The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-07-21
Will Testify Regarding lnstru-
ment In Dentists Office.
He Says His Evidence Will
Not Help Prosecution.
Anyway He Is Willing to Tell
All He Knows About 1t.
From fridays Daily.

Attempting to prove that Dr. George
K. Koch, the alleged murderer of DIR.
Louis Gerhard of Mex Ulm, in murder
inc his business rival made use of
dental knife which he had about his of
flee, the prosecution yesterday subpoe-
naed John Norman, 1901 Iglehart street,
st. Paul, as witness. The testimony
of Mr.. Herman will be in reference to
conversation he had with DIR. Koch
when the young dentist first opened an
office in New Ulm, says The st. Paul
Pioneer Press.
Mr. Norman is an agent for the New
York Life Insurance company. He was
in New Ulm at the time DIR. Koch OPEN
ed his dental office in connection with
the office of DIR. Stricken. Mr.. Hor-
man went to the office to have con-
versation with DIR. Stricken, who was
then the medical examiner for the insur-
ance company he represented
The insurance agent did not find Dr.
Stricken in the office but he had con-
versation with DIR. Koch. The CONVEX
sation related to the dental tools DIR.
Koch had recently purchased, and in
particular to a small, long bladed and
keen knifean ordinary dental instru-
ment.
This is the knife, according to the
prosecution, DR.. Koch plunged again and
again into the body of Gerhard. If the
knife is introduced at the trial, and if
the state can secure it, in all probabili-
ty it will be the first time the knife has
been brought to the notice of the pub
lie.
Asa p Brooks, the eyewitness to the
murder, declared in his description of
the events which passed before his eyes,
in the moment when balanced on the
stairway banister, he beheld the muir
derer bending close over his victim, that
the murderer apparently was plunging
knife into the struggling body. The gen
eral impression was that the connection
of the knife with the case was so re-
mote, or the identity of the instrument
so doubtful, as to be practically inn
material in a trial.
The report that Mr.. Norman of st.
Paul had had conversation relative to
the knife and had examined it closely,
came to the ears of an attorney for the
prosecution and little later represen-
tative of Mr.. Childs interviewed Hor
man. Exactly what was the nature of
the conversation between DIR. Koch and
Herman as related to Mr.. Child's rep
resentative, is not clearly known.
Mr.. Herman last night admitted that
he saw the knife and spoke to DR.. Koch
about it, but in only a casual way
Nevertheless. Mr. Norman will appear
at Mankato on July 10 to give evidence
and the state, it is believed, will at
tempt to bring out by his testimony
more than he will now say
''The time / had the conversation with
Dr. Koch was nearly three years be-
fore the murder" said Mr.. Herman. eff
the state sees anything in it to help the
prosecutions case, then | would gladly
give my evidence, but the fact of the
matter is that my evidence will hurt
the state more than it will help.
Regarding the conversation between
DR.. Koch and myself, 1 only spoke to
him in commonplace way about the
knife, which at that time he had just
purchased"
The story of the eyewitness, Brooks,
as related on the morning following the
crime, was to the effect that the muir
derer must have had a iacknife in his
hand. Brooks stated that while he was
i'll the act of peering through the tran
som he saw the murderer move his hand
as if to close up the knife. This move
ment may have led Brooks to the belief
that the fellow was about to pull gun,
Brooks having stated that he thought
the fellow was about to pull gum
and that is the reason he jumped down
from the transom. He did not want to
get shot.