The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1907-06-12
ORCHARD TELLS OF CRIMES.
Witness Against Haywood Recites
Story Of Murders.

Witness Against Haywood Recites
Story Of Murders.
BOISE, June 6. - Harry Orchs ard
crowned his admissions of grave
crimes today when, continuing his tes-
timony against William D. Haywood,
he made an explicitly detailed confes.
sion of the murder Of Frank Steuen.
berg. by an Internal machine, that d.
rectly opens the way for his own con.
viction and execution for the mortal |
offense.
He swore that the assassination of
Steunenberg was first suggested by
Haywood: was jointly plotted by Hey.
wood, Meyer, Pettibone and himself;
was financed by Haywood, and was
executed by himself after the failure
of an attempt in which Jack Simpkins
had participated.
Orchard lifted the total of his own
murder victims to Is; detailed the cir
cumstances under which he tried to
murder former Governor Peabody,
Judge Goddard, Judge Gabbert, Gen.
Sherman Bell, Dave Moff at and Frank
Hearne. Incidentally he confessed to
a plan to kidnap the child Of one of
his former associates.
Then, under cross examination by
the defense, Orchard confessed guilt
of the sordid social crimes of desert.
ing his wife and young child in On.
tario, fleeing to British Columbia with
Hattie Simpson, the wife of another
man, and committing bigamy by
marrying q third woman at Cripple
Creek.
Through the shocking details OF
murder plots, stories Of secret bomb
making and tales Of man hunts, with
sawed-off shotguns and Internal ma
chimes as weapons, the witness went
on in the same quiet, otfhand manner
that marked his 1emeauor yesterday.
His voice dropped to Ilower keys as
the pitiful story of the long hunt for
Steunenberg narrowed down to the
last day and he told Of the race, from
the hotel to the home, to beat his VIC
tim with the death trap, and the meet.
ing in the evening gloom as the VIC
tim walked unconsciously to his
doom.
Through it all he WINGED but once,
and that was when the defense made
him name his six sisters and his one
brother and give their residences, in
Ontario and New York.
The defense fought the story with a
multiplicity of objections and sue
ceeded in heading off an attempt to
tell the story of the murder of Arthur
Collins at Telluride and in temporari.
ly shutting out the contents OF tele.
gram received and telegram sent by
Orchard after his arrest. But for the
rest, the state managed to get in its
story intact.
The state today began its corrobra-
tion of Orch ards crimson tale by pro-
ducing the lead casing Of the Peabody
bomb. Orchard identified it, swore
that he brought it from Canyon City
to Denver and then on to Wallace,
where he gave it to m an named Cum
ningham. 1t was thrown into the
river and the state promises to prove
its recovery.
Orchard testified that Haywood first
suggested that he come to Idaho and
assassinate Frank Steunenberg. He
said that this suggestion was made at
conference held in the Office of the
Western Federation of Miners in Den.
yer in August, 1905, at which plans
were outlined for several removals o!
enemies to the union.
Orchard swore that Meyer wanted
him to go to Goldfield and murder
John Neville. Neville accompanied
Orch ard to Wyoming after the Inde-
pendence station was blown up, and
according to Orchard, knew too much
about the crime for Meyers peace OF
mind. Then it was, the witness swore,
that the steunenberg plot, suggested
by Haywood, had its inception.
Before the Steunenberg story was
developed, Orchard told of various
plots to kill Governor Peabody, Gen.
eral Sherman Bell, Judge Godd lard,
Judge Gabbert and Frank Hearne.
The state produced large lead she'll
and Orchard identified it as the outer
casing of the bomb he carried to Can
yon City in the hope of blowing up
Peabody.