The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-07-14
Jury Said he Killed n. P. Hill, the Ne
gro, il Self Defense.
Berry Damage Cases Against the
Deweys Being Compromised
Out OF Court

O1aAAaEE OCl5E5 Ae5GAAASl liz
Deweys Being Compromised
Out OF Court
At the last term Of the district
court, which convened July 5, the
jury in the case against John Ander-
son, coIored, charged with murder II
the first degree, returned a verdict Of
not guilty.
This, the only criminal case on the
docket for the July term, was takeI
up early in the afternoon Of the sec
Ond day Of court County Attorney
G. L Calvert, assisted by Judge Ham
Hton Of Norton, conducted the pros
ecution. John Hartzler and G. W
Jones, the negro lawyer of Hill City
looked after the interests Of the &C
cused man. Anderson had no money
10 pay attorneys fees, and the court
appointed these two attorneys to de-
fend him, at his and their request
He had employed them, expecting 70
get money to pay them but had been
disappointed, and the attorneys were
unwilling to desert him
There was not much trouble in get
ting a jury. The affair had seeming
" caused but little excitement Ali
those examined had read the news
paper account Of the killing, but only
a few had formed any opinion, what
ever as to the guilt or innocence OF
the accused. Before the middle OF
the afternoon the following men were
sworn to try the cause: George Hay
den, J. W. KanoUse, 3. E Lister, A
R Wells, Fred SCHNEIDER, J. J. Fin
ley, Frank Treblick, John Amos, J.
". Smith, William Daise, J. ". John
son, W. B. HOgebOOm.
The taking Of testimony occupied
but a few hours When the case was
given to the jury Friday forenoon,
the prosecution had shown that And
ersOn was one Of a number Of negroes
who had been at work on the coal
chutes in the Rock Island yards; that
the men all lived together in a freight
car on a sidetrack north Of the round
house On April %, some difficulty
arose between Anderson and n P.
Hill, another Of the negro coal heay-
ers living in the car. Hill, who work
ed Of nihts, had been sleeping that
forenoon. About noon Anderson was
sitting on the floor OF the car, sing
ing. Hill woke, and got out Of his
bunk, evidently in bad humOr- He
walked over toward Anderson and
said to him:
I've killed a G d s.
OF a D. for less than that"
What he referred to is not known,
but other remarks he made at the
time indicated that he was angry be
cause he had been awakened before
the regular time, and thought that it
was Anderscn's singing that disturb
ed him. The testimony tended 70
show that Anderson was singing rath-
er softly to himself. Hill walked past
Anderson once, and then walked back
toward him, his hands under the bib
Of his overaIIs.
Three Of the negroes who were in
the car at the time, gave their tes-
timony at the trial. Not one Of the
three saw, or admitted seeing, what
happened Immediately after Ander-
son and Hill met the last time They
knew that Hill was, a moment later,
stretched out on the floor Of the car,
and that Anderson was standing over
him, swinging a bloody ak One OF
them shouted to Anderson:
My God, Happy, don't hit that
man! You've killed him, nOw!"
Anderson brought the ak down, but
none OF the witnesses would say
whether or not he struck Hill with
it An instant later, Anderson was
out Of the car, taking the ak with
him
The witnesses followed him, and
one Of them persuaded him not to try
to escape, but to go up town and give
himself up to the sheriff Anderson
said:
If 7 thought that man was not
dead, I'd 90 back and finish the job. ."
DIS. Smith and Gulick described
the wounds. One was near the me
dunn line Of the skull, little toward
the back Of the head, and penetrated
through the scalp and skull and
about two inches into the brain. The
other was just above the left ear,
and extended in a slanting direction
toward the throat The head was cut
open, through the skull, the middle
ear and into the vocal passages
Either wound, the doctors said would
inevitably produce death
No weapons Of any kind were
man for less than that" he had an
pocket knife, which was closed and
in his pocket 1t was proved that a
man, after receiving such a wound
as either Of those inflicted upon Hill,
could not shut a knife and put II
into his pocket
The defense proved that Anderson
was a quiet, inohensive man. and that
Hill was an arrogant, disagreeable
and quarrelsome man. The negroes
who had testified for the prosecution
were called by the defense to prove
this point.
Anderson took the stand in his Owl
behalf. He admitted killing Hill, but
said that he had done the act TO save
his own life He testified that wheL
Hiu got up out Of his bunk and made
the remark about having killed {
man for less than that" he had ar
open knife in his hand. he said tina
HiH advanced upon him and that hs
(Anderson) was scared OF his life
He thought Hill meant to kill him
and that the only way TO save IN
own life was to strike with the a.
the man who had threatened him
To the questions asked him in eros
examination he had but one answer
II don't know was scared Z
death; I was scared Of my life"
This answer was returned to Ques
tions about the location CT various
objects IN the car, as wen as to Ques
items relating 10 the details Of tn
killing. Anderson remembered strik
ing but one blow. After that tn
next thing he recalled was going u
town TO ind the sheriff
One circumstance developed dur
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