Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-06-20
WOUNDS ON HEAD
ENOUGH TO KILL HER
Or. SchoffieId of Parkston Testi
flies Regarding PoIreis
Girls Death.
HE is MORE CONFIDENT
AZ Preliminary Hearing He Was MOI
Sure Of Fatality Of lnjuries-Father
of Dead Girl on the Stand
Mrs. Kaufman Calm.

~Flandreau, S. D., Jun i3.-John Pc
refs. 4ather of the girl for whose dealt
Mrs. Emma Kaufman, OF Sioux Falli,
is on trial here for murder, was OF
the witness stand Monday a. N. He
is a German, stolid and emotionless,
and through an Interpreter he told of
the general health OF his daughter when
she went to the Kaufmann's to live.
According to the father, Agnes had
never been i'll, not even having the
simple diseases which children usual
ly lave. She never tool any medi-
cine and never had Il doctor. She was
strong and ruddy with the health of
youth, according to the fathers testi-
mony, who explained how the
ment for the girl to &c to the Kauf-
niann's WIS made through William
Moeller. u merchant of Parkston.
Wounds Were Mortal.
Surprise was occasioned his morning
when DR.. Schotield, of Parkston. tes-
titled that in his opinion the three
wounds on top of the girls head would
nave Dtt IiiOI NitIlout oiS C4iiIl
cations from other injuries. AT the
-preliminarY-hearing-J June 20. DR..
Schoftield said he was not sure that
the aggregate injuries would have
caused the GIRLS death.
Witness was present when the body
was eXhumed on both occasions, June 5
and 8. and said that there was no
water in the grave on the first date
and not enough to cover the body the
second time. He described the Wounds
on the body in detail. as developed by
the post mortem. The worst We're
three injuries on top of the head and
three at the base of the brain. One of
the former he thought might have been
caused by a semi-blunt instrument and
another by 1 blunt instrument. The
scratches, cuts and abrasions were de-
tailed at length.
The girls heart and other organs
We're normal, according to the wit
ness.
Injuries Caused Death.
DIR. r. j. Billion testified that the
blood clot was due to external violence;
that it might have been caused by one
or all of the our on the head. and
he attributed the death of the girl to
the clot. together with the injuries on
the head and over the body.
ON cross examination DR.. Billion was
asked If he was not prejudiced against
the defendant. AT first he denied it.
but when asked If he had not stated
to other physicians that he was. he adj
mitted that he was ~pretudiced against
the defendant at the preliminary en-
animation of Mrs. Kaufman. DIR. Bill
lion was a witness then, and stated
that he was not certain as to just What
could have caused the death of Agnes
.Pclreis. He was asked about this to-
day on cross examination, and stated
liz reply that he was in doubt as to
the cause until himself and other
physicians made an examination of the
girls brain last week. DIR. Billion was
pre- sent at Parkston on Saturday night,
June 9. of last year, when the body of
the girl was for the second time re-
moved from the grave and examined
by a number of physicians.
Among the other witnesses exam
,ined was l.. d. Miller, proprietor of the
undertaking parlors at sioux Falls to
which the remains of Agnes Polreis
were sent to be embalmed after her
death. and from where the remains
We're shipped to the girls parents aft
ter a physicians certificate as to the
cause of her death nae been furnished.
The testimony OF William Miller, of
.Parkston: John Polreis. father of the
dead girl: DR.. S. Schofield. of Parkston,
and DIR. I. ]. Billion, of Sioux Falls.
also was taken during the day. The
cross examination of DIR. Schofield was
not concluded until we'll into the after
noon.
Defendant Not So Nervous.
The first witness this morning was
l.. D.. Miller, proprietor of the under
takers establishment which had charge
of embalming the body of the Polreis
girl. He merely explained the formali-
ties of the task. and his testimony
agreed with that Of his assistant.
Snashall. Saturday.
Mrs. Kaufman appears in better
spirits today. Saturday when the tes-
tifnony opened she was clearly nervous.
Today she is self contained and evinces
the keenest interest in all that is said.
Mrs. Polreis, mother of the dead girl,
has been Unable to stand the strain of
the trial. although she could not un-
.derstand a word of the proceedings,
and has been taken back to Parkston,
was not in the court room again
after her sensational action when she
rose. elasped her hands above her head
and started toward the prisoner. She
was quickly restrained. What she pur-
posed doing. can only be conjectured.
There are quite a number of women
present at the trial today.