Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1911-10-06
MARIN Pl lEADS Gull TY
After Stats Rests Case.
Sentenced TO Life / 4
Imprisonment

W IIAN1aAVE. 40MlN01 n tkN0 A11I
dete the Killing OF his wife
k!iie MaHtln, on. the eEeping pf juno
18th last the mniyel ~case Vhich
threatened 70. & run W eors h several days
more came TO ~ autd4ns termlnatienlI
when cpnncn for stheH defense5ia mol
Ice to Judge Taylor and Cpunty|
Attorney Cameron that his client Wasl
willing to change his. plea Of not
guilty to the charge preferred. .against
Ell him to. one OF guilty Of murder in the
second degree. :, S,s*.=s :5 .z
I, Thereupon the court discharged {. thesl
jury and at 8 clock Tuesday morning1
the prisoner was taken before
Judge Taylor to receive his sentence,
that Of Life imprisonment IN the Still
water penitentiary. Martin reoeived.I
his sentence in the same matter. Of
course manner which has characterized
his actions throughout the trial. .a z3Sss.
S 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 letter plea was the one
counsel for the defense, intended to
have his client make. That the recent
decision of Judge G. 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 y ~ pro-:
bable -
The murder was of most revolving
nature and affected the people of that
vicinity to a much higher degree than
appeared on the surface.
Having a 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
infuriated that Sunday evening to find
on his return from strawberrylng 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 a 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. IL. So ~.
He afterwards told his story toChrist
johnson, q hIother=ip:law of the MUIR
dered woman, and with him came to
Little Fails and gave himself up to the
sheriff, to v hom 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 impanelling q
jury occupied the courts attention to
late last Friday afternoon when the
twelfth juror was selected. The state
then commenced to present its
evidence, Sherman Lewis and the John.
SON children being in turn called to
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 o'clock in the
afternoon.
The useless expense the county has
been put to by defendants refusing to
plead guilty to the charge of murder
in the first degree and later pleading 6
to the charge of murder in the second
degree, which in this state carries the
same penalty as the other. can readily
be seen. The trial as far as it pro-
gressed cost the county. near onto
| ~ VVV. LID
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