The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-01-26
TRAP FOR HORN
A FATAL SNARE
Famous Scout Alleged to Have
Admitted Being a Monster.
HIRED ASSASSIN OF PLAINS
FRoNTIERSMAN 1T Is SAID CON-
FEssEs TO MURDERS.
HIRED ASSASSIN or PLAINS
Especial tc The Herald,l


| the history of this section. Ut is GER
1 tain that the state did not show its
entire hand. although the evidence al
ready disclosed, attorneys say. is suf-
/ ficient to send Horn to the gaIlows.
| Enough was produced, however, to
] strengthen the belief. which has pre-
vailed here for number of years, that
/ Tom Horn is a professional man-killer.
Despite the fact that Horn was sus-
/ pected of having committed several
/ foul murders in this vicinity, he had
numerous friends who were ever will
/ ing to champion his cause and offer
! some excuse for him. Some said
The cattle Tustiers have been an
evil that the law could not deal with,
and it was necessary for the stockmen
| to take the work of discriminating
them into their hands and engage man
} Fl RS to rid the plains of the ever
ready maverick hunter" But yester-
oay ; coup of the Laramie county au-
| thOrities has worked a wonderful
change, and now that Horn seems to
! be completely in the meshes of the law,
these same men are saying he is guilty
beyond a doubt and should be pun
ished.
Now that the prosecution has dis
closed the nature of It's evidence
against the accused it is limited that
certain stockmen must either secure
the acquittal of the detective or leave
| the country forever. AS TO what they
| will do none seems to be able to tell.
They may leave Horn to his fate and
thereby save their own neckS, and
again they may stay and fight it out
and take a chance of acquitting him.
Certain it is, however, that if Horn is
convicted and he chooses to talk. his
! disclosures will add to the sensation.
| The testimony given yesterday by
/ Deputy United States Marshal Joseph
/ lie Fors was most startling, for out
side of the prosecuting attorney, Sheriff
/ SmalIey and his deputies and the
stenographer, and two or three news
paper men, none knew the nature of
! the evidence against Horn. The de-
| Tense offered no testimony whatever,
and there was nothing TO do but bind
the prisoner over TO the district court
without bonds, on the charge of muir
/ der in the first degree.
How They Got Alleged Confession.
That the stock detective was trapped
into making the confession and out
witted in every way is shown by the
! following:
The authoritie7 were of the belief he
was the guilty man, in the Nickel
case at least, ard set about to en-
snare him. He vas told that a Mon
tana stock outfit wanted just such
man as he to do some work" on their
range. His record was known to them
and he would be well paid for his ser
vices. 1t was arranged that Deputy
] United States Marsh laLe FOrs should
tell Horn of the proposed position.
| Sunday, Jan. II, was the day set as the
time when this information would be
impaired to the detective. He was to
go TO the office of Deputy Marshal lie
Fors, where he and the officer could
talk over mattersi undisturbed-
The authorities placed Deputy Sheriff
L. Z. Snow and StenOgrapher Charles
]. Ohnhaus in an adjoining room to
listen, and how well they did their
work was shown by yesterdays evil
dence against the~accuSed.
Horn, it is aid,-met lie Fors as per
arrangement and the two discussed the
Montana proposition. Little by little
the marshal drew Horn out, until, ii is
said, he secured from the accused a
complete statement as to the killing
of Willie Nickel and also some of the
details of the killing of Powell and
Lewis, all of which were taken down
in shorthand by Stenographer Ohm
haus.
In substance, Horns alleged confess
sion. and some of his reputed state
ments, were as follows:
He was hired to do the killings. For
the murder of William Powell and
William Lewis. who were assassinated
on Aug. and Sept. 8. 1885, respectively,
at their ranches in the Iron Mountain
district, he received $500 each. This
money, it is alleged, was paid to him
on a train between Cheyenne and Den
yer, in two 500 bills and the balance
in gold. According to this version for
| tJ,o Iyill;rcr e YTi11io NioIrafI hn received
$500, and for shooting at another man
five times presumably Kels P, Nickel,
father of the murdered boy. who was
wounded by a hidden assassin a few
weeks following the killing of his bOy),
he received $3.50.
Describes the Nickel Murder.
He came upon the Nickel boy while
lying in wait for the father. Fearing
that the lad would tell he had seen
Horn, the latter put him out of the
way, shooting him to death as he
passed through a gate near his fathers
ranch on the morning of July Is, last
William Lewis WAS shot in his cor
raj, and Horn. in his alleged confess
sion, said: He had the most scared
look on his face ] ever saw"
Horn was often at the ranch of John
: c. Coble. resident of the Iron Mountain
Ranch company, at Bosler, thirty miles
west Of the scene of the killings. COble
had kept him in horses and grub, he
said, and was the best friend ne had
in the world, although Coble was not
aware of the killing.
Among the damaging statements
Horn made in his alleged confession
were the following:
: Il thought the kid CWillie Nickelll
: would get away from me, but l got
him. It was the best shot l ever made
in my life and the dirtiest job 1 ever
: done"
Il never leave a trail. I always 60
barefooted when 1 do q job of thi:
klno.
Yes, I get hungry sometimes wher
am out on one of these jobs; so damn
hungry, in fact, that 1 would kill my
mother for some grub.
Il used a 1890 smokeless. because
this gun seldom fails me when l ge
| a line on my man"
At never have any fears but what
, I viii get paid for my work; ! would
kill a man if he beat me out of Il
cents"
killing men is my speciality. 1t is
a business proposition with me, and
guess 1 have got corner on the mar
ket in this section"
NO, 1 have learned never 10 leave
any shells behind Once, however,
burned some powder in FIVE shells and
catered them along my trail, but
even then the damned officers could
not follow me-"
4 always took precautions not TO be-
, seen. but if anyone followed me
would kin them. I never wanted tC
kill an officer or person that was no
after. but if they pushed me ! would