The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1905-08-04

The defendant had instruction as to |
anatomy at the dental college.
The defendant had to go into the bar
, Der shop, to wait until the Heinze boy
had walked away, so that he could
enter the stairway unnoticed.
Gen. Childs then argued at length in
| regard to the injuries, carbolic acid
burns and alcohol burns on the defend
ants hands. Why did not the two
attorneys who examined his hands thir
! tysiX hours after the murder call in
| committee of ministers or other reput
able citizens to examine the hands, so
| that they would not have to go on the
stand themselves and testify?
Gen. Childs mispoke himself in quot
ing some evidence, and Senator Somer-
Vile shouted out: chat is false!"
The court cautioned him not to use
language nbecoming a gentleman and
instructed the jury to disregard it. He
also ordered that this be put upon the
records He told the jury that where
evidence was misquoted to pay no at
tention to it.
Speaking to the location of the al
cohol burns, and the fact that they did
not extend where alcohol poured over
them would naturally run the speaker
said did You ever hear of such an
astonishing case of burning in all your
lives? Do yon suppose that there was
ever another person in the whole world
who ever burned his hands in this way?
circumstances? Do you think that it is
credible? Does it appeal to your rea
son? He would have burned the whole
of the back of the hand. He was burn
ed, but how, you don't know. But, I'M
der all of the circumstances as shown
by the evidence in this case, you are
justified in finding that he had himself
deliberately and for the purpose of con-
cealing evidence that could be used
against him, burned his own hand What
would man do if he knew that three
fingers of his right hand had abraisions
that he could not account for, under such
circumstances Would he hesitate to
lay his hand on the living Goals or on
the hot stove"
Gen. Childs turned his attention to
the alibi of the defense, and asked:
''What would not father do to save
his SOM" He referred to the great law
of love that directs father, sister and
brother in such cases. There would
seem have been too much harmony in
their evidence, too much preparation in
the evidence of personal and blood re-
lations.
The defense might refer to the fact
that the defendant sang at the funeral
as an evidence of innocence. "The man
who killed DIR. Gerhard was not a nor
NAL man." declared Gen. Childs. "Such
men are never normal men, and when
you attempt to Judge them by the
standards of normal men you make
great mistake. They will sing at flu
nerals, meet their fellow men. and wear
smiles on their faces almost to the very
moment when the moose is lowered over
their necks"
| Gen. Childs characterized the manner
which Dr. Reinecke had been handled by
the defense as vicious assault on the
character of an estimable gentleman
Many besides Dr. Reinecke had been sus-
pected during the first few days after
the murder
That night might have been heard the
clicking of great many keys besides
those to the door of DR.. Reinecke, who
was unnerved by the murder of his
| friend. He would not have been elected
to the school board the present month
had anyone in New Ulm had any sus-
picions that he was the murderer
| Referring to the testimony of Mrs
Thomas that she saw the defendant
walking home the evening of the muir
der, Gen. Childs referred to the man
ner in which she had held her evidence
back, and said that there was a diff
| ference between refraining to testify for
the defendant and testifying against
him. One case gives evidence of hui
manity, and the other gives evidence of
mere fiendishness. Placed in one scale
is the life of the defendant and in the
| other Mrs. Thomas business. The bus
mess weighed more than the life of an
innocent man and the welfare of his
family. 'Hell never gave birth to a
sentiment more wicked than that ex-
pressed by that witness on the stand
| the other day" declared Gen. Childs
'YOu cannot conceive of woman any
where possessed of a more wicked spirit
than that exhibited by Mrs. Thomas
when on the witness stand If there was
anything that would have filed New
Ulm with rejoicing, it would have been