Los Angeles herald., 1906-01-18
RANCHER TELLS
WHY HE FIRED
HELM DEFENDS HIS COURSE
IN SLAYlNG JAP
For Months orientaIs Gave Him and
His Oranges No Rest, and After
Warnings He Shot Marauder.
Verdict Due Today

Leaning far over toward the jury box,
his hands outstretched as though In
mute appeal, d. w. Helm, the old
rancher of Pomona, who is on trial be-
fore n jury In Judge Smiths depart
ment of the superior court, charged
with murder, yesterday spent nearly an
hour on the witness stand telling of the
dramatic events of the killing and his
claimed prior persecution at the hands
of the japanese.
Self-defense was the plea brought out
by the defense yesterday and all day
long in the presence Of nearly two hum
dred spectators the attorneys argued
and cross examined.
Finally when the afternoon session
had convened, Helm was called to the
stand. The rancher is an elderly man
with gray white hair and small gray
eyes, He wore q pair of blue goggles
and peered through them at his attor-
neyS while he underwent the grueling
cross-examinatlon of Attorneys Earl
Rogers, Major Donnell and Paul Nc
Cormick.
Annoy for Months
"For many months 1 had suffered at
the hands of the Japanese employed in
the neighborhood" said Helm. "They
gave me no rest and made life a mis-
cry for me. Fifteen of them lived in
the old adobe house on the San Ber-
nardino ranch adjoining my ranch and
every evening they would come to my
place, climb over the fence and steal
some of the fine fruit from my Valen-
cia trees.
mo matter what kind of a sign I
put on the trees the fruit was taken
and at last in desperation I called in a
young man named Hanson, who was
teaching the Jap boys English. He
spoke to them about the theft of the
fruit, but instead of its doing any good
it only did harm, and the next time 1
met the Japs on my way to market they
jumped in the wagon and annoyed me
in every manner possible.
Gun for Protection
"Often 1 took long routes to get out of
their way, but that was of no avail
and at last l carried a gun with me
whenever L went to town.
ION the evening Of July went to
the orchard. 1 could hear someone
moving about in the place and when L
reached one of my fine Valencia trees
L saw one Of the Japanese standing be-
meath it in the act of taking some of the
fruit. 1 called to him to leave the or
anges alone and as I did so he stepped
from beneath the tree and came toward
me with his hands held up as though
he were going to strike me.
Il mad my shotgun with me and [
could have shot him in the stomach
had 1 intended to murder him, but
when he saw the gun he turned and
ran toward the road. 1 called stop
thief to him and then fired at his legs
to stop him. / guess 1 fired too high,
for l saw him stagger, stumble and fall,
but l thought he got UP again and [
went to the house and telephoned for
the constable to come and get me.
Later 1 gave myself UP to him and was
arrested.
Ruin His Trees
"Prior to the shooting the Japanese
had nearly ruined a number of my fine
trees and had stolen hundreds of dol
lars worth of oranges"
Many other witnesses were produced
and all testified that after the shoot
ing the Jap fell to the ground, where
he rested a moment, as was later
learned by the big pool of blood there,
and that he then crawled on his hands
and knees toward the road, making his
trail with blood.
Once out in the road his strength
gave way and with the courage of his
race he refused to cry out, but rested
on his side and groaned until a man
coming down the road found him and
notified his friends. Even then 1t was
more than an hour before assistance
could be secured and the man given
treatment
The arguments are being heard and
the case will probably go to the jury
today