The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1904-04-28
TOLD OF MURDER
IN HIS DREAMS
Charles Rocker Alleged te havs
Admitted Crime in Nee
surnal Mutterlngs.
IKE LIMEe OF MACBETH
Sensational Evidsnss eiYen st Tsaayf
eessisn Of she Lyon csunty Court
in Trisl OF Chsrles Hss.tsr
for Murder.
!sec-s Aaptas. ta-, April 20

IVY 'f&EEh 10
UHEa&arsl Gseas
Do breed unnatural tfeus+es; infected
Ininas
To their Gent piNers WIN discharges ttef
sSGTets.
Tossing III his sisep Under the weigtIt
Of & erims disturbing his eoaneiense.
Charles Rocker cid r~evesl, SIS shake
speare tbus says the guilty must, the
murder OF august SshrceGsr, Eea1
Doom. Ia, JUNG 80, 1899.
Tcrturtns his totscisnce with the
urspSken efin1e, unGst3tliaing tbs cau-
tlon that had scQs bin be SILL, the
knowledge that he he'd committed The
whom he cal!sd his wife, the men ross
In Ills sieep, End, with eyes closed, but
mardercua voice, enacted before the
hoTrified woman tbs manner OF hia
killing OF the ;raEn whose piece Re he'd
taken
The thoughts be could Danish by DAY
crept upon him IN the stiffness OF ihe
night, and he c!rtcaed the throat OF
the woman by his SIDE. declared he
would kill again b victim he had
strangfed, and then leaped from bed
Mortified at the revelation he had made
of the guilt he would conceal ever.
Told on tbs Stand.
/ Such was the remarkable story told
this morning on the witnesg stand by
Mrs. August Schroeder. While big
Charles Rocker sat before her. souint-
Ing his small eyes unconcernedly, the
woman, quaking in her fright, told how
the man she had trusted with her love
had unWittfngly laid bare his guilt. 1t
was a dramatic moment, for all but
Rocker.
While his wife WAS narratfng how he,
like Lady Macbeth. had heralded hts
crime In the muttertngs OF Il sleep that
would not still a restless conscience, he
sat unmoved. Is II it were q pleasant
tale.
Mrs. Rocker proceeded with the story
of Rockers confession by declaring that
he wanted TO Kill their baby, and after
wards almost murdered their little
boy.
After Mr. Schroeder's death" she
told, we went to Elkton, s. D., and
there I married Mr. Rocker. We lived
c~ontentedly together until In April, 1909,
when my baby was bora
Rocker wanted TO Kill this ably.
He wanted TO throw it In 4 well I
was horrorstruck- From that time on
he was cruel 10 me, ne was inlluman.
Last September. when he was
threshing, he became angry at my lit
tie boy. He struck him on the head
with q monkey wrench, breaking bones
of the skull, and all but killing him
We Quarreled about this.
Came Home Drunk.
Then he went to town He cam
home drunk, at 2 o'clock in the morn
ing. He went to bed with me, but his
sleep was not quiet He rnuttered and
moaned and occasionally turned over.
Suddenly he sat up, struck me in
the face and made my nose bleed
With his hand on me, he said these
words TO me, in a heartless voice:
August, you - , I have
got o now
SCI o,o {o-rflJ- rf~y, - 1893
out of bed. Next morning / asked him
what he meant
Keep your damned mouth shut he
said; you always talk too much
Again that day I told him 1 wanted
to know What he meant by saying that
he had got August at last.
Then it vas he told me about ft-~
The witness paused. shuddered and was
silent a moment to collect herself for
the revolving story.
Tie told me O the day Of the Doom
picnic, he went to a drug store and
bought chloroform and morphine. he
put this in whiskey and gave it to
August When they got home, he left
me and August put UP the horses and
he stayed outside, He said he knew
August would come out to yomit
August did go out, and sat down on a
beer keg. Then, Rocker said, he
paralyzed him. He put him on a barrel
cart and took him to the barn and
pulled his body up over a jofst.
Threatened to Kill Her.
when he told me this he took a ia
~Eyolver from his pocket. pressed 81 70 NV
head and made me get ON by knees and
| he said.
Now. cd Won. 81 Won over ,eu
fhts I wiz kill YOU VIII kiu von s,,rse.
w."
Mrs story was e6m,t,ed
Jndga wakefeld eftar the .tata ,he--a.
that Rocker had a wife and four chtrt,> -
at dundee. MINI. hen he married Ma
schroeder, Henry Dirka NJ Noblas co,,n-
ty Minnesota TESTIFIED he lived Win
| Rocker and his wife in Illinois IN 1891
and he showed him his marriare certIas
cate !. atsr he moved 9th he eemi,.
to Dundee MINI and IN the s,ring ~
1900 deserted them w ~ He,trattsr ~
Nohleg county testified that he had known
the Rockers for seven wears and an the
16th Of this month Mrs Rocker had told
aim she had mot heer divorced from HIM