The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1910-12-09

I Hall did not seem to hear her. Neary
was the first person to arrive, coming
through the house from the front door.
Hall was sitting on the trunk in the
dining room.
At this point, the court room was
cleared of women, as the doctor did
not care to give the rest of his testi-
mony in the presence of ladies', repeat
ing what Hall had said TO Neary, which
was unprintable.
James Mape followed Neary into the
house. The body of Crook was found
by a tree, fifteen feet northerly from
the house. The left arm was around
the tree as though he had sunk down
in his tracks. The rifle was lying
about five feet away, on the ground.
| The witness presented a plat that he
made while the body was still by the
tree, showing the position, location of
the rifle, etc. y number OF farmers
and some villagers were present when
he made the plat and was taking meas
urements. The plat was ruled out,
on objection by the defense.
| The witness said that rigor mOrtis
had already set in. After the coroner
arrived, the witness had examined the
body. The bullet had entered the abdo-
men two inches below and two and a
half inches to the left of the navel.
| In hoH iHnntfHnA hn hoAxy
Crooks. He had participated in MAX
| ing post norton examination of the
remains in this city, and described
what was found. Above the navel was
an elliptical shaped powder burn. One
and quarter inches below and three
quarters Of an Incl. 10 the right of the
external wound, the bullet entered the
wall or facia Of the abdomen. The d.
rectiOn was downward and to the right
A loop of the intestincs was button
holed, or piece Clipped out. The alb
domen was filled with blood clOts, and
a clot was beneath the peritoneum. The
external jlleam artery was buttonholed,
taking out piece more than half
of its diameter, as though a lead PEN
Gil had been driven through it. This
hemOrrhage from it was sufficient to
cause death. The bullet was located
against the pclvis bone in a little rocket
that it made for itself The witness
identified the bullet that was recovered
from the body, and it was offered in
evidence. The place where the bullet
was recovered was five or six inches
below the external opening of the
wound. and TO the right and backward.
The buttonhOling of the artery was
about three inches below the external
wound.
! The witness illustrated The direction
OF the gun with Il cane passed over
by Juror Rollins, indicating that it was
aimed downward slightly. Death was
due to hemorrhage from the wounded
artery.
Halls Antipathy to Crook.
On redirect, the witness said that
last March he had talk with Hall
about deciding the place to Mrs. Crook
The witness had remarked that if Hall
decided the place, Crook would be right
back. Hall had said instantly that il
he did return he would shoot him. The
witness did not look upon this as being
a murderous threat, but Hall was evil
IDENTIFY irritatcd.
The cross examination was resumed
The witness said that he had since
learned that Hall had not at that time
! decided the place to Mrs. Crook. At
all times, in conversation, Hall had re-
sented the idea of Crook coming back
as he did not consider Crook good
: enough for his wife.
| When Hall came into the sitting
room he kept the gun in his hands, and
whenever the witness proposed to leave
the gun was pointing toward him. Hall
said once, ''You won't leave" He op-
posed my leaving because he did not
want to be left alone. He was friendly
except when irritatcd. He was very an.
CRY, excited and nervous, but mentally
responsible. Hall said when he entered
the room and after he had said that he
had shot Crook, that he couldn't stand
the condition any longer He said
doc, I'll swing for this. / couldn't
stand it any longer He said that he
had shot Crook and had killed him.
He said a little later in the converse.
ton that he was going to take his
gun out to finish Crook. I remonstrat.
ed that he wouldn't take his gun and
kill man who was down, and he said
! that he wouldn't kill man, but that
Crook was snake. The first word that
Neary said on coming in was, Hello
Hail." and Hall answered pleasantly
"IIello, John" Afterwards Ncary told
Hall to come along with him, and Hall
went along with him peaceaby. The
gun was lying about five feet from the
/ tree where Crooks body was found in
a crouchng position, and it was slight
ly less than five. feet from his right
hand. The left hand clasped the tree
and the right hand was resting on the
ground.
| Powder Burns Above Wound.
The clothing over Crooks wound was
, burned. The overall was badly burned,
and the shirt comparatively small
hole, and the undershirt small hole
and bIoodstain, and the drawers only
small hole in the band. The powder
burns on the clothing were above the
wound. The center OF the burn on the
body was two and three fourths inches