The Alaska citizen., 1912-09-23

LII lllnOCenl lndH. v 's t. + t. t. !. t. :. + + I. + + + + the 10th day of December 1910. one William Wimbish. likewise a negro. who disappeared about that time. The fact that some charred bones had been found. but with absolutely nothing about them to prove whethe, or not they were the bones of male or female, much less those of the missing man. made it necessary for the district attorney to weave a web of circumstantial evidence around the accused man so strongly that there would not be a reasonable doubt left in the minds of the jur- ors as to whether or not they were the bones of Wimbish that were found. and that he had come to his death by violent means at the hands of John Cooper The fact that there could be nothing but circum- stantial evidence in the case, the fact that the defendant was negro, are opposed to capital punishment. which in Alaska Is the penalty for first degree murder, made the ob- taining of jury decidedly diff cult matter.
 The first day of court. there were but three jurors selected, and the regular panel was exhausted On Tuesday morning a special venire of 50 was called. and during the day the remaining nine jurors were obtained The case accordingly opened Wednesday morning in so far as the taking of testimony was concerned
 THE FIRST WITNESS.
 After the address to the jury by both the prosecution and the de- fense, Isaac Ogren, the first wit ness for the government was called to the stand. Mir Ogren testified that he lived on Gilmore creek with in one hundred yards of the cabin occupied jointly by William Wimbish and John Cooper In the fall of 1910. He said that he had last seen the missing man about the last of No vember of that year Ogren was the man who discovered the bones at the scene of the second fire. His method of finding the same as de- scribed in the court room compares favorably with the famous character of Sherlock Holmes" The witness testified that he had been left as guard of the suspected man, while Allan Cunningham, then deputy mar shal, went into the hills to search for any evidence that might be used to attach the blame for the disap- pearance of Wimbish on anyone at all. Ogren watched the eyes of Cooper as they followed the deputy on his trip up the hill. He saw the  tain spot on the pup where he and Wimbish had been cutting wood. There they remained as if in a dream. When relieved from duty by the return of the marshal, Ogren went to the spot on which the eyes of Cooper had rested and there he found the ashes of the second fire. In these were found some human bones and trinkets. Ogren likewise testified that on the night of the fifth or sixth of August, 1911, Coop CT came to his cabin about l o'clock and asked him to give him some matches. This he did. Ogren tried to impress the jury with the fact that these were the matches used by the defendant to start the second fire. Throughout the direct and the cross examinations, Ogren impressed the listeners as having memorized his testimony which CO., incided word for word in many in. stances that were not repetitiOns of conversations. Ogren said that Cooper had made conflicting state ments to him as to the whereabouts of William Wimbish Ogren occu. pied the stand for two hours and three quarters and was the principal witness in way for the govern ment
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