The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1909-03-04
EATHDASOWNFAULI
coroner's Jury So Holds in the
James Willetts Case.

at1slS y
Coroner J. C II3ssasrrrringor held 81 in
quest over the remains of the late
James Willetts, a mine worker resid-
ling at Bolton, at four O'Clock Monday
AFTERNOON at the McCurdy Annex, fol-
lowing the funeral and interment~The
witnesses had been secured by Con-
stable James Lawrence of Garfield
and they reported promptly
lat the hour arranged. The witnesses
were Josephine Willetts, the widow,
George Ritzman, Tom Ship, miners
of Bolton; John Hunlmell and John
Melvin, who assisted in recovering the
body Frank Pearson and Richard Hull,
farmers who reside near where the
death occurred, and a.. G. Wood, un-
ldertaker, who cared for the body.
Little II any new evidence was de-
lveloped County Attorney James Pat
terson directed the questioning in
connection with the coroner. George
True made the record OF the evidence.
Joe Fisher, of Bolton, acted as inter-
lpreter for Ritzman, as he cannot
speak English. Jake Seibert, a mem
lber of the coroner's jury, assisted in
questioning the German.
The evidence showed that botn
lWilletts and Ritzman had been drink
1 ing. When the party that had come
from town left the train, and started
| for home, Mrs. Willetts thought her
husband would follow for supper. The
hour was past five o'clock and he
promised he would be along soon. The
two men were seen about half-past
! five in the vicinity of the creek and
both were down on the ground. No
one thought, however, that the fellows
were helpless or in danger. Both men
islipped down the bank and into the
soft quicksand or mud of the bottom
of the creek. They had wallowed
around helplessly for a time. The
body of Willetts was found about four
or FIVE feet from the place where he
lfell over the bank. Ritzman had
crossed the mire and clambered up the
Iopposite bank. He reached home
about two o'clock Saturday morning,
plastered with mud from head to foot.
He was put to bed by John Melvin,
who lives in the same house with him.
He said nothing about any companion
| in trouble. h. <-te
Ritzman when placed on the stand
l4un IN H. larh
the trouble. He recalled having met
| Willetts on the train coming home and
they had a drink. He had taken some
drinks in town and got the liquor in
the jug to take to his home. After
leaving the train he could remember
nothing. He did not know where he
had been, who he had been with, what
thine he had reached home or that
he had been in the ditch. He said he
could remember nothing of what had
happened. '1H
The body was found In the ditch up
to the hips in the soft mud. The
hands were in the water and surround.
ed with thin skim of ice. The body
leaned forward with the face resting
on the side of the bank about eight
cen inches from the water. The spot
where the cheek touched the earth
was the only place on the body that
showed evidences of frost. There
were no marks OF violence ON the body,
no evidences of struggle, and the
Testimony did not offer suggestion
of foul play. The German miner did
not seem to be a man capable of do
ing harm to any one. The jury hay
ing gathered all information possible,
came to the conclusion that Willetts
had died of exposure and the condi-
tions induced by intoxication.