Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1911-05-05
SWEAR JOHN DE|Tz
FIRED FATAL SHOT
FIVE so TESTIFY AS TO BULLET
THAT PROVED FATAL TO
OSCAR HARP.
MRS. DEITZ AND LESLIE IGNORED
one Witness Says He Saw a Win
chester Protruding Through Roof.
-Dietz Objects to Many
Rulings.

tNGiiItSSs
Hayward, May 4.-Slowly the net of
evidence appears to be tightening
around John F. Deitz. Bit by bit the
attorneys for the state are patching
together pieces of damaging evidence,
by which they hope to send the So
called outlaw of Cameron Dam to
Waupun penitentiary for life. Not
one scientific of evidence has been
submitted to prove even the compile
Ity OF Mrs. Deitz and Leslie in the
shooting of Deputy Oscar Harp, or
Oct. last year, the apparent plan of
1T all being to prove John Deitz the
Intentional and deliberate murderer of
the deputy.
Five men sWore on the stand that
they had seen the flash of the bullet
which killed Harp, when it was fired
from the hayloft of the Deitz barn.
One witness even testified that he had
seen the barrel of the Winchester
rifle when it was protruded through
a portfolio in the roof of the barn.
Against this, the three accused mem
bers of the family set up only the de-
Tense implied in the question as to
whether the shot could not have come
from the other side of the barn
through the roof. In every case the
answer was that it was impossible.
Five witnesses were examined by
the state and cross-eXamined by the
defense. The testimony took in the
entire story of the Cameron dam bat
tie, the shooting of Harp, the post
mOrtem examination Of the body, the
surrender, the warrants and general
reference to the Deitz arsenal.
Thomas Pomerlo, 81 a deputy, and
son of Thomas Pomerlo, town marshal
of Winter, was the first witness.
II did not see any smoke from the
barn" he said He testified that at
the time his companions were Walter
Bunk. Oscar Harp and Ernest New
heorter. He said: Il only know that
we were crawling up on the lumber
piles and / looked around and saw
Harp fall over on his face"
Deitz Objects to Questions.
Deitz made frequent but apparently
random objections to the questions of
Attorney Sturdevant. Most of the OBJ
jections were overruled. Mewheorter
told of the finding of the set gun
among the lumber piles, and described
the machine for the jury.
Deitz objected to the states ques-
lions as leading, and when overruled
surprised the attorneys on the other
side of the table by asking that ex-
ception be taken to the rulings. His
action was unnecessary as 1t was stp-
ulated in accordance with the WiscOn-
sin law at the beginning Of the trial
that the defendant be given an eX-
ception to each of the courts rulings
to protect the defendant before the SUI
preme court.
Mewheorter also testified to having
heard Mrs Deltz declare Immediately
after the surrender that John had done
all the shooting and that she and Les
lie had not fired shot.
J. A. Duncan, testifying from his
own map of the Deitz farm and clear
Ing, WHICH udo uOI OF llLS oiAhS bSSii
offered in evidence, stated in answer
to Attorneys Sturdevant's questions
that owing to the elevation and the
obstacles surrounding the spot on
which Harp was shot, it was lmpos-
sible for him to have come within
range of the deputies cross-tire. Sur
veyor Duncan said that he had drawn
the map from information supplied by
the deputies.
When asked directly by Deitz if he
thought it would be possible for a
| bullet to have been fired through the
roof to have killed Harp, Mr.. Duncan
said that it would have been neces-
sary for the bullet to strike some OBJ
iect, be DETECTED downward and to
one side in order that it reach the
spot where Harp fell. He then Of
fered his opinion that the double de-
Election would have caused the bullet
to lose power
John Brtton on Stand.
John Britton, who was the first one
of the principal witnesses of the af-
ternoon. testified that he had fired
the first shot at Leslie when the lat
ter refused to throw up his hands and
that later he had been fired on per-
sonally and members of his party had
been fired on more than dozen
times from the DeitZ cabin.
AS in all of his cross-examinations,
Deitz questioned the witness about the
use of explosive bullets and received
the answer from Britton that he had
never used one.
Waite Ackley. who was in charge OF
the deputies ammunition, testified
that he had handled every box of car
trdges and could swear that there
were no explosive cartridges used.
Fired Not to Hit Leslie.
Waite Ackely testified to having
fired between Is and 80 times at the
house on the day fthe surrender
Deputy Britton testified that when he
fired at Leslie it was not to kill him