The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-03-19
HA[Ts RIEFF TRIAL
JUDGE PFAU CALLED UPON TO DE-
eide MOTION TO DISMISS.
Defense Asks That Parties Charged
With Murder of Infant Be Re-
leased, Claiming That Evidence
Does Not Show That Crime Has
Been Committed; Order Held Back.

0SSA SSAA1AhlhSN, SAoSA AASAN AoSh
From Saturdays Daily.
Little progress was made in the Ref
murder trial today. The state rested
this morning, and then the defense
moved to dismiss, and the day was
taken up with the arguments. The
morning If the motion is denied, tine
trial will proceed
Boys on the Stand.
Henry, Albert and Annie Thinner.
man were called as witnesses by the
state yesterday afternoon and testi
fed substantially as County Attorney
Plymat said that they would in his
outline of the states case to the Jury
yesterday. They related how Ambrose
Ref had called them to their moth
er's room to see the newly born baby,
or had conversed with them on the
subject of the disposition of the re-
mains the next day. They gave the
history of Rieffs acquaintance with
their mother and the position that he
assumed in the household
No Record of Birth.
Hubert Bruels, the town clerk, tes-
titled that no record of the birth or
death of the child was filed with him
as required by law.
Albert Fitzloff testified to seeing
Rieff and Mrs. Zimmerman driving and
acting affectionately.
This concluded the taking of tes.
timony yesterday afternoon.
This morning the state put Sheriff
Donahue and Deputy Sheriff Kluehertz
on the stand and they testified that
after his arrest Ref had denied that
baby was born to Mrs Zimmerman.
At this juneture the state rested.
Moved Action Be Dismissed.
The attorneys for the defense then
offered a motion that the action be
dismissed on the ground that the state
had wholly failed to prove that the
crime charged in the Indictment had
been committed. or that any crime
had been committed This was argued
briefly and then the court announced
that he would take the motion under
ADJUSTMENT until eleven o'clock, and or.
dered q recess until that time. In
the meantime the attorneys busted
themselves looking up authorities.
Motion Argued at Length.
The motion was argued for the de-
PENDANT by ". r. Ceddes at some
length, and ne quoted freely from au.
thorlties. He said that it was up to
the state to prove the death of the
child, and also that the defendant
brought about its DEATH These facts
must be proved Independently of each
other. The Indictment charged that
Ref had compassed the death of the
child by mean of an assault, weapons,
instruments or poisons unknown to the
grand jury. The state had produced
no evidence that an assault had been
committed, or that Ref had had his
hands on the child or been near it.
Witnesses had been present at its
death, and no evidence of foul play
was presented. There was evidence on
the other hand that Ref had been
open and showed desire to conceal
nothing, but had called all of the
members of the family to let them
know everything. Suspicion could not
be assumed. If the court could explain
away the death on some other hypothe-
SIS than that Ref murdered the child,
1t was its duty to do so. No evil
oenee had been introduced by the state
10 show that there was any poison
N the house or that any had been pur-
chased, or that there We're any wea-
pons. Mr.. Geddes claimed that under
the decisions of the courts it was the
duty of Judge Pau to dismiss the
action, IN view of the absence of evil
dence of crime. On such evidence
1t would be his duty to direct verdict
Tor the defendant, and such evidence
would not even sustain civil action.
Argued for the State.
ID. l.. Schmitt argued the case for
the state. He said that he did not
dispute the law quoted The law said
that the evidence must exclude every
other reasonable hypothesis except the
guilt of the defendant, but that
whether it did or not was a matter
Tor the jury to decide and not for
the court There was evidence to
show beyond reasonable doubt That
a baby was born and that the defend
ant, who was married man, was the
father of it. Mrs. Zimmerman was
widow. 1t was reasonable that Ref
would try to conceal the fact of the
birth of the child, for otherwise if
it lived he might be required to sup
port it, and it might afford proof of
adultery, which would be ground
upon which his wife could secure
divorce and ali of his property.
Purpose of Defendant.
The defendant intended to have the
Zimmerman children see the baby alive
and well and later see it die, so as
to divert suspicion that death was due
to anything but natural causes. They
saw but its face. It could have died
from concealed bandages. Crimes of
this kind are always secretly COM
mitted, and if the rule claimed by the
defense was TO be applied, the state
would fail to convict murderers in
ninety nine eases ort of n hundred