Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1905-12-06
JOHN sKAGGs ONCE MORE A FREE
 MAN.
(From Thursdays Daily.)

twelev men came to the conclusion yes
 terday that John Skaggs was not guilty
 of the murder of George Clark, and
 when that solemn verdict was an.
 nounced, Skaggs was again a free
 man.
 ''I have had two narrow escapes in the last few months, one in which l
 came near getting shot, and the other
 in which I came near getting hanged, " said John Skaggs to a Journal-Miner
 representative last evening after be-
 ing acquitted by jury of his peers on
 the charge of shooting George Clark in
 the early part of last September at the
 Skaggs ranch near Oak creek.
 ''I met twelve fair men," he said,
 ''who took the right view of my case,
 besides I was defended by two attor-
 neys who, believe, cannot be beaten
 in any country. will now go to bed,
 he continued, "and try to enjoy a good
 sleep, for I assure you that I slept but very little lately"
 The trial of the case which ended last evening occupied the attention of the court during the entire day, and the greater portion of the day before. It attracted great deal of attention on account of the prominence of the par ties interested, and because of the sen sational reports of the shooting pub lished.
 The defense made by Attorneys Reese M. Ling and J. E. Morrison was brilliant throughout the entire trial, their arguments to the jury were full of force and sound logic, while the pro- secution by District-Attorney Ellin- wood and Assistant District Attorney Pattee was conducted with all the en- ergy and resource for which these two well learned and popular members of the bar are noted.
 The story of the shooting as told by Skaggs on the witness stand, and which was corroborated in part by other wit nesses,. is substantially as follows:
 "George Clark and his wife moved into my house some time in August, 1904. They occupied the front room of the place, and slept in the kitch- en, only two rooms being in the house. Some time before the shooting Clark and his wife missed some money, and on the Sunday before Clark asked me if I got the money. I told him that did not have it, and he said if the money was not returned that he would kill me afterwards, stating That am a d--m sight worse man than you think am''
 During the remainder of the day Clark did not speak to Skaggs. Clark and Skaggs ate breakfast at the same table on the following Monday morn ing, during which time Clark never spoke to Skaggs. After breakfast Mrs | Clark told Skaggs that she was going over to her sisters place, and he told | her that she could ride Babe" mean | ing his horse. She replied that George would not let her ride him, that she | would have to walk. She left for her | sisters place about half an hour after wards.
 Skaggs then stated that he left for the Hutchinson ranch about an hour and a half after Mrs. Clark left the house, and on his arrival there found | Mrs. Clark sitting on the porch of the home, talking to her sister, Mrs. Hutchinson. After he sat down on a chair on the porch, Mrs. Clark got up and went inside the house. During the absence of Mrs. Clark in the house Mrs. Hutchinson and Skaggs had a conversation about a $3 trans action, upon which the testimony of both differ very widely.
 About ten minutes afterwards Mrs. | Clark came out of the house, and the | three remained on the porch until half an hour later, when the ladies started to the eornfeld close by to ga- ther some corn for dinner. Skaggs of fered to accompany them, and Mrs. Hutchinson objected, stating that she would hit him with a club if he dared | to go with them. He accompanied | them as far as the fence, where, true to her words, Mrs. Hutchinson struck him on the leg with a piece of board, which, he stated, did not hurt him. Shortly afterwards Skaggs mounted his horse, and rode to Bill Backs