The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-05
COURT At new ULM
HEARS TESTIMONY.
.Ea-Attorney General ChiIds
Tells What the State In
tends to Show

NEW ULM, Mimi, Jan. 4.-The last
juror. for the trial of DR.. Koch, charged
with the murder of DIR. Gebhard, was
secured in the person Of Joseph Grath-s
mohl, farmer Of the town of Linden,
Gen. II. w. Childs, of counsel for -the
state. made his opening address and
the taking of testimony began.
Gen. Childs' address contained the
following:
You have been selected out of the great
pody OF men in this county to try the case
OF the state against George r. Koch,
tiFst, degree, You have been selected with
the utmost care. 1t was due the state
and this defendant that no man have a
TO take into the jury box fair and un-
biased mind. The state never stoops so
low that it would jeopardize the life OF
one of its citizens by injecting into the
jury box one who entertains bias that
would disqualify him from doing exact
Justice If there be any juror who has
fairly and impartially. it would be great
calamity to the state. If there is a man
WI who has sought place in this jury for
is a very wicked man, and should be,
dragged at the wheels Of the car of pub
lie disappr0yal.
Motive Not Disclosed
Gen. Childs said that the state would
prove that DR.. Koch was in the vicin-
ity of DR.. Gebhard's office few min
utes before the murder His handker-
chief, bearing his initials, was found
near the body. along with the hammer
with which the deed was done. A lead
pencil, that had evidently fallen from
the murdererS pocket, was found in a
pool of blood, near the dead mans
head. Gen. Childs referred to the
creamery door stained with blood and
spoke of the bottle of poison which
DR.. Gebhard received three days before
his death, and indicated that the state
will try to prove that DR.. Koch mailed
that poison. He said:
The motive which inspired this awful
crime is not adequately disclosed In this
case the state is not in possession of evi-.i
dence that would incite a rational man
to commit such crime. The state will
DR.. Gebhard this defendant entertained
murderous thoughts against him. 1t will
place upon the stand man who will
say that this defendant said certain words
to him that would indicate i'll feeling
against DR.. Gebhard
The evidence against DR.. Koch is cir
cunstantial.
The state. will also show that the de- 4
fendant at the time suspicion was gath
ering about him was almost in a state of
collapse. His friends gathered around to
brace him up, and to one of them he
said he could not walk from the lounge
to the chair. The state is not here to
persecute this man. 1t does not want his
this young man could go forth from
this trial with his innocence clearly es-
tablished.
Now the First Witness
Dr.L. A. Fritschie, coroner, was sworn
as the first witness His testimony es-
tablished what lawyers call the Cor
pus delicti, and was description of
the condition in which DR.. Gebhard's
body was found The coroner describ-
ed the wounds on the body, how they
were made and their effects upon the
victim. DR.. Fritschie told of finding
the hammer and handkerchief in the
murdered mans office, but did not have
them in court.
The important thing in his testimony
was that the direction of one of the
knife wounds in the neck was not to-
ward the jugular vein This will be
important if the state tries to prove
that DR.. Gebhard was murdered by a
man who understood anatomy. Gen.
Chids, in his address to the jury, said
that the state would prove that both
knife thrusts were made in the direc-
ton of the jugular vein.
Sheriff William julius testified as to
the condition of DR.. Gebhard's S body
and office when he went there twenty
minutes after the murder.
Rule Out Exhibits
Gen. Childs offered the hammer and
handkerchief in evidence, but the de-
Tense objected and the court sustain
ed 1t on the ground that Frank Behnke,
who found these articles, was not now
in court to identify them. The blood
stained map in Gebhards room was in
tfoduced-
Sheriff julius testified to finding
kerchief at DR.. Koch's home similar to
the one picked up in the Office of DR..
Gebhard
Regarding the pencil, Coroner Frit-
schfe in his testimony said it was ly-
ing close by the body of Gebhard and
opposite his upper left vest pocket,
from which comb and other articles