The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-05-05
SATURDAYS PROCEEDINGS

chief sensation of the entire Koch trial
occurred yesterday afternoon when Mrs.
Kasz declared that the hammer put
in evidence by the state was not the
hammer that she had seen in DR.. Koch's
office on her weekly scrubbbing visits
last summer. General Childs, in his
opening address to the jury, had prom
ised that Mrs. Kasz would positively
identify the hammer, and had she done
so it would nave been great point
gained by the state. Why she did not
do so is one of the mysterious features
of this strange case. She testified that
the hammer that she was shown at
Mayor Silversons residence two weeks
after the murder was the hammer that
she had seen in Dr. Koch's office, but
she declared that the hammer in evil
dence was not the one. Two witnesses,
Chief Klause and Detective Rydell, took
the stand and said that the hammer in
evidence was the one that they showed
to Mrs. Kasz at Mayor Silverson's resi-
dence Either they or Mrs. Kasz must
be wrong.
Mrs. Kasz described the hammer that
hung on the wall in DIR. KOch's office
and ner description exactly fitted the
hammer in evidence, which is the one
that was found in DR.. Gebhard's office
the morning after the murder, with
blood upon it and lying beside the
bloody handkerchief. When General
Childs showed her the hammer and ask
ed her to state to the jury whether OIL
not that was the hammer she had seen
at the Koch office, he and everybody in
the court room, unless it was the at
tOrneys for the defense, confidently eX.
pected that she would say that it was
Instead of that, she merely glanced at
the instrument and said that it was not
the hammer. She did not examine it
or show any interest in it, but seeming
ly had her answer ready the very in
slant the hammer was placed within her
sight. The attorneys for the state were
thunderstruck. Mrs. Kasz Immediately
admitted that the hammer that she had
seen at Mayor Silverson's residence was
the hammer that was hanging near the
window in the Koch office, but she
maintained that the one in court was
not the one.
The attorneys for the defense, the de-
PENDANT and members of his family de-
clared that this turn in the case was not
surprise, that they mad been expecting
| it. Mr.. Abbott said, "Word has come
to us from time to time that Mrs
Kasz would not identify the hammer
She is a good Catholic, and we felt sure
that she would not perjur herself"
1t appears that Mrs. Kasz was not
shown the hammer yesterday before she
was called upon to testify. The state
felt so sure of her evidence that it did
not occur to them to snow it to her
Had they shown her the instrument she
| would have told them that she could
not identify it.
Had Seen Hammer But Once.
Mrs. Kasz had, up to yesterday aft
ernoon, seen the hammer but once, since
the murder, and that was when the of
tficials showed it to her while. she was
at work at Mayor Silverson's house
At that time they did not know that
she had been scrubbing out DR.. Kocn's
offices, but they did know that she had
done that service for Dr. Gerhard
Therefore all they asked her was
whether she ha dever seen tn ehammer
in DR.. Gebhard's office. She replied
that she had not. Later, after the New
Ulm trial, the officers were told that
Mrs. Kasz had said that when they
showed her the hammer she was startl-
ed, for she at once recognized it as being
the one that she had seen in DIR. Koch s
office, and that she would have known
it among thousand. The officers then
went to Mrs. Kasz and asked her about
this, and she said that it was so. On
the strength of this statement she was
subpoenaed.
The attorneys for the state say that
the feeling at New Ulm is so great that
no doubt great pressure was brought
to bear upon Mrs. Kasz, and that she
got confused and did not know wheth-
er it was the hammer or not.
The only other new witness put on
yesterday by the state was young Rein
mold Dahms, who positively identified
the hammer as the one that he had fire.
quently used while working winters for
f. G. Koch. When asked why he had
not come forward with his testimony at
the New Ulm trial, he said that he did
not want to testify against DR.. Koch,
whom he had known long and was
friendly with. His parents are also ten
ants of E. G. Koch. For this reason he
had denied any knowledge of the ham,
mer, although he had declined to say
that it was not the Koch hammer when
asked by William Koch about it,
The, last witness on the stand yester-
day afternoon was Edgar Dingler, the
young teamster. The only point that
he brought out that he did not mention
at the New Ulm trial was that he had
seen E. G. Koch pull some nails out of
a plank with it when he was hauling
gravel to the Koch barn
Left Hanska Abruptly.
DIR. Douglas f. Wood, young physi-
clan of Hanska, was called Yesterday
afternoon and said that he had practiced
medicine at Hanska for five years and
that he had known Dr. Koch for three
years. DR.. Koch had dental chair and
office in a portion of the office rooms
of the witness for a couple of years,
moving out Oct. 2Sth, 1904. He said
then that he was not coming back. He
had given no notice of his leaving Han
ska, and witness had first learned of it
a few moments before train time, when
he left. Koch entered witnesses office
and said, Goodbye, Doc, Pm going" He
said ne had taken his chair and was go
| mo tn leave aCLod hin, bo ,,,,u