nracl-a1
expressed the belief that the background
contained something in connection with
the case that had been kept back. He
spoke OF the wound in CUNNINGHAM ms
pack ana broadly intimated that either
the defendant or someone else in the.
room had inflicted it with a knife afte,.
the shots We're fired
Attorney Cotter followed Mr.. Mackel
After some preliminary remarks he told
or Cunningham's visit to his wifi. on
the night of November 30 and instead of
caressing her drew large knife anc m
l'lcted upon her ten wounds. He Stoke
or his subsequent visit to the house, thu,
Nlslt on which he was killed by + ,lker
ana expressed the opinion that in his
a''ehpt TO smooth over the past he had
sinister motive. He asked the i,ro,s
to put themselves in the position oc-
cupied by Felker and say whether t,ey
would wait until after a man mad
plunged knife into their sister before
shooting him. That sister, he said. at
the very time Cunningham was prepar-
ing to stab her was lying in bed as q
result OF wounds he had given her with
knife two weeks before She -xas
therefore absolutely helpless. Il hay
no more respect for John V. Cunning
ham dead or alive than I have for the
lowest creature on EARTH" said he. His
actions and conduct towards his wife
showed him to be cur and a coward
bio"dthlrsty wretch entitled to nc
consideration by anyone. Even the littl,
BOY shrunk from his inhuman fathe,
when taken into the room where the
latter was, not caring to have anything
TO do with the man who, two weeks he.
fore. had attempted to cut his mothe,
| to pieces
Gong into the remark attributed II
Mrs. Felker about the AK and hatchet
Mr.. Cotter said: "Gentlemen of tn,
jury, to be frank with you, it is lcall,
too bad Mrs. Felker did not have a,
AK, Ratchet or some other weapon Will
which she could have ended Gun
ningham's career at the time he as
saulted her daughter on the night o
! November So
In making a comparison of the cas-,
with other killing scrapes. Mr.. Co. Re
said he had appeared as an attorney il
many murder cases and he had ,eye
known of one in which the defendan
had been more clearly justified in kill;
ing man than had Felker in this case
| The case went to the jury about
| o'clock this afternoon