Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-11-24
EVIDENCE FOR
THE DEFENSE
avg WITNESSES TESTIFY THAT
DEFENDANTS WERE At SUN.
NTsiDE ON JULY 30.
JOHN BLACK ON STAND
Gives Story OF His whereabouts for
Several Months and Denies Con-
fess en- to Dee Butter.

ne defense Will pfDhaMY complete
Its Testimony In The Train rubbrr cast
today, Probably the greater part oI
Monday will be- Consumed in rebUital
The argument will begin either Mon
day afternoon or Tuesday morning
The prosecution yesterday after
noon vigorously cross-examined Mrs
Butscher, who on the direct examina'
ton testified that she had seen the
three defendants leave the Sunnyside
mine little before noon July 80. The
Identification Of the defendants by
the witness could not be shaken. nel-
ther could her certainty as TO the
date.
win Smith. shift boss ut the mine.
also swOre positively that the defend
ants were at the Sunnyside mine July
80: that he saw them leave the mine
that day and said goodbye 20 them.
He fixed the date by the fact that he
was to go to a dance at CiarksOn that
evening with Matte Wilson and that
the dances were always held Satur,
day nights. Miss Wilson had been
iusulted by Murphy Mat day and he
found her crying when he came up
out of the mine TO get some props
She decided not to so Ia the dance
He further fixed the date from the fact
that II was not pay night and he had
lent money to two of the men to go
to the dance. Further he said that
he remembered that the following
Saturday night was pay night and he
had gone to dance at Louisville be-
ing held on alternate Saturday nights.
The next morning he had given Mrs.
Butscher money to go to Denver and
accompany back to Sunnyside the
young woman. May West. whom he
intended to marry Miss West had
stayed with Mrs. Butscher for a week.
The following Saturday night. he and
Miss West and Mr.. and Mrs. Butscher
had gone to the dance which was at
Clarkson and Monday. August Is. he
was married. The witness could not
be shaken as to the dates and he was
positive in his Identification of the de-
PENDANTS.
In the course of his cross examina-
tion Attorney Medler asked the wit
ness If the picture of himself and wife
had not appeared in the Denver Post,
in connection with the arrest of his
wife. This was vigorously objected
to, but was admitted Smith said his
wife had left him ten months before
the pictures appeared in the paper,
and he hadn't seen her since and
knew nothing of the affair.
E. |. Jones, postmaster at Bloom
field. Colo, a strong witness for the
defense. He swore that July 80, the
first time shortly after noon and the
second time later in the day, John
Murphy and a man whom he said re-
sembled John Black came to the post
office for a registered package ad-
dressed to Murphy. Mr.. Jones identi-
fled Murphy positively as the man
who claimed the package and pointed
out John Black as man closely re-
sembling the man who was with him.
He produced his registry return card
signed by himself and sent to the
sender at Clayton, N. NJ. This card
was dated July 80 and bore Murphy's
signature, which witness testified was
made in his presence
This morning John Black was plac-
ed on the stand. He gave an account
of his whereabouts for several months
before and after the train robbery and
denied positively having made any
confession to Dee" Butler the horse
thief, with whom he was in Jail at
Chickasha. He also denied being with
man named Markham or Boswell in
Amarillo and said he never saw Bos-
we'll until he saw him in Jail a short
time before he was killed.
This afternoon. John Black is still
under cross examination. Jim Black
will probably go on and it is not
has any more witnesses.