The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-08-11

That the district court for Brown, Red
wood and Renville counties, be held al
Redwood Falls. Court was opened on
June Is. The attendance from New
lUlm was very large, numbering about a
hundred and fifty persons, who were
camped together on the prairie and styl-
ed Camp New Ulm," grand and petit
Jurors, prisoners and counsel all to-
gether Oh it was rank!
The grand jury was comprised of
! twenty three men, the majority of
whom were from Brown county. They
were ably charged by Judge Austin and
retired to deliberate on the matter pre-
scented for their action. The final re
port of the grand jury, after seven
! days of deliberation, was one of no in
dictments. When their report was hand
ed to the Judge he seemed astonished,
| looked at it for five minutes and then
result of their deliberations. Being an
swered affirma lively, he administered a
severe rebuke to them He reminded
| them of the two persons who were out
rageously murdered at New Ulm He
then dismissed both juries from further
service, ordered new ones to be sub
poenaed and adjourned court to the fol
lowing September. The counsel for the
accused parties wished to have the sure
| ties dismissed as no indictments had
been found, but the Judge could not see
it in that way.
During the September term at Red
wood Falls, thirteen parties were in
dicted for murder in the first degree on
the charge of killing Alexander Camp
bell towit John Gut, John Hose,
John Nun, Antoine Zeihr, Carl Boyer,
John Stamm, Melchior Roth, alias Jack
Roth, Nicodemus Wernz, Jost Pfeiffer,
August Schmidt, Henry Hartman, Frank
Grebe and George KEENAN,. Gut, Hose,
Nun, Zeihr, Roth, Pfeiffer and KEENAN,
were admitted to bail in the sum of
| 1900 each and the rest in the sum of
81 900 each.
The defendants moved for change
of venue to Nicollet county which mo-
ton was supported by affidavits of the
accused, setting forth that the citizens
of Redwood county were entirely Amer
lean, and the defendants all German, and
that the latter could not have a fair
and impartial trial in the latter county.
The state interposed no objection, and
the motion was granted.
A special term of the Nicollet county
district court convened at st, Peter, on
Monday, Jan. 20, 1868, for the trial of
the New Ulm murderers. More than
two years had now elapsed since the
since the crime was committed. The
first case on the calendar was that of
the state against John Gut. The at
torney general himself conducted the
prosecution. Judge Flandreau defended
the prisoners. Judge Austin presided at
the trial. The jury after receiving the
case and celebrating three hours return
ed verdist of guilty of murder in the
first degree with recommendation to the
governor for mercy Gut was accord
ingly sentenced to be hanged. Judge
Flandreau, however, carried the case to
tions, and the eases of the other in
dicted parties were continued, pending
the outcome of this appeal.
From this point the story is taken
up by Judge Austin himself now living
at Los Angeles, Cal, with whom The
Free Press mas had come correspondence
in regard to the history of the whole
affair The Judge writes:
after the sentence of John Gut the
case was appealed, first to the supreme
court Ol TIE Stdte. anu lHtlce W luc
supreme court of the United States, in
each of which courts the decision of the
lower court was sustained and the SEN
tence confirmed Gut was ably defend
ed by the late Judge Flandrean, assist
ed by local counsel, and the cause of the
defense carried to the limit.
"By the time the decision of the SUI
preme court of the United States was
announced Judge Austin, before whom
the case was tried in the district court
of the state, had been elected governor
of the state, and the day having long
since passed upon which Gut had been
sentenced to be hanged, it devolted on
| the governor under the law to make q
new date for the nanging-to appoint
! another date for carrying the sentence
into effect by the sheriff of the coun-
| ty where Gut had been tried and con
victed. In the meantime the prisoner
was in jail where he had been ever
since his arrest--he having no friends Or