Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1911-10-06
MARIN PLEADS GUILTY
After State Rests Case
--Sentsnced to Life
imprisonment =

MAI4lnsse on trial fOr murder In the 6rDt
degree for the killing Of his. wife.
Emilio Martin, on the evening Of June
18th last, the murder ease which
threatened to run for several days
more came to q sudden termination,
when council for the defense xave no.
ice I. to Judge Taylor and County
Attorney Cameron that his client was
willing to change his: plea of not
guilty to the charge preferred against
him to one of guilty OF murder in the
second degree. !
Thereupon the court discharged, the.
jury and at 8 o'clock TUESDAY morning
the prisoner was taken before
Judge Taylor to receive his sentence,
that OF Life imprisonment In the Still
water penitentiary. Martin received.
his sentence in the same matter of
course manner which has characterized
his actions throughout the trial.
AS defendant had not pleaded self
defense or an accident, the only
alternative he had was to plead in
sanity and there was every reason to
believe that the latter plea was the one
counsel for the defense intended to
have. his client make. That the recent
decision of Judge e. A. Nye that any
one sent to the insane asylum tor
murder is there for life had consider
able to do with the changing OF the
plea as above mentioned is v ~ pro:
bable
The murder was of most revolving
nature and affected the people of that
vicinity tn a much higher degree than
appeared on the surface.
Having deep. seated hatred for
James johnson. II, eldest son Of Mrs
Martin by her first husband, Severn
Johnson. who at his death had left his
farm to her, Theodore Martin became
| Infatuated that Sunday evening to find
on his return from strawberry1ng that
his wife was taking lunch to the boy,
who had come over from q farm near
Pierz where he had had been working
for visit with his mother. He at
once commenced quarreling with his
wife and grabbing up his Winchester
rifle started out after the boy stating
that he would shoot his head off. The
boy eluded him, whereupon he resumed
the quarrel with his wife and his
temper getting the better OF him shot
her three times, killing her on the
spot.
! He afterwards told his story toChrist
johnson, a hrother-in= law of the muir:
dered wuman, and with him came to
Little Falls and gave himself up to the
sheriff, to whom and County Attorney
Cameron he again repeated his story
and made written confession. He was
indicted by the grand jury for murder
in the first degree to which he pleaded
not guilty and his trial was COM
menced Wednesday afternoon of last
week. The work of impaneliing q
jury occupied the courts attention to
late last Friday afternoon when the
twelfth juror was selected. The state
then commenced to present its
son children being in turn called to
the witness chair. Mr.. Lewis
testimony was relative to photographs
of the scene of the murder, ETC., taken
for the county attorney, while that of
the children was much along the same
as has been published in the Herald.
Christ johnson was the states star
witness
The jurors visited the scene of the
murder Sunday and on Monday the
state resumed the presentation Of its
strong chain of evidence, resting its
case shortly before 4 o'clock in the
afternoon.
The useless expense the county has
been put to by defendants refusing tc
plead guilty to the charge of murder
IN the first degree and later pleading
to the charge of murder in the second
degree, which in this state carries th<
same penalty as the other. can readily
be seen. The trial as far as it pro
gressed cost the county near oute
81, 600. =.