Fergus County Democrat., 1911-02-28
suffer CASE
IS REMANDED
New Trial Is Granted Man Found
Guilty of Murder Of Thomas
Burke Last September.
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
Supreme Court Holds That the Evi
dence Was Not Sufficient to
Warrant Conviction.

SOHoluCi dO4C Sul lpllSC was ON-
casioned yesterday among the legal
fraternity when the news reached
here that the supreme court had re-
versed the lower court of this coun-
ty in the Stephen E. Suiter case on
Saturday. The surprise was not
wholly on account of the granting Of
a new trial, but on the ground set
forth by the supreme court. The de-
fense relied almost wholly upon
technical flaw in the form Of the YER
dict for. reversal. A motion was
not even made at the local trial for
an acquittal on the ground OF insult
fcient evidence.
The case Was tried before Judge
Erickson, of Flathead county, and
attracted considerable attention, as
Stephen E. Suiter. the defendant, had
resided in this section for many
years. Whether the case will be re-
tried depends upon whether Or not
new evidence is in possession of the
state. A copy of the decision has
not yet arrived here, and until such
time the action Of the state will not
be known.
The opinion was written by Chief
Justice Brantley and is based on a
review Of the evidence. The evidence
on which Suiter was convicted was
entirely circumstantial. The supreme
court holds that s'most Of the cir
cumstances are as consistent with
the notion that the defendant is in
nocent as they are with the hypothesis
that he is guilty" and under these
conditions the evidence is insufficient
to sustain a conviction A new trial
is ordered.
| John "A. Coleman. assisted by
Ayers & Marshall, is the attorney for
the defense, while County Attorney
u. c. Huntoon handled the prosecu-
ton for the state.
Below we give the statement of
County Attorney Huntoon, made at
: the time of the trial:
In his opening statement, County
!: Attorney Huntoon said that he would
prove, by absolutely convincing evi-
dence. that Thomas Burke was MUIR
dered on the 18th day of last June
| by the defendant, Stephen Suiter.
Men Were Enemies.
Continuing, Mr.. Huntoon stated
that the state would show that Suiter
and Burke were formerly partners ir
the ownership of some cattle, and
that frequent and bitter disputes arose
between them in connection with tha,
partnership; that about year ago
as a result of quarrel, Suiter had
Burke placed under bond to keer
the peace, and in defualt Of which
Burke remained in jail all winter
that the two men had further troubl,
a short while before the tragedy, ane
that for few days prior to the kill
ing, Suiter had been seen carrying
shot gun around through the hill
, and acting in generally suspiciou
. manner
, The states prosecutor proceeded t.
state that on the day Of the killing
several persons heard shot from tn
direction of an open cut, near the oil,
Spotted Horse mine, in which Burk
was doing some work for R. Johl
Mellor; that this shot was hear,
about 3 o'clock in the afternoon o
Tuesday, June %, and that subse
quent Investigations showed tina
Burke was killed at about that hour
that one witness, Mrs. Brinkman
who was running the boarding hous
at the Spotted Horse mine, saw
| man who answered to the descrip
| ton of Suiter, prowling about tn
| hills with shot gun near wher
| Burke was at work on the day o
! the killing.
Purchased Buck Shot.
! 1t would be shown, said Mr.. Hun
: toon, that the missiles which cause
the death of Burke were bucksho
about the size of small bullets, an
that such shot was not kept by an
IS of the stores in Maiden, Gilt Edge
Kendall or Lewistown. except tn
Y, Judith Hardware company; that o.
d the 18th of June. Suter was in Lew
. istown and on the l4th he purchase
= some of these buckshot from Man
Y ager J. B. Rauch, of the Judith Hard
0 ware. On the 18th, Suiter inquire
n of an old acquaintance. Victor Lang
e doc. about where he could purchas
Is some buckshot
4 Purchased Buckshot.
e Six shot entered the body OF Burk
n and FIVE of them were recovere
IS when the autopsy was performed b
:, Doctor Attix These FIVE shot cor
= respond in size to those sold to Suit
er by Mr.. Rauch. Near the open Gu
r where the murder was committed
i were found two wads. one of whic
d was identified. because of its peculia
= color, as coming from Peters shell
that on one side of this wad wer