Semi-weekly herald., 1912-06-24
RUPLE TESTIFIES THAT PLOT
TO KILL COX WAS ORIGIN ATED
BY THE TRUBYS.
sILvERToN, Colorado, June 20

ty, Colorado, yesterday afternoon con-
tinued the trial of the state against
Mrs. Elizabeth TRULY, Mrs. Cordula
TRULY, Charles Carter, Dave TRULY
and Sam Tiuby. Charles Carter is
the father of Mrs. G1rIula TRULY,
whose husband. VIII Truby was killed
b" Ike Cox in self-desense according
to the decision of the jury in the
district corrt OF La rata county.
After the district attorney had
stated that he would show that the
defendants above mentioned had con-
spired with one Andrew Ripple to kill
Cox who was then under arrest,
charged with numbering viii TRULY,
The state insisted that it would prove
that Ruple had been offered various
inducements to commit the proposed
deed and that he had bee cached
and assisted by the defendants.
The defendants attorney, in open
ing up the case for the defendants,
stated that the defense proposed to
show that the defendants took no such
part in the shooting and the charged
conspiracy as the state would under
take to prove according to the open
ing statements made by the district
attorney.
John Clark was the first witness
called by the state and the object of
his testimony was to locate the place
of the shooting and its surroundings,
Then Ruple, who did the shooting,
and was sentenced to the reformatorv
chiefly upon his own confession, was
produced by the state and is consid.
cred the states chief witness. H
testified that he is native of Ala
bama and is now Is years old, that his
parents had died whon he was : years
cid and that he had been adopted by
the Newton family. He stated that
he had worked sometime for Charles
Carter, but quit at the tG"e he shot
Cox in Durango. He testified that
Mrs. Cordula TRULY had ,rs. mention
ed the matter to him of shooting Cox
about two weeks before tine crime was
committed, and that a little later he
had talked with Sam and Dave about
the matter when they promised to pay
him in some way to suit him if he
would shoot Cox.
Ripple claimed that on June 5 he
had discussed the details of the mat
ter with Charles Carter, Dave and
Sam TRULY each of whom had prom
ised him stock and other valuable con
siderations. He stated that Mrs. Eliz-
abeth TRULY had told him to kill Cox
and that all he would get in the way
of sentence if convicted would be a
term in the reformatory and that it
would be short and that he would be
pardoned out. His evidence was that
in the presence of Charles Carter,
Dave and Sam TRULY he had agreed
to shoot Cox. He stated that they
had agreed upon the manner of his
dress and where each of the parties
would be and where they would go at
the time of the shooting as planned. |
He claimed that he made his changes
of dress in the TRULY home and took
a .38 automatic pistol, belonging to
the Trubys and filled the magazine
and took ten or twelve extras. He
stated that Mrs. Elizabeth TRULY and
her son Sam saw him take the pis-
tol and that he left for Durango about
$3.50 on a horse by the name of
Beauty" He was to shoot Cox from
behind and then mount his horse and
go to Elco where according to his
testimony he was to meet Dave TRULY
and Charles Carter
In Durango he said he met Sam
TRULY, who had come, according to
plans, the same day to Durango, at
the Durango corral Here they held
a conversation on the matter at hand.
They then went up to Main street in
the vicinity of the La Plata county
bank. While here they saw Cox and
stated that he followed them and when
close to Cox shot him three times.
When asked why he shot Cox, he
replied that he did it because the Tru-
bys wanted him to and because they
had always been good friends of his.
He said that after the shooting he
got his horse out of the corral and
rode to Elco in one hour, where he met
Charles Carter and Dave TRULY as
had been planned. Then he went to
the hills where he remained until his
capture by the sheriff some two weeks
after.
In the cross-examination of Ruple
yesterday in some minor points he con-
tradicted his direct testimony. He
said that he was furnished whisky
while in Jail, and admitted that he
was dizzy drunk when he signed the
confession. When asked if he had
not said that certain statements made
by him in the direct examination was
a lie, he denied it.
When asked if all the sheriff's force
did not furnish him with liquor he
said they did not, but that some of
them had furnished him some beer and
whisky. Then the attorney wanted