The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-07-24
ANOTHER LOOK
OYER The TRANSOM
Asa P. Brooks Tells His Story on
u the Witness Stand for the 4
IA 9, 11GA 1AAS' ~ so

tMankato, Mimi, July 24.-Asa +;
Brooks was called to the witness stand
in the Koch murder case this morning
BY the defense and was on the stand
all forenoon, He told the same story
he has told five times before e: on TING
HE told of hearing. what he consld-
cred friendly scuffle between Dr.
Gebhardt and his friends in Gebhardt .
office He went up to get into it and
when he found the door locked ne got
up on the bani st. to Rq 5a on the
room was well lighted. He saw tho
lower half of man s body lying Oh
4 the floor and man on the opposite
side, facing the door when witness was
looking over, kneeling on his right
knee, the other knee resting against
the body: The witness saw the motion
then raised his head and straightened
up and raised his hand slightly. The
witness saw him plainly. He had on a
black suit of clothes and a. marrow
trimmed soft hat well back on his head
or a very heavy head Of hair. @<'@f tf' :
t"Was the person you saw, the de-
PENDANT, George R. Koch9' asked SEN
ator Sommerville. ..s.4,
S"No, sir, he was NOT replied Mr..
Brooks. 49,.
THE man had what the witness took
to be mustache, such as young man
90 or "a years grows, OF one Of two or
three weeks growth by an older man.
The witness got down and went down
stairs and notified Cavanaugh and the
two looked owe" ~" transOm and saw
tfo body and the blood.
Mr.. BROOKS stated tnat DR.. Gebhardt
had an old hammer in his office two
wears ago and that it had rusty end
and short handle
f"Have you ever talked about this
case with anyone?' asked Senator
Somerville, who was conducting the
examination. ...-s
Ives, SIR replied the witness.
"With whom?' -
Minnesota.
sThe witness had said that he had in
formed County Attorney Hoidale and
General Childs that the man whom he
saw over the transom was not Dr..
Koch, but that General Childs had
lnever called him to the stand as wit
ness.
General Childs' Cross Examination.
The cross examination by General
Childs took up the rest of the fore
noon and a little of the afternoon.
Mr.. Brooks said that the sound that
he first heard coming from DR.. Geb-
hardt s offices was a sort of choking,
like a person having another by the
throat while wrestling.
s"Was it sound Of anguish9" ask
ed General Childs. !: -,
s"It was not a joyful sound,'' re-
piled the witness 80.
t"Was it one of pain?'
cit could, not be described any
better way.'
General Childs quoted from the tes-
timony given by the witness at the
New Ulm and Mankato trials, in which
he had said that he had told A. J. Vo-
gel that he thought there was trouble
upstairs. Mr.. Brooks said that he did
not mean trouble in the serious sense
{ of the word. He said that he. saw
nothing in the assassin S hand, but
, could not say whether there was any
thing in it. The man had had an ex.
.traordinary expression on his face, a
strong impression on the witness and
he would never forget the look as long
as he lived. The man s face. washpale
and his eyes had caught those of the
witness so that he paid no attention to
anything else, and to a certain extent
mad lost sight 9 9f other the 1 th1ngs g.
asked General Childs. ...-....
It would be foolish for me to say
replied Mr. Brooks.
m ,,,Rid a,yy you look at him; as long as a
81 could not say ..s !. -
"Do you want the jury. to under
stand that you looked in his face one
full minute7' ,,>.
IT want the jury to understand this
that l got up on. the banister ane
looked, and that I know what I saw
''Did you speak?' "..s@
~ didn't n sI kn3w that there was any
emo occasion to speak = (
',.'No occasion to. speak at such
~ felt that I was trespassing.' .
Z" Why didn't you have such feeling
as that before you looked ~ "a, ", : =
200 Mr.. Brooks went to say that at thu
time he had had no impression Of wha
was going on in the room, until it hat
flashed across his mind that a patien
of DR.. Gebhardt had fallen out of tn,
+ dental chair. He said that he knew
that the man whom he saw kneelins
over the. PROSTATE form was not DR.
Koch. He would testify that the. NAL
wore a hat, but yet there was an ele
ment of doubt in that. The man $ fac
was very pale. It was thin, cadaver
GUS face. His hair was black and h
wore thin black mustache or a dar]
fuzz which looked something like
shadow. The witness admitted that a
the Brown county trial he had not bee,
willing to swear that the man had !.
flustache. He did not know the colo
of the mans eyes.
General Childs quoted from the re
port Of the Henningsen examination a
New Ulm and also asked the witness i
regard to conversations with differen
parties. Some of these the witness a6
ha ioJ n
modified. The object of this was to la
the grounds for an attempt to impeac
the witness. Regarding the converse
tion with Judge B. F. Weber, the vii
ness said that he did not tell him tina
he had seen the assassin before, bu
could not place him.. He had alway
put the man s age as under twenty
five. Otherwise the Conversations wa
81 correct. -. ~ 80 ia
~ DR.. R. G. Gebhardt, a dentist at Blae
River Falls, Wis, and Miss Emma Gel
hardt of Milwaukee,, Wis, who sisssi
teacher in the school for the dea
brother and sister of the late DR.. Lou
A. Gebhardt, are attending the trial.
The jury attended union services !,
III Lincoln Park last evening. Jurors Co
nell and Heinzeman were allowed to 9
II 10 their homes accompanied by "a bailif
u Defense Outlines It's Case.
4 The state rested Saturday afternoo
4 ia the Koch case,s Mr.. Childs saidsths
the state had subpenaed Asa r. Rreol