The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1905-04-20
FIND CROfFORD GUILTY

Jury at OsceoIa ConyiCts Him of the
Murder of Mdude Stone--Sen-
tenCe is Twelve Years.
The jury in the celebrated case of
State VS.. DR.. j. W. Croiford, who was on
trial at Osceola for the second time for
the murder of Maude Stone by commit
ting a criminal operation on her at his
sanitarium in Lamont in January, 1901,
returned a verdict of guilty last Friday
morning, and on Monday morning Judge
Evans sentenced DR.. Crofford to the
penitentiary for twelve years.
The case was given to the jury at
2o'clock last Thursday afternoon, and
they arrived at verdict at $50 o'clock
on Friday morning, after being out
fifteen hours. When the case was
deliberate on their verdict the first
ballot stood eight for conviction and
four for acoplittal The second ballot
stood ten for conviction and two for
acquittal, and there was no change
until early the next morning when the
two jurors who had been holding out
agreed to verdict of guilty, and noti-
4 fed the bailitf that they had agreed on
! a verdict. Word was sent to Judge
Evans at his hotel and he at once
dressed and went to the court room.
In the meantime the attorneys and de-
fendant had been notified and were
4 soon in the court room., DR.. Crofford
was accompanied ,by his wife and two
daughters. The jury was asked the
! customary question as to whether they
I had agreed ON verdict and upon re-
\ plying that they had, the clerk was in
Ystructed to read it as follows: I'VE, the
y jury, find that the defendant is guilty
as charged" When the verdict was
read the defendant for the first time
since he was arrested seemed to lose
his nerve, and was for few moments
convulscd with the emotions which
swept over him. His wife and daught-
& ers burst into tears, and it was sor
rowful scene. The jury were polled
+ and discharged by the court, and as
they were leaving the court the defend
ant who had recovered from the first
s shock, in rather dramatic manner adj
q dressed the jury, telling them they had
convicted an innocent man, and by their
verdict separated him from his family.
I He wanted them all to be back in the
q court room at 8 O'Clock when he would
have something to say to the court and
4 the jury and then if they could go home
Z and tell their families they had done
their duty he was satisfied.
The attorneys for DR.. Crofford imme-
1 diately asked time in which to file a
h motion for new trial, and during the
day Judge Evans fixed Monday at 8
o'clock as the time for hearing the mo-
ton. When the motion was called up
Monday morning his attorneys pre-
\ sented at considerable length the mo-
MI for q new trial alleging as grounds.
why a new trial should be granted,
that an instruction should have been
given permitting the jury to return a
verdict of manslaughter instead of
second degree; that the court erred in
admitting the letters written by Maude-
Stone and Ira Hammond for the reason
there was no prima facie case of con-
spiracy shown, and if there was there
were no declarations in the letters that
would be admissible as evidence; that
the court erred in his instruction as to
the use to be made of the letters in not
confning the state to evidence outside
of the letters to prove conspiracy; and
in the instruction as to the theory of
aiding and abetting there being no
Z evidence to warrant the same.
After hearing the motion and argu-
ments OF attorneys Judge Evans over
ruled the motion for new trial and
proceeded to pass sentence as follows:
1t always becomes a painful duty to
the court to sentence man to imprlsen-
ment in the penitentiary. If he is a
young man there is always a feeling in
the mind of the court that it breaks and
i ruins his life. If he is an old man, a
man who is as the counsel suggests, ON
i the shady side of life, the court feels
that it is painful to imprison him and
3 bring him trouble and pain. 1t is pain
ful for another reason that it is not,
as a rule, the defendant alone who
suffers. If the men who are convicted
ofScrimes alone suffered upon conviction
the court would with more cheerful
heart, mete out these sentences. But it
is often true that others suffer equally
with the much guilty. AS has been sug-
gested in passing upon the motion for a
new trial, the court has heard the evil
dence in this case and the court be-
lieves the jury We're justified, fully JUS
titled, in their verdict of guilty. The
evidence discloses, if it discloses any
thing, that the defendant committed
this crime largely for commercial
reasons-I mean to say that there was a
question of receiving pay for his SER
vices. 1t was.commtted upon girl,
a young woman q years of age, Ger
h tainly without the knowledge or advice
Of her mother or anybody who, SO far as
the evidence discloses. had the right to
protect and advise her. 1t is not com
mitted at the earnest solicitation of a
father or mother trying to protect the
good, name of the family, but it was
committed on the suggestion of this
young woman and this young man who
4 had gotten into this trouble. This be-
ing true, it does not appeal to the court
on the question of weighing the SEN
tence as itwould appeal, perhaps, under
other and different circumstances. All
the circumstances coincide mostly, to
point out that the defendant is guilty
not from sympathy or that he desired to
save this girls name or because he was
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