The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-04-27
BEHNKE THE HERO

BEHNKE THE HERO
Murderer Might Have Been Caught but
/ for the General Terror.
Special to The Journal. III. 3
murderer of Dr.. Gebhardt would
have been caught red-handed, or some
one else would have been killed that
night had it not been for the epidemic
Of timidity. There were Brooks and
Cavanaugh chasing for help; there was
lLumberman Vogel standing at the foot
Of the stairs suggesting to Brooks g the
as Attorney Abbott expressed it in
Weisenborn exclaiming "Oh, mercy!"
and kicking at the door, and even after
IGroceryman Behnke had pounded down
the door and he and the policeman had
been for several minutes inside the
Offices where the murdered man lay,
entrance to the stairway staying the
shudd l seu Question: ueo a:S Hbo ali II you
fellows want to get shotq'
But Mr.. Behnke rushed in. He
pushed his way thru the crowd on the
sidewalk and ran upstairs, "sassing'
the policeman on the landing. He was,
l1uoCCO, CAO uClO VI lnO OSSctoAohS cIAio
1t is likely that he would have rushed in
and tackled the man had he not
thought, as he testified yesterday, that
the murderer was in trap in the recep-
tion room, with every exit, save the one
by the door where he stood, cut off. But
: Mr.. Behnke didn Il know about door
that had recently been cut connecting
office. Tt was thru that door and
thru the window leading therefrom that
the assassin escaped, presumably even
while the citizens We're mobilizing their
}, forces in the adjoining room:
! AL these, facts were testified TO at
; Yesterday secession, and were elucldated
> by witnesses examin ned today.
.s Who Locked the Doors7
=. When Policeman iWeisenborn reached
J the top Of the stairs heimmediatelyt tried
the doors. So Mr.. sBehnke, who accom-
t panied him. testified. All three doors
t leading into the connecting offices were
locked. The question is , WHO Locked k ed
/ young HagerIeys went in earlier that
evening. The typesetters in the print
9 ing office below said the person who
' stamped up the stairway walked with
: no hesitation; into tie Offices and with
}, the same noisy tread Then, they said,
| the door banged shut. One seeking an
Z explanation OL stHASf pAooo ~ WV -. j
L asks if the visitor locked the door Pc
S hind him when he entered, and under
o what circumstances 1.-THE, rocking, chair i1l
O. got 'front.' room into the
operating room.g 49, =. ~ VI y ,&E -, .
The Question salsp arises AN TO why
the murderer remained SO long IN the
q offices after he had killed Dr.. Geb
|hardt.i The testimony of Joseph Polta
r and the girls who accompanied hlm
:. that the grooming continued, for; sew
e eral minutes, suggests the possibility
a that Dr. Gebhardt was tortured before
a he was killed, but the physicians state
e 1nents as to the. wounds indicate that
e death must have been lnsta ntane %, L
' after the wounds. were inflicted. The
!, ruffled rug, blood bespattered map ant
= book, and the general disorder Of the
- !. room prove that Dr.. Gebhardt fought
. . hard for his life. -. to
r Murderer Was Leisurely.
;? These events can be comprehended
. but it is not 50 easy to imagine how
e the murderer occupied himself from tht
. Mr.. Behnke broke in the door-for Mr.
Behnke testified yesterday Afternoon
that he was certain. there was a live
man in the offices the moment before
q he forced an entrance, and that he be
s. lieved the murderer was in the recep
lion room even duel NC aHo 'Ao W
e liceman stepped into the operating
y room.
70 The open, debatable questions as tt
: the murder are many, and there is foot
}, a plenty for the widest conjectures
{ Counsel for both the state and the de
l. / Tense confess there are dozens o:
things connected with the case tina
t. fear they never will understand then
unless DR.. Koch is proved guilty
n Even, then it would take a full confes
n sion to unlock several of the mysterie
,, which the Gebhardt murder ha
q created Sc. ....>.
n What Is tCircumstantial''
The state has said that it has ;
IT .estrong circumstantial case. against Dr.
KochO The defense denies this.
denies not only the adjective, but tn
entire phrase.
l. "What are the circumstances -th
d main circumstances (which the stat
j. has against Koch3'' asked Senate
is Somerville in conversation today.
d There is the hammer; they say it i
% Koch's hammer, taken from his HON
A. to his office and from his office to D1
re Gebhardt' IS by the defendant who, al
st the time, had murder in his heart. W
deny that the Kochs or DR.. Koch eve
ID had that hammer.
e. "There is the handkerchief-th
bloodstained handkerchief with tn
~ eG-R-K' on it. We deny that Georg
It Is
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