El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-02-08
LIFE TERM IS
GIVEN JOHN
OLSEN
Jury Declares Him Guilty
of Having Killed and
Robbed dad" Graham.
PRISONER SAYS
HE is A HOBO

John Wolmer OlesOn was conVlcIsU
and sentenced to life Imprisonment y
q jury in the saith district court Thurs
day morning. on a charge OF killing
Charles E Graham, a saioonkeeper' on
the night Of February 10, 1911
But two ballots were taken By the
fury. which retired at $50 Wednesday
evening An agreement was reacns1
late wednesday night, but the jury old
not report until Thursday morning, -
Judge Harper had gone TO the mlhs1lei
show.
The evidence in the case was purely
circumstantial, as no one saw the M
der committed. sweater pia! ca
very important part In the case anu
Oleson had sweater
Graham was shot at the corner o.
Campbell and Arizona streets WhlIS ~ ~
his way home at $50 on the night
stated and died about an hour lster a.
his home, on Nevada street, between
Kansas and Campbell streets he hso
been shot IN the mouth.
He had boarded an Arizona sSISSS t
car at the corner Of Stanton and Mills
streets and at the same time Two men
boarded the car. They said they haQ
no money, but wanted to ride out OF
town TO get q job. Conductor DaLas
McNaIl IN charge Of the car, testified
that he was suspicious Of the men pc
cause there had been several holdups-
AS one Of the men pulled back MS
coat, MeNen testified, he thought ne
and he observed the two men closely.
When asked II he could 1denIlIy Ole-
son as the man who wore the sWeatSL,
he said: 7 believe he's the man NO
one could convince me that he is not
the man, but I would not swear POSI-
lively that he is the man
One Of these two men who had
boarded the car, got off at Kansas
street and the other jumped OF Just
before It stopped for Graham and John
Lindsey at Campbell street. John Lind
sey. who was on the car, hurried home
ana was half way up the block When
the shot rang out.
Two men were seen standing over
Graham as he lay on the sidewalk, but
they escaped
OIeson was arrested on Sunday fol-
lowing the murder and taken to the
police station. where he was charged
the rockpile and escaped the next day.
He was arrested at Alamo gordo and
was brought back here for trial
During the trial he testified that
/ he had a sweater and had left if at a
room he had occupied the night OF the
murder on South Oregon street He
said he did not want to carry il with
him because vermfn might get in the
wooden goods.
He testified that on the night OF the
murder he and another man, whose
name he never learned. met by chance
and as each had but % cents. decided
to take a room on South Oregon street
in a cheap lodging house This room,
he says, they occupied all night
During the trial, Oleson, who IS but
% years OF age, testified that he was
g hobo. He defined a hobo in contra
distinction to a tramp BY saying: "A
hobo is q fellow who buns about the
country and works once in a while so
that he may get enough to eat A
tramp is one who also buns about the
country but who preys on his fellow
man and never works"
When the verdict Of the jury was
returned. Oleson never moved a mus
Gle, never quivered an eyelash His
face bore the ashen palIOr which had
come from long confinement in the
county jail, for he had been there a
year.
During the trial he kept chewing
gum all the while and advised his at
torney as to the questions to put to
the witnesses.
A motion for new trial viii be
filed.