Omaha daily bee., 1902-10-28
LIFE SENTENCE FOR MURDER
Anton Christensen Must Pay Heavy Penalty
for Killing His Wife.
DEAD woMAws SISTER APPLAUOS JUDGE
Rises ana Chaps Hands NJ h Court
Utters words that shut All Hope
Out of Condemned Mans
Life.

The solemn hush that attended the SEN
fencing yesterday OF Anton Christensen
TO spend all the rest Of his days behind
prison walls was broken by the quick, We
hement c~lapping OF the sister Of the wife
whom he murdered. Never was applause less
expected and never has It been more start
ling to those who heard It. The little group
about the condemned man had been breath
less as the Judge pronounced his blasting
words, and shuddered to hear that sound Of
sxultation which is so rare in court rooms,
even when the pronouncement is one Of hope
instead Of whitening doom. The prisoner
uttered not a sound. but bowed beneath the
blow, meekly and with all hope gone.
Christensen twice shot and instantly
killed his wife at their rooms over 1921
Dodge street August % last and had pleaded
not guilty to a charge of first degree muir
der, preferred after the coroner's jury had
made such finding. Monday morning he was
brought into court and permitted by the
county attorney to withdraw his plea Of
not guilty OF hrst degree murder and plead
guilty of murder In the second degree, for
which latter crime, as Judge Baxter Of the
criminal court Immediately informed him,
the penalty is not less than ten years and
may be a life sentence.
Christensen. who is 80 years old and has
the deep lines and rowing stare Of a man
who had brooded much in silence, re-
NAMED mute through most Of the proceed
ings, permitting Attorneys Lambert and
Gurley, his counsel. to speak for him when
questions were asked.
Friends Speak for C~hristenson.
The court. before passing sentence gave
audience to what friends had to say in
Christenson's behalf. J. II. Baker testified
TO having known him until a year or so ago
and that during that time he had been we'll
deported, moderately aostemious and quiet.
Other former ~neighbors who had known
him in South Omaha testified to the same
effect. p. A. Barrett declared that of his
own v%olition he had investigated the cir
cumstances OF Christenson's domestic life
and found that Mrs. Christensen had been
neither true nor kind to him and had tried
TO break up their marital relationship when
she took the rooms on Dodge street. Bailif
George Sherwood testified to Christenson's
good character when he had known him
eighteen months ago.
Attorney Gurley stated that in July last,
while working as a carpenter at the Union
Pacific shops, Christensen had suffered a
sunstroke OF a character which might af-
feet the brain, and introduced a statement
OF DR.. Kelly OF South Omaha. who had at
tended Christensen, which was to that
effect. He stated also that DR.. Smith, as
sistant surgeon OF the Union Pacific, had re-
corded such sunstroke on the company's
books.
The only time Christensen spoke during
the hearing was when he ex.
planned the remark. your time is soon
coming" by saying that instead Of address,
ing his wife he was speaking to Ida C.
MAgnuson, the chambermaid. who was to
DO discharged at the end of the week.
Judge Baxter Passes Sentence.
When all had been heard Judge Baxter
turned to Christensen and, after express
ing his reluctance to perform such a duty,
said that for the act itself there seemed
TO be absolutely no excuse. no circum-
stance that seemed to justify the court In
extending a lenienoy beyond that granted
by the county attorney in allowing the
plea to be changed to second degree muir
der and that the sentence Of the court
would therefore be that you be taken to
che county Jail and thence, within thirty
days, to the state penitentiary at Lincoln,
1here to be confined at hard labor for the
rest Of your natural life"
Almost before the last word was spoken
n woman. yelled and dressed completely in
black, VINO sat beyond the forum rail-, but
in one OF the front benches, and who had
not been noticed previously. arose and
clapped her hands vehemently many times,
reseating herself before the surprised bailif
could realize what was being done. The
court paid no heed and Christensen him
self. though he must have heard 1t, did not
even turn his head, but after a moments
hesitation walked slowly and quietly to the
table where he had laid his hat and then
back to his jail cell. To Captain Neve, the
sherif's deputy who accompanied him, he
confessed that he had expected a sentence
Of from ten to fifteen years and that the
commitment for life was a blow he found
hard to bear up under.
The woman who applauded was Mrs.
Shannon, sister OF Mrs. Christensen. With
her was their brother, Michael Minnicus,
and their mother, Mrs. Katherine Minnious,
the latter sixty-four years old and sobblng
quietly, but without the open hatred that
the. sister showed. Accompanying this
group also was John Henry Christensen,
son of the murdered woman and condemned
man. When County Attorney Shields re-
marked TO the youth that such a sentence
was better than hanging. the boy replied
that he would not have cared had the lat
tsr penalty been imposed.