The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1905-06-20
Nine Years for Murder.

WeTc pIeStntJ ueluS luIcIeSIeu SpcCIdtOIs
and witnesses in the case.
After waiting for some time, the delay
having been caused in the interest of the
accused, Thomas Schnatter was brought
from the Jail by Constable Thompson He
was given a seat at the table occupied by
his counsel, Eckard P. Budd and Blanch-
ard H White.
The indictment charging Schnatter with
the murder of John Swalino, was read by
Prosecutor Samuel A Atkinson, and in
terpreted to the defendant by II. Krup-
nick, who said that the prisoner did not
want to stand trial, and that he pleaded
non vult contendere.
Prosecutor Atkinson said the plea of
murder of the second degree was satisfac-
tory to him, as he did not intend to ask
for anything more than that. The Pros
ecutor was then granted permission to
amend the indictment by substituting the
word Thomas where it read John Schnat
| ter.
Referring to the fact that Mr.. Budd had
inquired into the matter and had advised
his client to enter plea of guilty, Judge
Garrison said he would like counsel to
tell him something about the case.
Mr.. Budd then made an appeal on behalf
|
| ing up the evidence, he became convinced
that the state could not secure verdict
of the first degree, as the circumstances
were not of the requirement which could
reach such conclusion. eliminating
this degree, then" said Mr.. Budd, I'VE
come down to the only two verdicts which
the jury could render. We could not see
that the blow was struck in self defence.
| Having arrived at that conclusion, we
saw the necessity of pointing out the rel
evancy of the evidence as bearing on sec
Ond degree or manslaughter. / have in
| terrOgated all the witnesses could find,
and was led to this irresistible conclu-
sion: that under the law the verdict of the
jury should be murder of the second de-
gree. While it might not be permissible
to reduce this to manslaughter, there are
circumstances which would justify the
court in imposing lesser sentence than
that called for in the second degree"
Having finished the legal side of his
story. Mr.. Budd then recited some of the
details of the crime, which he said oc-
CURED on Easter. Several persons were
in Schnatter's house They drank two
quarts of whiskey, one pint of wine and
case of beer, DIVIDED among five per-
sons. They were in the house next to
that occupied by Swalino. There had
been some quarrels and chickering's be-
tween the two men during the day, and
they had fist fight about fifteen minutes
before the tragedy. Swalino was not SO
drunk as Schnatter. There was a row in
the latter's house and Swalino tapped on
the front window twice, hoping to restore
order. But the defendant thought it was
a challenge to come out and settle their
trouble. Schnatter, smarting under the
blows he had received, accepted the chal-
lenge and struck Swalino with a club. He
Immediately expressed sorrow for his act
and dropped the stick. If the man had
not died, the case would have come be-
| fore the court the same as other drunken
cases, and with small sentence for simple
assault and battery. But the attending
circumstances made it come as one of the
greatest of crimes-that of murder. The
fact that the club was dropped the minute
the blow was struck, is evidence that the
prisoner intended no further bodily harm.
| Mr.. Budd said that while drunkenness
is no excuse for crime, it is permissible in
order to show the degree, because If a
man is too drunk to 'premeditate, then he
could not be guilty of the highest crime.
In the opinion of Mr.. Budd it was also
permissible to introduce drunkenness to
ond degree to manslaughter. While the
jury might render verdict of the second
degree, it was always left to the sound
discretion of the court in imposing sen
tence. Before entering court Mr.. Budd
interviewed the prisoner at the Jail, and
Schnatter said he was sorry he had struck
the blow. This was also evidenced by
the fact that he did not care TO repeat the
blow. Mr.. Budd closed his plea as fol-
lows: SIN passing sentence we, as his
counsel, ask the court to be as lenient in
the imposition of punishment as the law
will allow"
Judge Garrison asked as to Schnatter's
character. Mr. Budd said it had always
been good. He was hard working man
in the foundry at Hainesport Counsel
went there to see some witnesses, and
when they entered the business office,
where he received them, they were only
partly clothed, because of the high tenn
perature in which they work. Beads of
Precipitation stood out on their bodies, aud
| their faces were so wet as to give the i'm
preston that a pitcher of water had been
poured on their heads. When away from
work of this character, perhaps there was
some excuse for their drinking while in
the enjoyment of recreation.
Prosecutor Atkinson said there was
nothing in the case that would warrant
first degree verdict and that was the rea-
son why he was willing to accept the
| plea of the prisoner The men lived I'M
der the same roof, and there was nothing
| to separate them but a board partition.
| The Prosecutor was not able to find that
there had been an alteration before this
row. Swalino went to the window to tell
them to stop their noise. While standing
| in the road some distance from the house,
Schnatter ran out his back door, secured
the cord wood stick from the yard, pass
ed out of the gate and without warning
struck Swalino on the head from behind,
crushing his skull and resulting in death
the next day. Swalino was engaged in
conversation with his wife when the blow
was delivered If Schnatter was drunk,
it shows that he was not so drunk as to
lose his strei 9Th to use such club The
instrument of death was then held up for
inspection by the court.
At this point the recital of the facts
became conflicting and indicated that the
prisoner had murder in his heart. Mr..
Atkinson continued by saying that while
| lying unconscious. on his back, Schnatter
had to be restrained from hitting Swalino
again. He was restrained and then he
went into the house. The Prosecutor had
not been able to find that the prisoner had
any criminal record. Murder, he said,
had been anticipated in that neighbor-
hood On holidays and Sundays these
foreigners drink and get arrested. 1T
seems to me, ;" said the Prosecutor, THAT
in view of these things a sentence should
be imposed to meet these cases and to sat
isfy the law"
Judge Garrison ordered Schnatter to
; stand up and imposed the following sen
tence: 1.-THE Judgment of this court and
sentence imposed under the law upon you
is, that you serve a term of Imprisonment
at hard labor in the state prison for the
term of nine years"
There was a scene as the audience left
the court house. Annie Iakpck, sister
of the prisoner, fell on her knees in front
of the steps. The attitude which she as
. sumed led a large number of on-lookers
who could not understand her language
to believe that she was uttering prayer
She was full of emotion and sobbing bit
+ terly. But it was no prayer. Annie was
E pouring curses on the witnesses for the
! state She wanted the Deity to afflct al
q of them, hoping that their limbs might bt
+ broken, their eyesight destroyed, anC
that the trolley cars would kill them. The
: woman's imprecations were directed es
, pecially against Frank Rejiska, neigh
! Dor, it being her desire that he should bt
burned to death with molten iron, auC
I that misfortune should befall his wife, whC
is in delicate condition. The woman!
/ remarks were cut short by her husband
f who, in anger, grabbed her by the arm
and told her to get up.
Schnatter's wife recently left Russia an(
sailed from Liverpool for this country
ho oh oft