New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1905-05-03
SATURDAYS PROCEEDINGS

What will probably prove to be the
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 a 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 Silverson's residence two weeks
after the murder was the hammer that
she had seen in Dir. Kochs 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 Dr. Koefs 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 or
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
lly 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. r.
The attorneys for the defense, the de.
PENDANT and members of his family de-
clared that this turn in the case was not
a 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 die
not occur to them to snow it to her
Had they shown her the instrument she
: not identify it. .'..
Had Seen Hammer But Once.
Mrs. Kasz had, up to yesterday aft
! ernoon, seen the hammer but once, since
J, the murder, and that was when the of
ficias showed it to her while she wa:
at work. at Mayor Silverson's house
At that time they did not know thai
she had been scrubbing out DR.. Kocn'!
offices, but they did know that she ha;
, done that service for Dr. Gerhard
Therefore all they asked her wa
whether she ha dever seen tn ehamme
, in Dr. Gebhard's office She replied
that she had not. Later, after the New
, Ulm trial, the officers were told thai
Mrs. Kasz had said that when they
showed her the hammer she was startl
ed, for she at once recognized it as bein:
the one that she had seen in DR.. Koch
office. and that she would have know
it among thousand The officers thel
went to Mrs. Kasz and asked her abou
this, and she said that it was SO. On
the strength of this statement she wa
subpoenaed.
The attorneys for the state say tina
the feeling at New Ulm is SO great tina
: no doubt great pressure was brough
O to bear upon Mrs. kasz, and that sh
got confused and did not know wheth
er it was the hammer or not.
The only other new witness put o.
/ yesterday by the state was young Rein
mold Dahms, who positively identifie
the hammer as the one that he had fire
quently used while working winters TO
e f. G. Koch. When asked why he ha
not come forward with his testimony a
. the New Ulm trial, he said that he di
not want to testify against DIR. Kocl
: whom he had known long and wa
e friendly with. His parents are also ten
d ants of E. G. Koch. For this reason h
had denied any knowledge of the ham
mer, although he had declined to sa
that it was not the Koch hammer whe
t asked by William Koch about it.
Y The last witness on the stand yestel
L day afternoon was Edgar Dingler, tn
young teamster. The only point tina
: he brought out that he did not mentio
/ at the New Tim trial was that he ha
seen E. G. Koch pull some nails out {
q a plank with it when he was haulin
;. gravel to the Koch barn
Left Hanska Abruptly.
DR.. Douglas T. Wood, young phys
clan of Hanska, was called yesterda
d afternoon and said That he had practice
n medicine at Hanska for five years an
j that he had known Dr. Koch for thrt
years DIR. Koch had dental chair ar
L. office in a portion of the Office room
a of the witness for couple of year
0. moving out Oct. 18th, 1904. He sa
then that he was not coming back. I
had given no notice of his leaving Hal
N ska, and witness had first learned of