Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1906-02-15


| husband, the finding Of the human
bones and flesh, her possession of his
jewelry and money, her marriage to
Reise and her confidence that Bailey
would never bother them, the evil
dent attempt on her part to secure
title to Bothamley's ranch-all these
things and many minor circumstances
seemed to me to constitute case of
much merit from the legal viewpoint.
In this view Col Hallowell agreed
with me. The genial United States
district attorney and l differed, how
ever, on one material point-the
chance of securing a conviction.
Remember. Tyrrell," he said, that
it's a woman on trial, and a pretty
woman"
The trial of this remarkable woman
was one of the most memorable in
the history of Kansas. She had ample
means and had retained able counsel.
Col. Hallowell, in his capacity as
United States attorney, represented
the prosecution, as the crime had
been committed in the Indian terri.
tory, where there were no local
courts. The governments array of
circumstantial evidence was mar
shaled before the jury with much
skill and force by Col Hallowell, and
display of correlated facts produced
that would have caused an ordinary
defendant to weaken. But the little
blue-eyed woman remained as calm,
as the discriminating circumstances
were piled up against her, as she had
been from the first. Counsel fDr the
defense made the best of the some
what meager case they had, but when
the evidence was all in there was a
wide margin in favor of the proSecu-
ton. After the summing up by the
lawyers Col. Hallowell said to me:
1--WE are up against it. Every man
on that jury knows she is guilty, and
not one of them will vote for convic-
ton"
His knowledge of western juries IN
cases where women were the defepf-
ants was accurate After due del't-
GRAFTON the jury filed into the room
and submitted to the court its YER
dict: Not guilty" Judge Foster, who
that there was not the slightest doubt
in his mind of the woman's guilt.
But she was free. Robert Raine had
come to Kansas to atteHa tie trial,
and Immediately after the verdict dis
appeared with the woman / believed
to be his wife, and who was his law
full wife, if the bones and flesh found
in Dakota had been those of Shannon
Bailey.
found afterward that while the
jurors almost unanimously expreased
themselves as believing the priscn@r
guilty they had applied to the cosa
their sense of rough frontier Justice.
reasoning that Bothamley had been
man whose early advantages and r.
telligence should have led him into
a different life, and that il he met
death at the hands OF cEe woman,
after he had led another ia Gssert
her home for him, besides 6SEerting
his own wife and children, 5t was
meeting with no more punishment
than he deserved. AS a man | havN
no quarrel with this reasoning. As
an officer of the law at that time l
felt much disappointment at seeing
the hard work of months go for
naught especially as that hard work
had developed what to my mind 49,
a sound case.
So far as | have been able to lSaTa,
Shannon Bailey has never Esao hSard
of since the day ne dEisppeared. l
have recently written to his brother,
who formerly lived in Ohio, but rs-
ceived no answer. l will stake my
reputation that we found all that was
mortal of him on the Dakota plain and
in the cellar of his former home in
De Smet.