Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1901-04-11
JOHN WARnE TELLS HIS
STORY OF THE AFFAIR
DENIES HAVING OUTRAGED LITTLE EvELINE BLEWETT AND
CLAIMS THE FIRE WAS c AJSED BY THE ACCIDENTAL
0VERTURNING OF THE STOVE.

John Warne, the accused murderer Of
Eveline Blewett, was brought from Ana
conda on the train that arrived in this
city at 4:1O yesterday afternoon. and last
evening Coroner Johnson completed the
inquest on the body of the child, the
verdict of the jury being as follows:
I'VE, the jury, find that Eveline Bler
EFT came to her death in a cabin situ-
ated on the side of a reservoir in the city
Of Walkervlle, county of Silver Bow,
state Of Montana. on Saturday, April g,
1901 between the hours of 80 and 3 j..
m, and we, the jurors, find from the
evidence that the said Eveline Blewet,
came to her death by being struck viii
a blunt instrument; and in the opinion
of the jurors the said cabin was set on
fire to conceal the crime of criminal as
sault; and further, it is the opinion of
the jurors that the . id blow was struck
and said criminal assault was committed
by one John Warne, who was at said
time in the employ of the Butte City
Water company as Waterman at said
reservoir
The jury comprised II. A. King. Joseph
Massa, John H. Williams. John II. Miles,
William G. Crosse and William GAVIN,
each of whom signed the verdict. The
gentlemen deliberated nearly an hour
before arriving at an agreement but
failure to reach a conclusion sooner was
not the result of a belief on the pale
Of some Of them that Warne was not
guilty. 1t seems that about half of the
six wanted to make the wording of the
verdict much stronger than it. appears,
but the other half counseled moderation
to degree sufficient to answer the pur-
pose, and won out in the long argument
on the point.
Warne has not been in Anaconda ali
of the time since last Saturday. Shortly
after being landed there he was trans
ferred to Deer Lodge, where he was
given quarters in the pententiary, which
is sometimes an easy place to break into
but a hard one out of which to break.
The final session of the inquest was
held in Sheriff Furey's residence at the
rear of the court house, and although
Coroner Johnson was at the head of il
Alexander Mackel of the county attor-
ney's office conducted the eXaminati y,
of the only real witness, John Warne
The verdict of the jury is evidence that
the story told by the aged prisoner was
not believed. The accused man said he
was Il years old last February and hal
come from Ontario, Canada, to Butt"
about ten years ago. On the way, how
ever, he had stopped in Iowa to visii
his brother and had gone once to Spo-
kane to see his own daughter after liz
had lived in Butte IA few years. He SAD
he had worked for the water company
most of the time and had acted az
.watchman at the Wakerville reservoir,
about TWO years.
Warne described the interior of the
cabin. He said it was about ks feet
contained floor, had no window but
the door was partly glass. The door
stood in III. center of the south wal
while the cot or bed stood against the
north wall. The oil stove stood east oil
the center of the room and the tank
contained three or four quarts of Ill.
There ~as fire in the stove and the olG
man sad he was sitting close TO til.
etnve when the girl entered the room.
'Gentlemen," said Waine, addressing