The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-07-16
SMITH RETURNS TO HIS Old
~ HAUNTS ON LEDBETER FARM
Hired Man Implicated in Cold BIooded Murder Spends Couple
of Hours With States Attorneys, Shows Them Around
Premises Where Crime Was Committed.


it was seen that at no time were those
engaged in moving the body in sight
of the public road or of any other
house. They were at all times in de-
preston, sheltered by low hills and
derer woods. No better place could
have been chosen for crime of this
nature. The only house close by was
and is still uninhabited, and no neigh.
bors live close by. From the place
where the body was buried one corner
of the barn can be seen, across the
rayine.
The states attorneys said that Smith
did not bring out anything new in the
case, and that the object of the trip
was to familiarize themselves with
the ground, so that they will have a
full understanding. There is reason
to believe that they do not consider
that Smith is telling the entire truth
but is concealing his own part in the
murder. AS far as he has told the
story, they believe that he has told
it correctly, so far as he knows.
are defending Mrs. Ledbeter and Mr.
and Mrs. Schwandt advance to account
for the murder and protect their eli
ents is that Ledbeter was murdered in
the barn, and they claim that they
will be able to show this. They claim
to have discovered much blood upon
the flooring and joists at the little
hatchway at the head of the steps
leading from the basement to the first
floor. Here, they say, Ledbeter was
struck the fatal blow, as his mead
emerged above the floor, by person
standing in the dark above. waiting
for the opportunity. Ledbeter had to
climb this ladder to get the chicken
feed that was stored above, and he
used pail for the purpose. With one
hand on the round of the ladder and
the other holding the pail, and his head
Just above the opening he was help
less victim When he fell to the
ground. the attorneys maintain, he was
removed to the grave that had al
ready been prepared Cor him and filled
with hay. The hay was quickly re-
moved and the body dumped in and
covered and the hay forked back
When the time came to remove the
body to the grave in the wheat field
over which potatoes were subsequently
planted, the body was not taken as
related by Smith, they say, but was
placed on a stone bolt, and a horse
hitched to it, and it was dragged II
this manner to the place of secont
burial. The defense has this stone
bolt and will produce it at the proper
time The road was so rough at the
bridge that Ledbeter's hat was shaker
off and lost there, and afterwards hast.
lily hidden under the stone pile clost
by 1t will be claimed that Mrs
Ledbeter and the Schwandts were not
party to the murder and knew moth
ing of it.
The defense took the floor boards
from around the hatchway some day:
ago, but neglected to take the joists
that supported them. Since then, they
have discovered, it is said that Their,
was more blood on the joists than OF
the floor boards, and have had these
sawed off and taken away, to be pro
duced, doubtless, at the trial. So will
the door to the feedway, through which
the body was conveyed, and the corner
of the horse stall around which the
body would have to be conveyed.
The state holds that if Ledbeter haf
been struck at the hathaway lie would
have dropped before blood began to
flow. and there would have been none
at the hatchway. The defense Wi
probably attempt to show, by expert
testimony, that in the chaff and dus,
just under the hatchway and at the
foot of the ladder blood was found
This would be where the body fell
to the ground. No traces of blood
have been found in the bedroom, where
Smith says that the murder was com
mitted by Mrs. Ledbeter. The defense
holds that Smith or someone else killed
Ledbeter i'm the barn.
The preliminary hearing in the case
of Mrs. Ledbeter and Mr.. and Mrs
Sehwandt will begin tomorrow at 8
a. m in the municipal court, and the
story of the murder will be gone over
and for the first time made a public
record. Smiths examination is set for
Friday.
Sheriff Donahue took a trip to Min
neapolis this morning, but the object
of his going was kept secret.