The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1907-08-21
CHARGED With
MURDER CRIME
REEVES AND KIsER ARE HELD TO
ANSWER TO THE DISTRICT
COURT.
CONFESSIONS NOT USED
JURY IN BOULDER INQUEST RE-
TURN VERDICT CHARGING
MALICIOUS INTENT.

bOulueT, SClO.-Assisldll DlSlTlCt
Attorney T. A. McHarg has filed an in
formation before Justice Of the Peace
j. V. Holiday charging j. w Reeves
and Frank Kiser, the alleged confessed
Boulder firebugs. with murder. The
case will come up for preliminary hear
ing within a few days. The inquest
over the remains of Ike o. Wilson, Roy
LeFevre and Albert E. Weeks returned
the following verdict:
THE said Ike o. Wilson, Roy Le-
Fevre and Albert E. Weeks came to
their death on the 10th day of August.
A. ID. 1907. in the city of Boulder.
county of Boulder. state Of Colorado.
as the result of an explosion Of dyna-
having been set by John w. Reeves
and Frank Kiser, and that said act of
said Reeves and Kiser was committed
maliciously and with felonious intent"
The jurors were: James Cowie, for
mer secretary of state. foreman; l.. C.
Paddock, T. ]. Sipple, G. b. Sutton,
Alonzo Coan. Nicholas r. Herod.
Confessions Withheld.
Little attempt was made to intro
duce testimony to place the RESPONSE
bility for the damage. The attorneys
refused to make the alleged confession
public, Withholding 1t until the prelimi-
nary hearing. The most important
witnesses at the inquest were Richard
| Woodward, James F. Simmons and
Harry Poole. A part of the confess
sion was made public by r. d. Doolit-
tie, the Colorado & Southern claim
agent. who was put on the stand to
swear that he had been witness to
the confession.
According to his testimony. Reeves
and Kiser went to the freight yards
and when they reached caboose No.
329 they separated, one going on either
side of the car. Both pulled waste out
| of the joualal boxes and heaped it up
| on the west end OF the caboose. Both
Kiser and Reeves applied a match to
their respective sides OF the car, thus
| igniting the waste. Up to this time 1t
had been given out that kiser was a
passive principal standing around. but
doing none of the work. Richard Wood
ward stated that he. together with
Vase Jendill, an Italian, were drinking
| in Berger's saloon and that in the con-
versation of the four men Reeves
asked Jendill and himself who were
miners, IL they could use powder.
Reeves, he said, expressed his inten-
ton OF going down to IRE The caboose
in order to get the two strike breakers
| who were asleep there. When Jendill
said he could use powder. Reeves said
that he would do all right, but Jendill
| said no.
Poole's Damaging Story.
| Harry Poole, striking brakeman on
| the Colorado & Southern, testified that
Reeves and Kiser had come to his
room to find out If the two strike
breakers who were working for the
railroad were sleeping in the caboose.
Poole begged them not to attempt any
thing against them. as he thought the
strike would soon be settled and that
any violence would hurt the cause Of
the union men, According to his tes-
tiniony he understood that Reeves and
Kiser were going home when they left
his room, although they stated that
| they had two miners, Woodward and
Jendill, waiting downstairs for them.
The testiony of the four boys who
| put out the fire on the caboose was IN
troduced and one of them stated that
he thought he had seen a man watching
them but that he would be unable to
identify him
J. II. Simmons, night engineer at the
brewery. was next put on the stand.
He stated that he had known Kiser
for a year and had met Reeves three
times. Kiser was in the habit of Wis
iting the brewery frequently. Sim
| mons, he said, was standing out in
front of the brewery about two min
utes after the fire broke out, when
they came up the path from Arapahoe
street. They asked if he had a gun
and he said no. They then said: Are
you a union MANI" and he answered
that he was. One of them asked IL he
could wash his hands, and Simmons
said he got bowl for them. Simmons
did not see them wash. as they took
the bowl out to a wash-house. When
Simmons spoke to them about the fire
Reeves said: "There is lot of mer-
chandise going up in smoke"
Were Looking for kiser.
Simmons said the men returned
about $3.50 in the morning, accompa-
MED by the master mechanic of the
Colorado & Northwestern railway.
They were looking for Kiser and asked
Simmons IL he had seen him. When
he replied in the negative. Reeves
sid: "If you see him, for Gods sake
send him home. as his mother is near
ly crazy"
C. n. Williams, superintendent of
the Colorado G. Northwestern, stated
that Reeves had been working with
the company since July 2Gth and that
he was brakeman for kiser and had
been with him four or five days prior
to the fire. When the men came back
with their trains Friday night from
Ward. they switched several cars. but
he did not know whether the powder
car had been touched.
F. A. Williams, clerk in NJ. F.
Whiteley's hardware store. stated that
the car Of powder which exploded con-
tanned 1000 pounds Of 40 per cent.
nitroglycerine, that the consignment
had been placed on the car Thursday
morning, and that 1t should have gone
out that night. 1t was billed to the
Boulder county mine at Cardinal and
was in charge of the Colorado &
| Northwestern railway.
r. B. Thompson, former alderman
of the CITY. stated that there was a