Omaha daily bee., 1902-02-16
RHEA FIGHTS TO SAVE NECK
Convicted Of Numbering zlhs, He Seeks
Reversal frsm Supreme Court
REPUBllcANs SAVE TAXPAYERS MONEY
Check TO Fusion Family Raj on h
Treasury 60 the Extent of one
Hundred Thousand
Ga Dollars.
HEPUBLlcANs SAVE TAxPKYtss MONEY
Rrnm a star correspondent.l

NAA0AA n 2Na
LINCOLN, Feb. 15.-(special.)-The fate
Of william Rhea, convicted Of the murder
Of Herman Zahn, once more depends upon
the Judgment Of the supreme court. In
the trial court be was found guilty in the
FIRST degree and the supreme court last
month affirmed the decision, setting April
rs as the day Of execution. Through his
attorueys Rhea now asks for a rehearing.
The murder was committed In a saloon
near Fremont, Herman zahn, the keeper
Of the place. being fatally shot during an
encounter and an attempted holdup.
The attorneys for the defendant contend
that as the shooting occurred during a riot
the verdict Of guilty in the nrst degree is
contrary to law, 1t not being shown that
the murder was premeditated. The atten-
ton Of the reviewing court is called to
the following instruction which the judge
was requested to give to the jury:
9TH court instructs you that proof OF
robbery after the shooting OF Herman Zahn
10 not proof that the accused, William
Rhea, intended to rob him at the time
Of such Jnooting. II the shooting occurred
as an incident Of an angry dispute or alter
cation between others, in which the ac-
,cused, William Rhea, became embroiled,
and the said accused simply did the shoot
ing under the excitement incident to such
broil and without any purpose to rob, up
TO that time, but, after the shooting. formed
the purpose to rob, then the accused would
be within the requirement OF the words;
and, unless the evidence satisfies you be-
yond a reasonable doubt, that is to say a
moral certainty, that the accused actually
had the purpose or intention to rob at the
time of the shooting, in the sense above
in this instruction mentioned, then, under
the requirement Of said words in said sec
ton 3 of our criminal code, you have no
right to find the accused guilty OF murder
in the nrst degree"
Excuse for Asking Reversal.
Judge Crimson, before whom Rhea was
tried. declined to give the foregoing In
struction to the jury and his refusal is
now made the chief reason for asking the
supreme court to reverse the judgment.
Arguing the case further along this conten-
tion, the attorneys for Rhea say:
"a very casual reading Of the evidence
of Teresa Williams, called by US, and Of
our cross examination Of q number Of the
states witnesses, will show that the de-
Tense. and only defense for Rhea, that we
tried to make upon the trial, was that
he had been drinking heavily during the
night before and morning Of the day OF the
shooting and had continued to imbibe
during the AFTERNOON OIL Inc GNCuluB VI ~
shooting. and being in an excitable condi-
ton from such drinking he became EN-
broiled In a dispute with men outside OF
the saloon in which the shooting occurred,
and with those men rushed into the saloon
In the course Of the broil and did the
shooting near the door of the saloon, from
the Impulse Of the broil. That up to that
time there was nothing to indicate an In
tent 10 rob, no preparation for night, ana
nothing prepared necessary to insure sue
cess In a robbery; and that the robbery
4 such there was. was an afterthought.
an, incident Of the drunken condition OF
qhea and his companions, further excited
by the dispute outside, rather than an orig
inal design to rob-. and hence that the
evidence was not clear or convincing 'hat
Rhea intended to rob at the time ne sno'
Zahn."
Large saving 10
The cost of maintaining the various state
institutions under the first year OF the
republican administration compared with
the last year Of the fusionists represents
a saving to the taxpayers OF more tnAn
800. 900.
when the republicans assumed control
among the first things done was to ascer-
tain Low many friends and relatives OF fu-
hion onhcials were being kept at the In
stitutions at the expense OF the state. 1t
was found that In some institutions the
number reached as high as twenty-five and
that the total number was above 200, One
fusion Official had a family OF thirteen and
when he moved into the institution he not
only took his entire family with him, but
he also took two sons-in-law and two
nieces. There were many other simil>i
abuses discovered. Governor Dietrich va
Gated the executive chair before he had
time to formulate a remedy, but Governor
Savage took the matter up and at his so
licitation an order was promulgated by
the Board Of Public Lands and Buildings
requiring all but the minor children o
Buperintendents to vacate and leave the
institution. This alone, based on the pei
capita cost Of keeping each person at these
institutions. resulted in a net saving las
year Of more than $4,000.
The Poynter administration closed will
unpaid bills amounting to more than $140,
900, and TO pay these bills the last legisla
ture had to make a deficiency appropria
tion in a corresponding amount. On thii
point Governor Savage informed the head
OF the institutions that they would b
required 10 manage their Institutions so a
TO keep within the limits OF the appropriA
tions and that he would hold all oficial
personally responsible for any violation