The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-03-22
ATTEMPT MADE To
NT|M|DATE WITNESS
Negro Giving Testimony Against
Driskell Approached With
Threats.
DEFENSE In MURDER
HAS BAD DAY OF 1T
State Scores Many Points; Dris-
kell to Testify Today; No
Confession Yet.
Life or Rope

+ Say. t. H., we will be in the hail :.
= tomorrow knish. at about half-pasI -
= IL and Will have the screen fixed so =
.i- you can hand us in gun or 10 and =
e you make 1t back 10 your room see !.
= We VIII mark our window with the :.
= candel burning on the bars, and you !.
= come UP and hit the screens and we :.
+ VIII no you arc there with the stuff -
| - and will take IL from you. don't :.
= tail tell us tomorrow you Will be :.
= there II Is life or the roap you no =
!. Good BY. :.
+ "Or you can cut the littel wire j.
| :. that holds the screen and we will -
| :. push 1t out. don't fail us,'-Dris- !.
= kelrs appeal to brother for aid 10 i.
!: escape fro" county 'a'l, !
+
What is cIassed by the sheriff's office
as an attempt by friends OF Luclen e.
Driskel. on trial for his life for the al
legged murder of Night Watchman c. c..
Riley the night OF October 5. 1909,
10 intimidate certain OF the states wit
nesses occurred n few minutes after the
resumption of DriskelYs hearing In Judge
LewIs's division OF the Third district
court Monday morning.
Approaching Ollie Pierce, a negro fire.
man employed on Commercial street
after he had given damaging testimony
against Driskell, white man whose
name was not learned, is alleged to have
threatenlngly demanded:
You - ~ of -. what do
| The negro made some equivocal reply
and when the white man attempted 10
address him again he walked away.
| The incident was reported 10 Sheriff
Sharp. who instantly warned the white
man not to renew his attempt 10 talk
with the negro or To make an effort 10
speak to other witnesses, under penalty OF
| being thrown into jail
The man attempted TO assure Sheriff
Sharp that he meant nothing wrong in
speaking TO Pierce but after he admitted
| that, although he was only spectator.
he was interested In Driskell and his
case, the sheriff renewed his threat and
the man disappeared.
Bad Day for Driskell
II was bad day for the defense The
| state scored strongly at almost every
turn. In the first place the defense
failed to keep out Driskcli's second note.
intended for his brother. Tracey Drls-
prison for trying to effect a delivery at
| the county jail. asking the brother TO
| slip gun or two in to him at the county
| Jail This note contains the prisoners
| taclt confession Of the murder.
Then the second witness put on by the
defense was so confused. uncertain and
practically nothing else help offset the
| testimony of the first person called by
the defense. who proved a good witness.
| Driskell's attorneys have intmated that
| they intend To try TO prove an allbl for
| Driskell and fasJeG Riley's murder onto
his pal, II. E. Kennedy but if so they
quit Monday worse off than when they
| started. Again, the defense's witnesses
| corroborated practically all the circum
stantial evidence presented by the state.
In addition to all this, the state pro
| duced one witness. Pierce. who furnished
what is construed as still another tacit
| admission on Driskell's part OF his guilt.
Pierce testified that he met Driskell and
| Kennedy the morning after the murder
and that Driskell declared substantially
| that he was forced 10 XIII Riley. that IL
he hadn't killed Riley, Riley would have
| killed him.
First Important Witness.
Pierce was the first witness OF any
moment Monday. The negro is Al years
| Old has been here four years, lives at
| fl Commercial street. and is fireman
at SO Commercial street. He said that
he had known Kennedy for two months
prior TO the murder of Riley, and DrIs-
kcll about two weeks
Pierce said that he met both Driskell
and Kennedy at Second South and Com
rnerclal streets between $50 and 10
o'clock the morning. after the murder:
Pierce asked Kennedy. whom he called
standing there on the corner, and Ken
ncdy told him that he had sent a guy
up the street with some watches. but lie
thought the guy had soaked" him.
Then Pierce. according to his testimony,
asked Kennedy if they hadn't read the
papers; II they didn't know that Riley
Then IL was. according TO Pierce's testi-
mony, that Driskell made the alleged
tacit confession of his guilt. in suostan-
TALLY these words:
"I was forced TO do 1t. u hadn't
got him. he would have got me.
prlskell and Kennedy then said some
Pierce says. after which Kennedy left
them. and he and Drskel went TO the
room of Kennedy and Driskell in the
Empire rooming house. There Kennedy.
who had preceded them. took two re
vovcrs out OF grip and gave them to
Driskell, who gave them to Pierce TO
formation they could from him as to the
time of a train over the Oregon Short
Line for ogden. Pierce says that he
told them they could get the train over
the Oregon Short Line about IL o'clock,
he thought and one over the Bambergcr
line al most any hour.
Informs Officers,
Although Drsllel and Kennedy had
warned him TO keep Still. Pierce testified
that as soon as Detective Howell came
along he told him of his suspicious as To
Drskells and kennedy,s connection wsb
the Riley case. and advised him to go
TO the Oregon Short Line depot He also
told Chief of Detectives George A. Sheets
all he knew about the matter after
Sheets had sent for him, he said.
The defense attempted TO make Pierce
out Il sort OF pal OF Kennedy and Dris-
kell. Mathopihah Thomas. chief coun-
sci for Driskcll, made Pierce admit that
he was In Jail once. but Pierce said that
he lust had a little scrap with a teller.
Pierce denied that Kennedy gave him
fourteen watches once to pawn for him
and that he attempted TO incite Drls-
kell 10 make an effort to rob the pro-
prietor OF the Orpheum hotel. Nh.
Thomas tried to make II appear that
Pierce had told Drskel that the pro-
prlctor had plenty of diamonds, that she
drank and that II Drisllcll would get her
to drinking hc might then stick her up
for her diamonds, but Pierce wouldn't
have e that way.
Pierce never got any favors from De