Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1902-05-01
They said his

j.. IL NlfAHlIlE n liiNA +sAiA''ff -
vas called aud tr-t,d d to having Known
ui9son in..misy iOr n number OF years
in Lane County II ; reputation there
wa very good.
DR.. ". H. Cheshire, OF EuIrne, was
cal Ell and said he had known Gibson as
long a. he had AuUwn any one as they were
boys together. Gibson, he said always
bore a good reputation in Lane county
Chas. Ladd, Cha.. Grow and d. W.
Mitchell, all of whom were acquainted
with both parties swore that the reputa'
ton Of onbacheler wac bad hut that
Gibson was lawsbiding and peaceful
citizen. None Of them had ever known
Schonbscheler to do any serious crime,
or of ever having been arrested.
The leading feature Of the trial Tues
day morning was testimony o' Ihos.
Jefferson Gibson, the deiendeni. Glib
sou appeared perfectly cam, aud col
lecied as he took the witness stand
and began answering the questions oI
his attorney. Gibson il small man,
dark comp ected and with nothing about
his features that would indicate cIi:ni-
nal. lie stated that he was born near
Eugene and i've lheIe nearly all his HE
| lie came 10 the Simpkins farm last tall.
| He soon iound that Schon bachelor and
| l.. H.. hl.t nnlUh hnTg
They had frequent quarTtl1. Schon'
| bachelor would set his dogs on Gihson's
stock, not only driving them off the
farm, but uilentimes completely out OF
the neigh hborhood. Gibson went to
Schon bachelor an asked him to stop
and he said he would, but instead Oi
doing this he kept on. The enmity
greS bitter between them and as Schon-
bachelor could not get in or out without
crossin! the Simpkin's farm, things
assumed such condition as to keep a
c)nsta1 q1arrel bre~ing. Gibson s@ore
that he had been warned by bls.brother
on the morning OF the shooting to be on
his guard, as Schonbacheler had
threatened his life He had been out
twice that morning with his rife, after
coyotes. lie went TO the river to get
his boat, but 1t WAS tied on Schon-
bacheler's land and he could not get it,.
He called across the river to Van Dorm
to bring his boat to him, but no one
could he aroused. He went back to his
house and seeing the smoke arise from
the Van Dorm home he started again for
the river. AZ he did so he saw Schon.
bach eer come out of his house with a
gun in bis hand. From the way in
which they were walking they would
meet at right angles. Gibson believed
that he would have to kill Schonbsche-
Ter or be killed. 4 small hill obscured
Schon nbscheer from his view for a time.
Gibson said he could have turned and
fled at this time, but he was afraid that
ne would be pursued and shot down.
When they came in view Of one another
they were about l25 yards apart. Gibson
commanded Schonbacheer TO drop his
gun, but the latter, instead Of obeying,
. threw his gun to his shoulder and took
} ain. Before he could shoot, Gibson
raised his rifle and fired. Schonbache-
lei fell and Gibson walked on about 10
or 20 PAGES, and hearing groans and set
ing the body move fred another shot.
, lie said he fred the second shot be-
canse he thought the first one did not
Kill him. Mrs. Schonbachsler did not
come out uhill after the second snot WEI
fired Gibson went over to the Crow
ranch and gave himself up. lie was
brought into town and appeared before
the district attorney making full con
iesslor.
At the afternoon session, Tuesday, a
number Of witnesses were called by the
prosecution to testify to tue reputation
Of SchonbAcheler; these were, W. S
Wood, Chas, Nickel, John Lockhardt
A. II Applegate, II. T. Kesser A. r
Weln ,rd, =, II. Harth and Jos Griffith
These witnesses had either known
. SchUnbacheler in years past, OF becom,
acquainted with him more recently
, All testified 10 the good reputation o
. the man. The fret arguments in tht
, case were begun about ? o'cIocI
Tuesday afternoon, Deputy Distric
, Attorney Reames making the cpenu.
plea ioi the prosecution.
Following this came the opening ar
guments ior the defense by Col. Reed
The speaker stated that there was bu
one question in the case OF importanc,
for the jury 10 decide aud that wa
whether or not Gibson shot in self de
iense. The arguments Of Col Reed II
reviewing the testimony were alon,
this line.
Attorney r. q, Smith followed will
the completing arguments for the de
, tense. Before beginning his plea h,
begged ,ha, the court instruct the jurl
rs to what is meant aud defined by law
a. u dangerous weapon and ale,
what rights man is allowed in actin,
in self defense The plea Of Attorney
Saith for his client was mo,t tloqueu
and the entire testimony and citcum
stances in the case were reviewed a
length.
plstuct Attorney R.amrs made III,
closing arguments for the prosecution
with long address bolorp The jnrors
whica was frequently interrupted by
objections from the council for defense
At the close Of Attorur, R,amet al
gumonIs lae court adjourned tili 7:S0
at which time IL WAS convened aud owe
an hour consumed In the iusuu-,ion o
the jury by the judge.
Al S o'clock the weary jury re
tired 10 deliberate MANY nf fb,