Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1906-08-16
Claim Made That the Law Puts
Premium on Conviction
of Murder
INTERESTING CASE is CITED
Practically Every Term the Supreme
Court Has Big Murder Case to
Deal With-Dr. Eminent Not to be
Candidate for State senator-stir-
toms District.
Special to Times-Kepublican.

Special to Times Republican.
Des Moines, Aug. l6.-The supreme
court of Iowa must say whether a
lawyer who successfully defends a
criminal and gets charge of first de-
gree murder that would land the man
in the penitentiary for life cut down
to manslaughter, is to be paid less
than one who unslpccessfully defends
and allows the criminal to go to the
penitentiary for life.
Down in Monroe county a charge
OF murder in the first degree was
charged against Thomas Smith. His
case came to trial in November, 1902,
and j. II. Thomas was appointed by
the court to defend him. According to
the la>w a lawyer is paid $40 day
for defending man charged with
murder in the first degree. For an
ordinary manslaughter charge he gets
only $40 for the entire suit.
On the first trial Smith was con-
victed of murder in the first degree
but Thomas carried it to the supreme
court and got a new trial at which
time Smith was convicted of man.
slaughter. Altogether eight days
time was put in and Thomas has sued
Monroe county to recover $160 at $40
a day. The supervisors are willing to
pay him $40 for his eight days work
under the section that allows that
amount for manslaughter case. In
the lower court in Lucas county
Thomas was given a judgment against
the county and Monroe county has
appealed the case to the supreme
court and it will likely be submitted
at the September term.
Practically every term OF the su-
preme court there has been a big
murder case ON for hearing and the
September term of court will be no
exception. There were two cases APP
pealed to the supreme court yesterday,
one of them being one of the most
atrocious murders ever committed in
the state. Matthias Baldes Of Sioux
county, living on a farm eight miles
south Of Hawarden, on October IL
murdered his Wife in broad daylight
by choking her to death, While his son
and daughter with pitchforks and hoes
and any other weapons they could get
together, fought him ait a distance in
vain and fruitless endeavor to pre-
vent him from carrying out his de-
sign. They lived on the Alexander
Richmond farm. According to the evil
denee Of the son. lad of fourteen
years, the father followed the mother
to a. straw stack where she went to
fill a bed tick with straw. There he
attacked her by throwing her on her
back putting one knee in the middle
of her stomach and choking her with
his fingers about her neck while the
children tried to drive him away He
released her to drive THE children
away and then attacked her again as
she was on the way to the house, and
finally dragged her into the house so
as to escape the assaults Of the child
ren, who were trying to save their
mother, and there finished the work,
tho the children still succeeded in him
dering his work considerably by
throwing rocks thru a window at HIM.
BaldeS attorneys have appealed the
case TO the supreme court and it may
possibly be submitted tat the Septem-
ber term the hope Of his attorneys be
ing to get modification of the term
of sentence which was life imprison-
ment at Anamoaa.
The other murder. case that has been
appealed is that of the state against
Elmer NOVEL;, the appeal being from
Pottawattamte county. He is charged
with numbering Leroy Addison and
was sentenced to eighteen years at
Fort Madison. The murder seems to
have grown out of. proclivity to fight.
some of the testimony was to the eff
feet that NOVEL; Dragged that he had
whipped Chet Addison and all his sons
except Leroy, then % years old. who
had previously been too young to en-
gage in a fight After drinking consid-
erably he became mfbued with an am
bition to include the younger member
of the family in the list, and in the
quarrel that followed the shooting took
place and young Addison was killed.
DR.. ]. M. Emmert, Of Atlantic, who
according to the official returns re-
ceived 4,N41 votes in the senatorial
election of 1901, to 4,040 received by
James E. Bruce the republican candi-
date, will not be candidate for the
position this year. Senator Bruce was
given the position by the senate, and
Emmert was unseated. Bruce has
been nominated, and it was presumed
for some time that Emmert would
again be nominated by the democrats
but he will not accept the position,
and it is understood now that re-
publican will be nominated on an in
dependent ticket and will be endorsed
by the democrats in all probability.
Senator Stirton, the democratic
member of the senate from the CEDAR
Jones district, who has been nominated
by the democrats in opposition. viii