New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1905-05-17
EYid ance IS CiTcumstantial.

stantial. There may be a suspicion,
and other facts may be gathered point
ing the. same way and they will togeth
er form evidence. Putting many things
together adds greatly to the force of
each one, and they lead to seeming GER
tainty.
We have heard footsteps going by the
printing office window. and upstairs,
and soon someone looks over the tran
som and sees a form there. A hammer,
a handkerchief and pencil are found
there, and they are wonderfully i'm
portant. It is said that circumstantial
evidence is unreliable. Why, gentle
men. there is no evidence so strong as
circumstantial evidence where there are
many circumstances. Suppose we had
not found the hammer, the handkerchief
and the pencil, and were going to pros
ecute on the direct evidence of Asa P.
Brooks. You would have only his vary
ing statements. Witnesses are not al
in gstatements. Witnesses are not al
ways trustworthy, they sometimes have
malice. But when there are a number
of circumstances all pointing one way.
they form a chain of evidence that are
unsurmountable in their effect. It is
seldom that positive evidence is had in
murder cases. Why?
When men plan to commit murder
tney do not notify the officials, but
they do their deeds alone and in dark
ness and get away unseen. When you
throw aside circ,mstancial evidence, you
declare to all cutthrOats who would kill
any one of you for S., that they can 60
free because there was none present to
witness the assassination. The fact of
guilt, however, must be established be-
vond a reasonable doubt.
Murderers Make Mistakes.
When men commit great crimes they
make mistakes. If they did not, we
would have few convictions. When a
man becomes possessed with the mon
ster passion of murder ne ceases to be
a rational being and leaves his trail
behind him. It was SO with the man
who killed DR.. Gebhard. He had con-
ceived a mortal hatred for DR.. Geb-
hard, and decided that both could not
| live together and planned to put him
out of the way. He planned to find his
victim alone, do his deed and leave nc
trace behind. He was a man VINO knew
Dr.. Gerhard we'll, that he was in his
office evenings, and that as to himself
he would beI above suspicion. He would
90 to his office, with the hammer in his
possession, with a smile upon his lips
seize the opportunity and accomplish
his purpose. DR.. Gerhard, when he saw
who his visitor was, went into the re-
ception room to bring a rocking chair
and was perhaps backing up with il
through the doorway when he was
struck the fatal blow It was the pur
pose Of the assassin to hav ca Qllie
murder, not to become known until mex
day. Then he would 90 nome, leaving
no trace, and when the murder was dis
covered next day, he would say, YES
was up there in the evening and hat
a pleasant visit, and everything wa
all right Them But Dr.. Goddard, the,
say, was a man of splendid physique
But strength of muscle is no protection
from q man with a hammer who strike
unawares. The blow did not accomplish
the purpose intended, and instead o
being a noiseless murder it was one il
which shrieks rent the night air ant
people on the street heard them Be
fore the last thrust of the knife i
made there are steps on the stairs. d.
Gebhard must be killed, and his lip
never open to tell who did it, and tn
murderer stabs repeatedly until the ar
terry and jugular vein are severed. TIL
chance of orderly escape is past. Me-
are in the hallway and trying the doors
The murderer goes to the reception
room door and looks through the clea
glass to see whether the way is clea
in the hall. He has lost his hammer i
the melee. The room is dark and h
takes out his handkerchief and wipe
the blood from the handle, that wa
Shiny with blood. He thought that h
might have to use the hammer again
Now there was no time to be lost Es
cape must be made in someway.
Foot Struck the Wires.
The screen was cut and pushed out
! The murderer crowds himself out foo
foremost, discovers the wires with hi
foot, leans over, grasps the wires, let
himself down, drops to the ground an
gets away. Wherever he goes we ca
follow him by spots of blood. If h
pushed off the screen with his knuckle
he there lost the skin from them.