The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1903-09-25

several children. 1t is not known whe-
ing. The nephew of the defendant is al
SO married and has four children. The
family live on Grams farm and the lat
ter has been living with them.
1t was at five minutes before five
o'clock that Grams left his house this
morning to 60 hunting, and it was at
twenty-five minutes after seven o'clock
that he returned. When he and his
nephew reached Eagle Lake it was 1850
a. m.
The Nephew's Statement.
Emil Grams, the nephew, knows about
as much about the case as anyone. He
said to The Free Press this afternoon:
"Day before yesterday, uncle asked me
to go over to Herman's to see whether
his wife was there, as neither he nor 1
knew where she was. 1 did not go. Yes
terday afternoon he went chicken shoot
ing at the north end of the farm, but
did not get any, saying on his return that
they had gone from there. He fired but
one shot. There were eight shells left,
but they were mine and he left them.
He sent his boy to Smiths Mill to buy
a box of cartridges, and he borrowed a
ten guage shot gun, saying that he would
hunt chickens today. This was last eve
ming. He placed the cartridges in a hunt
ing belt and started out this morning
with the borrowed gun and a dog.
when uncle got back to our place,
he said that he had shot his wife. His
account of the affair was that he went
to Herman Pilliberg's house and had a
talk with his wife on the porch. He
asked her what kind of a settlement
she wanted to make, referring to the
proposed meeting in Mankato today.
She replied that she did not want to have
anything to do with him. She then
turned to go into the house, and he fired
at her, hitting her in the neck, and she
fell to the floor. He then left the place
and returned home.
when uncle got through telling me
what he had done, he asked me to take
care of the youngest girls until they
should become of age.
"The first thing that uncle said when
he got back was She has gone, / have
shot her. He said She is dead He
put two shells in the gun and said hat
they were for him, but L stayed with
him so he could not use the gun. Then
he hid the gun, and L was unable to find
it. He also hid his sons gun, which was
a twelve gauge gun. He gave me some
to hand to the sheriff.
Mr.. Grams gave the papers to Mrs.
Williams in the absence of the sheriff.
1t is believed that they relate to the di-
vorce case, and are the correspondence in
the case. |
County Attorney Wilson was informed
by telephone of the murder at eight
and notified the sheriff, who with
the coroner soon afterwards drove to the
of the murder. 1t was during
their absence that the prisoner was
to Mankato. An inquest will
have to be held.
Murder in First Degree.
County Attorney Wilson prepared a
charging Grams with murder in
first degree. The penalty for this !
is death, unless the sentence should be
In order to show murder in the first de-
yrea itisnecessary to show generalization. !
are many circumstances that point
% generalization in this case, as will be
noticed from the preparations for the
hunt, and the effort made to
ocate the whereabouts of the woman.
Trans is also said to have made threats
It various times that he would kill his
wife.
Grams is said to have been a good
learted man When sober, but when
trunk to nave been very quarrelsome. A
cry little liquor affected him more than
would be expected. His wife is said to
been an excellent lady, hard
and very pleasant hammered.
'he was a small woman and wore spec
She was in MankatO for some
ime last spring, while bringing her Sec
nd suit for divorce, and those who form
her acquaintance speak well of her.
hey say she was a bright woman.
Grams is not a large man. He has a
ing flowing beard of reddish hue, and ,
ears blue clothing, such as old soldiers '
7ear. He claims to have served in the
in the old country. f.,
Abused His wife.
A party who knows the family well = =
ays that the wife has been very badly I
for several years by her hus- r
and, VINO, ne says, KNOCKED ner uoWH
it'll a neckyoke a year or SO ago.
Mrs. Grams brought her first action for
about two years ago, and her
,cond action last January. II. L.. & j..
7. Schmitt were her attorneys in these i,
.roceedings. Her first name was Angus .
/.
Mrs. Grams told certain parties that
lie worked in the field to help accumu- 7
tie the property. She said that her hus- 1
i'll treatment began four years !,
20, when he assaulted her with an open 1
nife and threatened to kill her, and so