Durango semi-weekly herald., 1904-01-14
From Tuesdays Daily
ZIPPERIAN FOUND GUILTY OF
MURDER IN THE FIRST
DEGREE.

Jury went out at 10:45 In half an
hour they returned with the verdict of
murder in the first degree. stipulating
that the punishment should be con-
finement in the penitentiary at hard Ia
bor for life. BY act of the last legisla.
ture the jury. in arriving at a verdict
of murder in the first degree. may
stipulate whether the punishment shall
be hanging or Imprisonment for life,
and the presiding judge must sentence
accordingly.
Attorneys for defense made mo
ton for new trial, and the motion
will be heard next Saturday,
The prisoner. Jake Zipperian, mani
tested no surprise or disappointment
at the verdict He had sat throughout
the whole trial. which lasted seven
days and almost half night. appar-
emily uninterested and very Indifferent
as to the fate awaiting him, A close
observer noticed him only once con-
suit one of his lawyers, and then as
he finished he smiled. No one could
have told by his manner that he was
being tried for his life or his liberty.
er vent than the chewing of gum,
which he did continually
The prosecution was vigorous and
the defense was admirable. consider
ing what poor case there was to de-
fend.
The evidence substantiated in the
main the details as published at the
time of Matt Luxsinger's murder.
From the beginning to the close of the
trial it looked bad for Zipperian and
the throng that packed the courtroom
day after day could see no other CON
clusion than that arrived at by the
jury.
The murder is one of the most
shocking in the criminal annals OF
this section. On the 18th of Novem-
ber last Matt Luxsinger and Jake Zip
perian met at the bars of pasture
owned by the latter on Pine river, or
perian was under bonds to appear at
the approaching term OF district court
TO answer to the charge OF burglariz-
ing Luxsinger's cabin, Euxsinger being
the complaining witness. Luxsinger
was there shot three times in the back,
none of the balls going through the
body. The undershirt of deceased
was produced in evidence. showing
where the balls entered at the back.
Luxsinger. in his dying statement,
claimed that he fell from his horse
after being shot three times, and that
Zipperian then fastened lasso around
his legs and dragged him to the creek
and into the water, when he held his
head under water with his feet; that
Zipperian then, evidently becoming
frightened at something, ran away,
when the wounded man crawled out
of the water and into the bushes and
hid; that Zipperan then returned and
tried to find him. and after Zipperian
had gone again Luxsnger slowly and
painfully made his way to his cabin,
distant about three-quarters OF mile,
where he lay until found by friends
the next morning. The friends stayed
| with him until his death. that even
ing. Before dying he gavs instruc-
tions about his threshng. life insur-
ance and the disposal OF his property.
He was a bachelor and had no rela-
tives in this country. He believed he
| had received mortal wounds and made
| sworn statement to Justice of the
| Peace Edwards of Bayfield, as to the
trouble He was attended by DR..
| Newlands. also of Bayfield,. The evi-
dence of the doctor, as well as the
| other witnesses who saw the wounded
1 lai hof ba in, full
session of his mental faculties at the
| time he made his sworn statement
He also claimed in that statement that
Zipperian asked him to go up on the
hill and write few lines. 1t was pre-
| sumed by the prosecution that this
was a ruse OF Zipperians to get Lux
singer up on the hill, in an out-of-the-
way place. and either get him to sign
a statement that Zipperian was not
1~guilty of burglary, or kill him, or pos
sibly both. AS there was no house
habitation or anything else on the hnl
except brush and trees. that presenta-
ton evidently had great weight, for,
with Luxsinger, the complaining wit
ness out of the way, the latter need
have no fear of prosecution on the
charge of burglary.
| There was quarrel about heifer,
and the defense claimed that Luxsing.
er had a revolver pointed at Zlpperian I;
that the latter knocked the gun down
ward as 1t went off (the two men be-
ing togther in the road where they
had met and that the ball struck Zip
| pertains saddle. The saddle was pro-
| iuced in evidence but seemingly had
little weight. Defense claimed that
| Luxsingers horse kept turning while
the shooting was being done, and that
was why Luxsinger was shot in the
back each time. There was strong
evidence to substantiate the story OF
| the dragging. but it was not conclu-
| sive, however. The defendant claimed
| he was armed that day with a Win
| chester and a pistol, the latter being
| carried in his right hand front pants
pocket. where he said he always car
| ried it, 1t was not shown that Lux
| singer ever carried a gun. although a
pistol was produced by the defense,
pnrporting to have been found where
Luxsinger had dropped II.