The Lamar register. [volume] (Lamar, Colo.) 1889-1952, 1908-04-29
The WALKER MURDER CASE
is OPENED AT DURANGO
Jury SECURED AFTER HUNDRED vENlREMEN
AND OPENING STATEMENTS PRosEcU-


that it was impossible for him to have
been facing the person who shot him,
as claimed by the defense.
James l.. Russell, chief counsel for
the defense, then made his opening
statement. outlining what the defense
will try to prove. He said that Mason
has been resident of southwestern
Colorado for twenty-three years and OF
La Plata county for eighteen years. He
was superintendent of the Hesperus
mine for sixteen years, is married. has
an adopted daughter married, stood
high in the community in which he so
long resided. and that his word and
business integrity have never been
questioned.
He said Vanderweide. the other de-
PENDANT, has been resident of La
Plata county for nine years, worked in
a local smelter four years, one year in
the Boston coal mine and four years
at the Herperus property. His wife
ran the boarding house at his property
at the time of the tragedy. He has "a
daughter five years old. and that be-
fore this affair he was never known to
have been in any trouble. This is the
first time that anything discreditable
had been charged to either of the two
defendants, he declared.
Attorney Russell declared the evil
dence will further go to show that the
Porter Fuel Company held patents to
the land and that the government
agents were trespassers thereon; that
there was no occasion for the secret
service men to steal onto the property.
as no government agent had ever been
refused admittance to the mine.
The ground in question is close to
the dividing line of the agricultural
area and the coal land, and as evidence
WILL he said, show, some years ago a
man named Brown took up a coal land
claim, which was contested by a home
steader, who won, as Brown could not
show that there was coal on his land.
Russell SAID Mason for a number of
years was game warden and the evil
dence will show that he was accus-
toned to carrying gun as coyotes
were numerous and sometimes other
game. This time he had no gun and
lie borrowed one at a saloon the night
before because he had n large sum of
money on his person and wanted the
weapon for protection on the way
home.
| Sunday morning, he said Mason
thought he heard "A noise in the direc-
tion of the Hesperus mine and asked
vanderweide to go with him and in
/
blasting and shooting. Vanderweide
took his douhle-barreled shotgun.
loaded with bird shot and buckshot
and they took the trail and road until
in sight of the shaft, near which they
saw a man.
He said the evidence will show that
they did not recognize Walker. know
that he was government employee,
nor what he was doing there, and they
went farther to investigate. as any
tampering with the air shaft might
prove disastrous to not only the mine.
but the men who were working inside.
When near the shaft. he said.
Walker called to them to halt. but they
paid no attention to this, not thinking
that the man would shoot: that Walk
er called n second time for them to
halt at the same time firing n shot
In the direction of Mason, but that the
shot went wild and that It was as
Walker was in the act OF firing the sec
ond time at Mason that Vanderweide
shot and killed him in order to save
Masons life.
The evidence will further. he de-
clared. show that Mason and Wander
weide then went to Hesperus and told
what had occurred and after telephon-
ing to the sheriff at Durango, started
toward that city and were later met
and placed under arrest.
The defense also denies, he said,
that Walkers body was moved ny
Mason and Vanderweide. but that 1t
was moved by someone else, and that
when the officers arrived they found
a coat lying over the body