The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-01-27
The Hearing of COffelt Begins
at Winfield Today.
Charged With the Murder o.
Detective Montgomery.
STRONG LEGAL FIGHT.
Is No Direct Testimony Against
the Prisoner
But a Strong Line of Circum'
stantial Evidence.

Winfield. Kan, Jan. 27.-The hearing
of Q. w. Coffelt, charged with the muir
der Of George c. Montgomery, the
Atchison, Topeka & Santa F'e detective,
began here today.
There is no direct evidence against
the man now held on this charge, but
the state will try to prove by closely
connected chain of circumstances that
Coffelt is the guilty one. Montgomery
was the agent, and his territory covered
almost all of Kansas and Oklahoma,
and it was his duty to look after the
company's property. He was sworn in
as an officer of the law in both the state
and territory and in fact was a COM
pany detective. In this position he be-
came known over all the company's
lines and it is the highest desire of the
employees to see his murderer brought
to justice.
The case will develop a big legal
fight and County Attorney Terrence,
who has the states case in charge, will
be assisted by several OF the Santa Fe's
own lawyers. The defense will be con-
Quoted by William P. Hackney and ].
T.. Lafferty of this town.
Montgomery was killed the evening
of October 5. 1901. He had just finish
ed supper a few moments before and
sat down at a table in the sitting room
of his home to make out his week
He was busily engaged upon this work
when a shot was fired, and he fell out
of his chair onto the floor, dead.
The assassin who planned and carried
out this murder had evidently waited
for just such an opportunity. 1t was
dark and there was no one out of
Montgomery, the son of the murdered
man, had been playing with dark
lantern in the yard only a few moments
before and his father had told him to
window upon him, as it bothered his
work. The boy stopped and had just
entered the kitchen when the shot was
fired.
loaded with buckshot. From the direc-
ton the load went it is supposed he
rested the gun on the gate post and
took a deliberate aim before firing.
Montgomery made good target. Eight
of the shot took effect. Immediately the
hunt for the murderer began and end
ed only when the man Coffelt was land
ed in the Jail at Pawnee, Ok. All that
night men hunted that part of the town
over and all roads leading from the
place were guarded as soon as the men
keeping the murderer from leaving the
city. This was useless, however, for if
he left the town that night he did 1t
before the guards were put out.
There had been trouble between Mont
gomery and the 1O1 ranch people in the
territory and attention was directed
toward the ranch 1t was upon this
theory that the officers arrested COffelt.
Whether the people on the ranch are
rightfully wrongfully suspected re-
mains to be shown at the trial. The
ranch is owned by George Miller, whose
home is in Winfield. The fact that ne
is not friendly to the Santa Fe road has
no doubt had considerable to do with
the moulding of public opinion.
The history of Miller's trouble
with the Santa Fe began several years
ago and was a controversy over freight
on some cattle shipped from Alabama.
This ended in a lawsuit in the district
court of Cowley county and Mr.. Miller
received a verdict in his favor for a
small sum.
On the day of the trial in Perry, Mont
gomery and one of the Millers had a
personal encounter, in which Montgom-
cry gave the Miller boy thrashing.
This further aroused the ranchmen and |
the entire crowd of cowboys took up |
the quarrel. A short time later Mont |
gomery and George Miller happened to |
be upon the same train and witnesses |
say a fight started. This added fuel to |
the already well fed fire of hatred
Montgomery was absolutely fearless |
and the next time he passed through |
Bliss a crowd of armed cowboys was at |
the station to meet him. Taking two re- |
volvers in his hands, he remarked as
he stepped from the train and leveled |
the pistols at the crowd, There is not |
a spot of American soil upon which I |
cannot stand" He had the drop" and |
L,
waited he talked to the men, but his
conversation was not intended to have |
a quieting effect. AS the train pulled |
out he stepped aboard and only once
more did he make trip through that
town before he was killed.
About ten days after the killing w.
c. johnson was arrested and put In |
the county Jail, charged with the muir
der. JOhnson's parents live in Winfield, |
where his father has contract to carry
the mail, and until the night upon
which the murder was committed ne
worked on stone quarry east OF
town. The next N orning he went to |
Bliss and was employed on the ranch
He was arrested on the ranch and his |
father persuaded him to come to Kan
sas without a requislt1on. he is 70
ord at home. He had his preliminary
hearing and was bound over to the dis
trict court. In this he swore he Went
to Bliss Sunday morning following the
but the Santa Fe's ticket rec
ord shows no sale of a ticket on that
day, but the next one, Monday, the
agent sold a ticket for Bliss to john
SON with whom he was acquainted
This difference and several others war
ranted the justice in holding him for
the district court. He is not suspected
of being the real murderer but is
thought to be an accomplice-
The work of running Coffelt down
was placed in the hands of N. w. Bush,
the assistant superintendent of the
Kansas City Pinkerton agency. he
learned that a man called Colorado
had been on the ranch early on the
morning of October and had left very
suddenly before daylight. This man
turned out to be o. w. Coffelt, and he
went to Pawnee. Previous, however, to
the time of the Montgomery killing,
Coffelt had been arrested by the oin-
GERS of Pawnee county and held on the
charge of assault with intent to kill.
Coffelt is a queer mixture. 1t is said
that he was for a long time the hang
man for the government prison at Fort