The Minneapolis journal., 1903-04-02
NICK ON The GUARD.
By It Witness Identifies the Re
volver Found in the River
as Tanke s.
Detectives Coleman and Whitney
Relate the Confession Said to
= Z Have Been Overheard. -.
Special to The Journal.

Special to The Journal.
st. James, Mimi, April 2.--Anton Lock
way of Minneapolis, formerly of st. Paul,
where he lodged occasionally with Tanke
several years ago, stated that the defend
ant then carried a revolver. The witness
said that upon examining it he noticed a
nick on the trigger guard, and this was
the means by which he identified the re-
volver in court as belonging to aTanke.
He admitted under cross examination that
he did not know the make or calibre of
the revolver. '..- . ~. q.
William Bieraugel, with whom Tanke had
arranged to go to New Ulm the night of
the murder was recalled and said he saw
Tanke at the Union hall between II and
II and that he told Tanke he would meet
him at Schumaker's about a. m. when
! they would go home together. The de-
fendant was not there. When Bieraugel
arrived the following day at the farm
when Tanke had returned, the place
where Wellner lay was pointed out.
Tanke, said the witness did not care to
look at it and went into the house.
| Richard Bieraugel, a brother Of Mrs.
| Tanke, said that he saw the defendant
| wearing a chain which looked like Well
| ner's after the funeral. He corroborated
the testimony of other witnesses as to
the attentions Tanke paid to Wellner's
wife at the dance. A few days after the
murder the defendant asked Bieraugel If
| he thought Mrs. Wellner would marry
again. On cross examination the witness
said he could not swear that Tanke wore
Wellner's chain, but he was pretty posi-
tive he did.
| Sheriff Mcmillan Of Nicollet county, who
arrested Tanke and his wife on Oct. II,
| 1901. on the farm, said on the stand that
he took the chain from Tanke. He put
| him in Jail, he said, and went to st. Paul
in January. 1902, to look up the record
| n q vrhor ho lived f1aro o,,I - RxS1
out If Tanke was in the habit of carrying
a revolver Lockway was first suggested
to him at this time on Jan. 10. He said
he had ordered a search to be made in the
river. five or six weeks previous to the
/ st. Peter trial.
Louis Lorek of Minnea polls testified that
i Coleman and Whitney had driven him out
to the Wellner farm in the fall of 1901
before the arrest. He hired out to Tanke,
but after dinner the defendant discharged
him. The witness then returned to New
i Ulm and told the detective of the incident.
i Coleman and Whitney, recalled this aft
ernoon, related the confession alleged to
have been overheard from the lips of
Tanke and wife in the Wellner barn. The
! state will probably, wind up it's case to-
day.
Il Coleman on the Stand.
The testimony yesterday afternoon re-
} lated almost entirely to the finding of the
AS'oA'ol. oOi1iI y. SCHultZ, formerly Cnl61
= engineer of the Eagle roller mill at New
ulm, told how the search was conducted,
also of his directing the searchers to drag
the river further out
!, John Schmidt and Chris Schwerr, who
were of the party, continued this line of
: testimony. Schwerr stated that he dug
!, up the revolver on the tine of his fork,
? and afterward gave it to Coleman, the
detective, whose testimony was corrob-
orative. Under stiff cross-examination
the defense failed to break down Mr..
Coleman The defense endeavored to
make him admit that he was working on
the case because of the hope of reward,
but Coleman said he knew of no rewards
until last summer, when informed of the
reward offered under Lind's administra-
tion. He had been hired to work on the
; case, he said, in the fall of 1901 by Fred
i Wellner, brother Of the murdered man.
i The revolver, he said, had been in his
:; possession al his home in Minneapolis up
to the time of the trial last June at Hen
derson. He identified the revolver in
court as the one found in the river. When
Attorney Peck of the defense pointed
7 out that the name of the maker had been
filed off, the witness replied that he never
I knew such to be the case until informed
by the testimony of the gunsmith at Hen
derson.
u R. ]. Whitney of Minneapolis, employed
by Coleman on the case, corrOborated
Coleman's testimony as to finding the re-
volver.
Two Empty Chambers.
Il Peter Larson of Henderson, who opened
the chamber, said he did so only after
putting the gun in a wise; he found in the
chamber three loaded shells and two