New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1905-08-09

7s +
AS far as DR.. Koch was concerned,
defense OF him on my part would
have been interpreted as evidence of
his guilt by those who were disposed
to credit him with the crime. He also
should have been his own defense.
Society is in apoor state when mans
word, which has never been disputed
during all the years of his life cannot
gain for him at least respectable
hearing. Realizing this and all that
the condemnation of any man for the
crime Of murder meant, the writer pub
lished in the issue of Nov. 9, 1904, the
following:
SUSPEND JUDGMENT.
siIt is natural that people should cry
out for victim in satisfaction for the
murder of Dr. Gebhardt and it is also
natural that they should grasp every
scrap of evidence that can in any way
implicate any person, but, not in char
ity; but in justice let no man charge
the awful deed to any man until he
can bring evidence to prove what he
says.
''Itis said and believed by many that
the writer of this knows more than he
will tell. 1t is expected by him that
people will talk that way. Under oath
he stated before the coroner's jury
that he did not know the man; that he
was some person he had never seen
before. That is the truth. Now let
that set at rest any suspicious that
may attach to any party or parties
known to be well-known to the writer.
cit is malicious Islander to state that
money has silenced the voice of the
witness to the deed for no sum of mon
ey is large enough to buy the witness
nor silence the words that would bring
to the gallows the murderer of DR..
Gebhardt.
$50 we simply ask the people to sus-
pend Judgment. Competent men are
working on the case and the detectives
say that with the clues they have it
should not take long to work out the
motive and then they will be in a po-
sition to get the murderer. s
't:It is an awful thing to be even re-
motely suspected of deed such as
was committed in the rooms over this
office, and young man cannot be
blamed for not wanting to go before a
court of justice to prove his innocence
unless forced to. The record there
must always remain and the finger Of
law will always point to it as a stain
that time cannot efface and juries will
always be reminded, should the man
be called as a witness ever, that this
man once had to prove his innocence
the records show it.
''Be assured that no man is being
shielded and all has been told tn at will
assist the officers in experimenting the
guilty parties.''
I do not wish to be misinterpreted in
my reasons for re-publishing this ar
ticle. 1t is not done in the spirit of
II told you So" but simply to show
that there was a better way than the
one that was pursued and that was to
let the officers of the law do their duty,
and in this respect l want to speak of
Mr.. Hoidale.
If there has been one man in this
prosecution who has been more abused
than any other, it is he and the people
Of this county owe to him the best they
have in some sort of reparation for
the wrong that has been done him. If
he had been left alone and been allow
ed to have followed out the plans that
he had formulated, the county would
have been spared useless expense and
the man who committed the murder
would have doubtless been apprehend-
ed 1t was an awful mistake.
When the first inkling of suspicion
came connecting the name of DR.. Koch
with the crime Mr.. Hoidale came to
me and asked me If he was the man
and told him no. He wanted to know
if I was positive of it and told him I
was. He said then there is no need of
worrying about him, and I laughed
and said that he never would be ar
rested for knew it was not him.
What was then done is known to all:
the mass meetings, the employment OF
the Chicago attorney, and here is the
meat of the whole prostitution OF
justice. He evidently judged all men
by his own standard, believed them to
be liars and lacking only an op.
portunity to be criminals. He USED
methods to extort testimony from
Ipeople who it appears had no testi