Los Angeles herald., 1906-03-14
LAST EFFORT TO SAVE LIFE OF
SLAYER
Witnesses Reclte Incidents Indicating
That Defendant Was Queer-Dra-
matte Capture of Fugitive
In Boathouse

Will DG d SliShI WAttANSS ~ ~'O'
he really is.
Bucks condition is said to be the re-
suit of years of vice. Since his early
boyhood he has, according to the state
ments of those who know him, been
quiet. sullen sort of fellow with never
a word for his friends or enthusiasm in
their sports.
Yesterday the prosecution rested its
case at o'clock. All day long the wit
nesses had been hurried to the stand,
and all told the same pitiful story of
the tragic death of the beloved Mrs.
Garfield.
Throughout it all the accused man
had sat quietly, his eyes resting on the
table before him and the same vacant
stare upon his face. Not once during
the day did he show the slightest sign
of sanity and the jurors who stole sly
glances toward him occasionally began
to wonder if the insanity charges
might not be true after all.
The first witness for the defense was
Mrs Alice Sloan, wife of George Sloan,
q West Thirty eighth street grocer.
Mrs. Sloan, according to her testimony,
had been a schoolmate of Bucks in a
Pomona public school and she was
called to give her opinion Of Buck at
that time.
HE always was queer boy" said
Mrs Sloan. mo one in the school ever
understood him and he would walk
around by himself and have nothing to
do with the rest of the pupils
Mopes and Mutters
"He never played any games and he
spent most of his time moping around
the yard or muttering to himself.
1--WE never thought much of it at that
time, but he was always called queer
boy"
The next to take the stand was Earl
Buck, the 12-year-old nephew of the
accused. The lad told a straightfor-
ward story.
ct only knew my uncle a short time
before the shooting, because prior to
that time I had not seen him since 1
was 5 years old. About week before
the murder my father went out into
the country to stay while and he sent
me to a room with Uncle Morris at the
ST. Elmo hotel.
During that week my uncle was in
the room four nights and his actions
were so queer that the Saturday MORN
ing of the murder I left and went to
my father, because L was afraid of my
uncle.
1.-TWO nights in the week he went to
the show. I think that he went to the
Burbank or the Mason on Tuesday
night, and when he returned home he
seemed to be in great excitement.
HE took the soap cup and some other
things and put them in front of the
door, saying that if anyone tried to
enter he would hear them. Then he
wrapped paper around the door knob,
and after he went to bed I was later
awakened by the sound of talking and
set up in bed and my uncle was sitting
there talking to himself about the
army, ghosts, religion and his mother,
and 1 was scared and went back to
sleep.
s"Two NIGHTS ont of the week I woke
up to find that my uncle had changed
his position in bed and was sleeping
with his head toward the bottom of the
bed and his feet on the pillow.
Reads Cook Books
"He read some kind of a novel part
of the time and cook book the rest of
the time. He never talked to me at
all, and when he had few minutes to
spare he would copy things in a book
all about how. to cook. He told me
once that he was a dishwasher at the
Van Nuys Broadway and that he would
get a job as cook if he learned more,
but was so afraid he would hurt me
that I left on Saturday morning and
went to my father"
Earl Buck stated that he had been
with his father, William Buck, few
moments before coming to court, and
the lad was hurried away to find his
father and have him appear in court
this morning. subpoena was served
on William Buck by a deputy later in
the evening and he will appear in court
to tell of his brothers actions.
Attorney Warner, for the Defense
then produced certified copy of an in
sane proceeding in 1908, when Buck
was arrested charged with insanity.
AT that time it was alleged Buck was
wandering in the streets muttering to
himself and saying queer things. He
was said to have gone crazy on the
subject of Socialism and was sent to
the county hospital, where he later inn
proved and was dismissed.
The certified copy was not allowed to
go in as evidence, and the clerks of
department of the superior court and
the record office were called in and the
original complaints were read.
Buck was then hurried back to Jail,
while the crowd who attended the trial
formed long line along the court cor
ridors eager to catch glimpse of him
as he passed.
Looks Of Pity
But there was a sadness about the
stopped figure and the distressed look
in the young mans eye, something
IDdL CAUSED LOOKS Ol pity 10 come TO Ille
faces of the spectators rather than the
execrations and curses generally be-
slowed upon an accused murderer.
In the morning number of wit
nesses were called to the stand in
closing for the prosecution. Miss Eliz-
abeth Billings, the maid who was in
the front room of the Garfield home
at the time of the murder, being the
first called. She was dressed in
mourning and her testimony was brief,
touching on the arrival of Buck and his
actions toward Mrs. Garfield
Officer Foster was then called and
seevral others who assisted in the pur-
suit of the alleged murderer.
One of the chief witnesses of the
day was the boatman at Westlake
park. His evidence was as follows:
II was in the boathouse late Satur-
day afternoon when Buck came
there. He was dressed in an ill-ap-
pearing manner and I thought that
he looked out OF place. He wore a
heavy handkerchief about his neck
and had the appearance of sick
man. When he came up he asked