The searchlight., 1911-12-08
CRUTCHfIELD IS
mot GUILTY.
Jury Claims Prosecution Failed to
Prove Ownership Of steer
Carl Schultz Also Acquitted

(From Valley County NewsD
The substance of the crutchheld trial -
brought out by the prosecution. was about
as follows:
1t seems from Mr.. Shaw's testimony
that ]. S. Kimmel. the deputy sheriff Who
was regularly stationed at Saco up until
the time Of cutting aaray in which Mr..
Kimmel was the victim Of drunken sheep
herder, who attacked him with q knife.
nearly disemboweling him. had cultivated
the acquaintance of the defendants. who
confided to Kimmel the nature Of the in
dustry pursued by them. to-wit: ''rustling"
on the side. while they conducted a butch
ershop and restaurant in the town Of Saco,
for the disposition Of their spoils. One Of
the defendants tended" the meat shop and
one the restaurant and they took turn
about in securing fresh beef to keep the
business going. was the plan Of campaign II
is said. they pursued. On learning Of their
tactics. it seems that Kimmel pussyfooted
around until he discovered the base OF
operations of the conspirators. sheepshed
in the hills to the north OF the town OF
Saco. Having discovered their rendez-
vous. he and Shaw proceeded to the hills
above the sheepshed and awaited the COM
log of the defendants. Here they watched
with the aid Of pair Of field glasses. for
the coming Of Crutchheld and Erickson
from the town of Saco. who. after their
arrival. proceeded to rope and shoot the
steer in question. After the defendants
had Withdrawn to the shelter of the sheep
shed. the two officers dropped in on them
and mad. the arrest. catching them, II Is
alleged. in the act of skinning the steer.
preparatory to using the beef in their
places Of business at Saco. At the COM
mand of hands up" owing to some little
hesitation and embarrassment on the part
of the conspirators, one Of the officers was
obliged to FIRE of his rifle, perforce to give
the defendants to understand that the guns
were loaded. as il were.
The animal IN question was about all
skinned when the officers apf cared on the
scene. and on lifting the hide they noticed
large hole where the brand should have
been. and a search around the corral OF
shed revealed n long strip Of fresh hide that
put together. corresponded with the size Of
| the hole and revealed the "R. NJ" brand.
Hurd & Lewis. for the defense. put up
the strongest legal fight for their ellen, in
| the h,s,o,v of THE d;S,r,rt and ,h.v snr-
ceeded IN securing verdict of acquittal
for Cruichheld principally on the grounds
that the prosecution did not prove the
ownership Of the animal killed so as to Sc
cure a conviction for grand larceny.
The trial Of the charges against Melvin
Erickson and Roy Nelson, codefendants in
this case were continued for the term
The next case was that of the state VS..
Carl Shultz. for grand LARCENY. the defend-
ant being charged with stealing q mare
and colt from John BjGnberg. of Saco.
The jury. composed Of ]. II. Holly, Leland
NJ. Ford. T. J. Greenn. Chas. Marsh.
VIM. Harding. Geo. Hanson. E. ID. Cole
man. Robt. Mclean. 4. v. Francis and
c. w. Steiseke. also brought in verdict
Of mot guilty" for the defendant.
Today the case of the State VS.. Ira NJ. |
Booth. of Poplar. for grand larceny. is
still on trial and will probably consume the |
balance Of today and possibly continue un-
Ill tomorrow.
In the case Of JOSEPH N. Lacroix W.. |
Anton Lacroix. demurrer was overruled |
and defendant given days TO further |
plead.
Case of the State VS.. bs. McDonough on
charge Of assault has tsen continued for |
the term.
The only other circumstances of inter-
est we're two contempt ases in which H.
L. Birum and Jas. Mclabb were the Of
tenders.
1t seems that Mr.. Blum had asked per-
mission to sit in the cogt room and hear
the proceedings Of the Cruthheld trial as
q repertor. but il later &veloped that the
evidence for the defensS given by c. e
Pierson Of the Saco Indpendsnt has made
such an impression on Birum that when
the latter was called onahe stand to testi-
~. Pierson's testimony had soaked in to
such an extent that lirum's testimony
followed along the SAM lines. This would
not have been noticed u Birum had no,
already unbosomed hinpeli. before having
his change Of heart regtding the case. in
the hearing Of the cour and the two sto-
ries didn't tally.
Birum was not surprised however. At
being arrested. tor he OBVIOUSLY remarked
outside the court room bat he expected to
get arrested before he kft town and had
provided his bonds beffe coming down to
Glasgow and had them p his pocket ready
for such an smergency1but when arrested
the court committed hid to jail instead al
6ning him and be spsn4is three days sit
in il his apartments in he county Jail re-
0octing On whether ho shlly did eoe oG O.