Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-08-13

M potter Mortensen, the slayer oil 1ui'ieS
IA, uav has been denied a new tfial ps
Mna supreme court Of this state ! ne
K opinim Of the court which was Wr'''en
I'm Justice Bartch and concurreu III oS
Justlce BaslIin and Justice Nc
rartv and which contains A pages ol
tvneVrltten natter, was handed down
: o'clock yesterday afternoon
81 The unanimous opinion of the court
IN that no error was committed at the
trlal Of the case which would ehuue
Nortensen TO new trial aud the lower
oourt ,s instructed to proceed IN the
case IN accordance with the law
4 This IS the nnsl determination Of
the sui, and the defendant will have to
nav the penalty for his horrible crime
a crime the enormity Of which has not
beer outmnked In the history oil TINS
s,ote. II Is not believed in legal cir
cles that the case would have any
Standing in the supreme court OF the
limited States and there Is nothing
which could be brought up in the dis
trlct court here which would delay the
Execution of sentence for any great
length OF time. so It is very possible
tbat in the course Of short time Pc
Ter Mortensan will give up his life for
the life which he took nearly TWO
years ago,
JUsTICE BARTCHs STATEMENT
A statement Of the facts connected
with the crime made by Justice Bartch
an the opinion Is very accurate ana
concise 1t follows in full;
rThe information in this case charges
The defendant with the unlawful dellb-
crate and malicious murder on the lbth
day of December, 1901 OF James X.
HAY. Among other things II appears
from the evidence. that the accused
and the deceased we're both residents oil
Forest Dale. Salt Lake county Ut1h.
The deceased was the secretary ana
treasurer Of the Pacific Lumber com
pany. a concern dealing In lumber The
defendant was a contractor and builder
and before and mt the time the crime
charged was committed, was indebted
70 the lumber company Tor lumber AM
building materials. Having been fire.
ouentv asked 10y an agent of th lum-
Der company for money In liquidation
OF the Indebtedness the defendant, on
the llth Of December 1901, appeared az
The Office Of the company In salt Lake
City, and stated to its manager Mr.
Romney. that he thought he would be
able 10 pay the account on the 10th OF
December, 1901 on the afternoon Of
The 10th. at about 6 o'clock he again
appeared at the same Office and stated,
an the presence of the manager ana the
secretary that he was ready TO pay
The Indebtedness They then checked
over his account and found that he
owed the company $500 For SlOi OF
this he had given The company an order
on another person, and the balance, or
s.. 500, he said NJ had accumulated and
was keeping NJ his house In Forest
Dale and told Nj Hay 10 maxi cut
receipt and fetch II along with him.
Mr.. Hay made ont a receipt as request
ed. and then pinned Il and note. which
the defendant had given the company
as evidence of part OF the Indebtedness
together and put them In his inside
coat pocket on left side Tor delivery by
him TO the defendant upon receiving
payment Of 50 500 The manager, be-
Ing alarmed because OF the defendant
keeping So much money nt his house.
commanded him under no cirCum-
stances 10 pay over the money that
night not until the next morning. and
Instructed Mr. Hay not TO call for or
receive the same until In the morning.
The defendant said he wanted 10 sur
prise them and that was his reason for
accumulat ting the money instead Of
paying the Indebtedness In partial pay
ments. The three then, Il being near
ly 8 o'clock left the office and went to-
Eether 10 South Temple to West Tenn
ole street Thence the manager con-
tlnued on home aud Mr. Hay ana the
accused ,ook the Caldefs Park car for
their homes at Forest Dale
81 AM GOING OVER TO PETERS"
II appears from the testimony Of the
witness Morton that after Mr. ROM
ney, the manager, left them, the de-
PENDANT arranged for Mr. Hay 10 come
10 his house aud get the money that
night. The deceased arrived at his
home abou, s.2i p. m. took supper and
then left his house AT s:45, saying 10
his wife, II am going over to Peters
(degendanD 10 collect some money
Will be back soon At about 1879 the