The Mankato free press., 1909-12-17

ory was defective on about every
thing else, but Smiths statement. He
did not know whether he tnreshed
on the Ledbeter. farm a week or two
days. When Ledbeter disappeared and
the whole country was aroused, he did
not remember the conversation, nor
did he think of it until long after
wards, when, drinking in saloon, ne
told it to stranger-to man whose
name, even, he did not know. 1t Is
mot necessary to refer to mis- arrest
for deserting from the army to show
his character. 1t looked as though he
had come forward to get witness fees,
which doubtless now are in the till
of some drinking place down town.
The undertaken. Charles Anderson,
gave corroborating testimony to Smiths
story. when ne said that a man could
be dressed after death. Why was he
clothed so careIuf1y? That woman is
not fool She could say that he was
found with his clothes on, and was
killed in the barn, and she knew moth
ing of it. If he had been found naked,
it would have shown that he was
! killed in the house. The undertake
said that any person of ordinary in
! telligence could put the clothing on,
and it was necessary that the cloth
ing be put on carefully.
| The testimony of G. G. Phillips in
reference to the finding of the cap
of the deceased confirms what Smith
told to p. A. Ledbete,, and the evil
dence shows that Mrs. Ledbeter knew
all about the cap.
The testimony of the witness Watts
as to illicit relations between Smith
and Mrs. Ledbeter was not denied, but
was welcome, as showing a motive
! for Smith helping to bury the body
and concealing the crime for two
months. On that awful night, Smith
was tied to Mrs. Ledbeter by the re-
lations that he had been having with
her. He should have notified the of
/ ficers at once of the crime, but he
was in bad situation. Ii he had
told, he feared that she might have
accused him of the crime, and that
she would be believed, as ne had no
friends-being a stranger and poor
labOring man.
The Conversation Between the Two.
There was peculiar evidence brought
out, not often heard in such cases. i
want you to understand what the
conversation was about that was over
heard by Frank Franciscus Mr.. Ged-
des had sent Mr.. Franciscus, and the
defendant agreed to his hearing the
conversation, which shows that he was
not guilty and that he thought that
the talk would corroborate the story,
which it did Mrs. Ledbeter admitted
in this conversation that they had
buried the boy together in the barn.
and this is the strongest confirmation
of the story that he told p. A. Led
beter The conversation also shows
that someone had offered to give
Smith $1,000 to tell different story.
but there is no evidence that he ever
told another story. There was time
once when he wished to shield Mrs
Ledbeter, but not for money. He
would not have allowed his converse.
tion to be taken down shorthand if
he mad accepted or intended to accept
$1,000 to tell different story from
what he had told. When his atten-
tion was called to the poor little Led.
better children, he was willing to sac
rifice his life on the scaffoId or be
sent to prison for life to save their
mother on their account. 1t was a
noble offer. This incident was related
on tine stand by Deputy Sheriff
Klugherz.
ceased speak for themselves, and the
doctors but interpreters, and speak out
loudly that they were inflicted by a
woman and not by a man. There
were but two ways that the blow
could have been struck, while he was
lying down, or by person directly in
front of him. The heavy force was at
the top. 1t might have been done
with an axe or similar instrument IL
he was struck while in bed, the heavy
force would be at the top. Some of
the lighter wounds did not penetrate
the scalp, and none penetrated the
/ skull. The wounds coroborate Smiths
story to p. A. Ledbeter. They show
! that Mrs. Ledbeter may have struck
the heavy blow. and fearing to wake
the children, struck many lighter
blows in her excitement.
! Every witness and fact introduced
have corroborated Smiths story, step
by step. p. A. Ledbeter swore posi-
lively that his brother did not chew
tobacco before breakfast, and this con.
firms Smiths story of the murder in
the evening. The slapping incident
shows that the womans passion was
more than ordinarily aroused that
evening. Borgmeier says that Smith
was crying after the disappearance and
seemed unusually sorry. There was the
statement made in Jail, eagerly, rap
idly, as though to unburden his mind.
Men are not killed for trifes. There
is a greater motive behind the crime
that has not yet appeared in the case,
and that the defendant was not in
terested in. There has been some proof
that Mrs. Ledbeter tried to get him
to kill her husband, but none that he
consented to do it. There was evi-
dence that she said that if he did
not do it, she would. He should be
punished for his own crime, not for
hers.
Poor the Scapegoats.
The poor have a nard lot in this
world. The rich crouch behind and
conceal their guilt, while the poor have
to be made the scapegoats for all. The
speaker had done all that he could for
mis- client, and would liked to have
done more. The sight of this poor
boy, alone in the world, is more
pathetic than that of an accused
party sitting in court with his fam
lily about him. No matter how dark
Spotc NAV ba on opa,c l;fo bo ebo,Id