The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-07-24
WHAT NICHOLSON
| KNEW OF THE TRAGEDY.

ert Stewart Fosburg with the crime charged
| against him.
| WHAT NICHOLSON
| KNEW OF THE TRAGEDY.
| Replying 10 questions. he said that ne
| first learned OF the FoshurR tragedy about
o'clock the morning Of August 20, 1910,
He went directly to the police sta ton, where
he remained unit! . o'clock. He caused the
| fire alarm TO be sounded. He visited the
Fosturg house between 9 and o'clock.
Before entering the house Chief Nicholson
| said that he and James h. FosburS had u
| conversation about the foot tracks uader
| the talcony. The heels of the tracks were
| fresh. The toes pointed toward the house.
! The heels showed very distinctly. One foot
| v as slightly turned out. The prints were
! about two feet from the wall of the house.
! That is. the heels were. The length Of the
| foot was about that Of an ordinary mans
shoe Attention was called to other marks
about four feet north. They appeared as II
some one had just stepped there. He ex-
amined the porch column and rail running
along the stairs railing. The post had
| marks. and very distinct hand marks. He
| Identified photographs that he had taken
| OF the post He found no other like marks
and found no black marks except on this
! porch column; no marks In or about the
| house.
| Chief Nicholson said that he and the de-
! PENDANT made an examination Of the bal
| cony. There was some dirt there which had
a mark in 1t. The defendant was OF the
| opinion that 1t was finger mark. The
| mark was above tn marked column
| The defendant told him that there were
| two shots fired, and he said one was shot
in the back hall.
| STORY THAT FOSBURG
| TOLD THE CHIEF.
| The defendant told the Chief the story OF
| his being awakened. He rushed toward his
sisters room and saw light. He thought
there was fire and started toward Miss
Sheldon's room for bucket of water. He
said that his sister fell and he caught her
and that she half slipped through his arms
to the floor. He did not think she had
| been shot He supposed that she had been
pushed.
Looking up. Robert s. Foshurg saw. so
the witness testified he told him, a man in
the kitchen bedroom doorway. He Crap
pied with the man and thought he had him.
Then another man struck him and loosened
his hold. The man who struck him ran
down the back stairs; the other man went
out of the window.
Robert s. Fosburg. the witness said.
showed him hole in the wall and said
that one Of the bullets must have gone in
there. The officer inserted the blade of his
Snife into the hole. but found there was no
bullet or lead there.
The witness testified that he and the de-
PENDANT searched the kitchen bedroom. The
defendant called his attention to diamond
sunburst. stick pin and other pieces OF
Sarro n, ,,-hfo
| overlooked. He also called Chief Nichol-
sons attention to the drawer from which
he said his revolver had been stolen.
Chief Nicholson said his attention was
| called to the closet In the room where the
defendant said his trousers had been taken
The screen door leading to the balcony was
hooked on the inside.
| MADE EXAMINATION
OF THE ENTIRE HOUSE.
After his first visit to the Fosburs house.
he returned at II o'clock and then had
conversation with the elder Fosburg James
handed him punctured photograph and
bullet. James said he had found ball in
the comb case. On this second visit to the
house the Chief made an examination of
the cellar, attic and stairs
F, On the back stairs he found some
/ from the attic to the kitchen bedroom
| Il picked up these burned matches I
! also found more in the attic and others
in the kitchen bedroom repeated the wit
| ness. The matches were here exhibited to
! the jury. The defendant his father and
James Fosburg all arose and looked at the
burned matches as they were being shown
| to the jury.
| Seneca NJ. Taylor also examined them.
| Later the Chief found more burned matches
! about the house. James Fosburg brought
! some matches to the Chief. He said he had
| found them in the attic room in the house
| Following the funeral of Miss Fosburg and
the day the family had moved out of the
house. the officer found more matches
/, downstairs in the kitchen bedroom and OH
the balcony roof mad other places.
! They were what is called the Diamond
Card brand. The defendant had stated that
the family did not use Diamond matches,
but on the day the Fosburgs moved out of
the house to Church street he found Dia-
mend matches in the bedroom Of the de-
I PENDANT. These were exhibited.
FATHER DESCRIBED
STRUGGLE AND TRAGEDY.
The Chief went with the defendant into
his fathers room on his second visit 10 the
house. There the father described the s.rug-
gle Of the night in his room He described
the location Of the bed and how the assault
was made. The father OF the defendant said
that he did not know that he had disarmed
his man until after the shooting. when the
! revolver was found under the head of his
| bed.
| The hat that was found in the house. the
| elder Fosburg told the Chief, was picked
! up in his bedroom. The Chief asked the
elder Fosburg If the hat was worn under
the pillow case mask, and he was not able
to say.
After Chief Nicholson stepped down there
was short whispered conversation between
the attorneys for the defense and Judge
Stevens. after which Mr. Joyner took up his
address to the jury.
JOINER OUTLINES
/, CASE FOR DEFENSE.
/ ut is my intention to make clear explain
alton of the defense. reconcile the state
ments made by the Fosburg family and
gather together the threads Of evidence that
will prove the innocence of this defendant.
4, 1T Is not my right to argue against the
Governments case at this time. 1t has, in
deed. Ieen surprise to me in its weak
ness. The defendant Is a young man about
30 years old. He is connected through his
family with the builders of castles in the
Old World AS you see. he has n host Of
friends. many Of whom are here. They
know the sort of man he is.
/ "These two Fosburs men, father and son.