The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1904-11-25
But It Is Believed That Arrests
Will Soon Be Made.
Dr.. Koch and Editor Brooks In.
vite Court Of Inquiry.
Hammer Identified as One Own.
ed BY Dr.. Gerhard.
Especial to The Free Press

New Ulm, Nov. l7.-There's nothing
doing in the New Ulm murder mystery
today. All appears to be quiet on the
surface, but the police and detectives do
ing good deal of fussing around. The
citizens meeting, scheduled for last
night, did not accomplish anything, and
lit is probable that another call will
be issued, and maybe the parties inter
ested will get together tonight. There
are many stories afoat, number of ru
mors and they have as much foundation
as that which yesterday found an in
cubator in Mankato to the effect that
DIR. Koch had been arrested and con-
fessed to the murder.
While the detectives are non-commit-
tai, it is confidently believed in New
Ulm that an arrest will be made not
later than Saturday and that DIR. Koch
will be charged with the murder and
Asa P. Brooks, editor of The New Ulm
Review, who saw the murderer at his
work, will be charged with being an ac
cessory after the fact. Brooks arrest,
if it is ordered, will be on the assump-
ton that he could tell who the murder
Ter is if he desired to do so.
DIR. Koch spends most of his time at
home and is greatly agitated over the
matter. He does not object to being ar.
rested, as he thinks that the only way
in which his reputation can be complete
vs. vindicated. He says he has told all
he knows about the case, but the off
GERS persist in believing that he has not
done so and he is ready for the trial.
George Somerville, state senator from
Sleepy Eye, has been retained by the
Koch family to look after the case, and
Henry Somsen, city attorney, will also
represent DR.. Koch.
1t is understood that Brooks is also
willing to tell his storw of the murder
before an inquisitorial body. In fact,
several persons who have been under
suspicion will feel great relief to see
something done that will tend to re-
move the suspicion from them.
The report that the hammer with
which the dentist was killed did not be-
long to him, but had been carried there
by some one who intended to use it in
a murderous way, has been disproved
j. w. Murfn, a Minneapolis grain buy
er, who used to spend his evenings in
Gebhard's office while in New Ulm, says
he saw the hammer many times and
asked Gerhard why he didn't throw it
away. Murfn also says that the knife
belonged to DIR. Gerhard. This appar-
emily overturns the theory that the
murder was premeditated. The Free
Free Press has all along maintained that
the hammer was the property of DR..
Gerhard.
A Minneapolis Tribune correspondent
has a story to tell of the hammer, as
follows:
"a new clue as to the identity of the
hammer used in the murder of DIR. Geb-
hard has been discovered in Eagle Lake,
a small town east of Mankato. A car
penter in that village had hammer cor
responding very closely to the descrip-
tion to the one found on the scene of
the crime and this disappeared the day
before the murder. He believes that the
hammer in the possession of the authori-
ties is his and will be called upon to
identify it. If it is the Eagle Lake
mans property it may set the detectives
working in new direction All efforts
to have the weapon identified in New
Ulm and Hanska have failed so far"
1t is believed that the Eagle Lake
carpenter has already looked at the
hammer and failed to identify it.