The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-12-19

sI-OngeSt evidence that mas yet DeeH
introduced against the defendant.
Under cross examination Attorney
Allen for the defense injected into
the case the gruesome details of
the exhuming last June of the body
of a man killed by the cars at
Triumph in August, 1912. In inves-
tigating the killing of Steen and
endeovoring to connect the defend
ant with other crimes Lawler
thought it possible, from such de-
scription of the death of Gus Veins
as he could obtain, that Veins
might have been killed by blow
from a bludgeon found in the we'll on
the Virgens place At his suggestion
Coroner Brodt eXhumed the body of
Veins. which had been buried
nearly a year, removed the head,
cleansed the skull and determined
whether or not the bludgeon could
have caused the fracture of the skull
which killed VEINS AS a matter of
fact the investigation developed that
the theory of the detective was with
out foundation.
County Attorney Dean at first entered
objection to this matter going before
the jury on cross-eXamination but
Withdrew his objection.
Fred REIN testified as follows:
Il am twenty-one years old and
reside at Twin Lakes, Mimi. l live
there with my grandparents REIN.
My father and mother live at
Kremlin, Okla. was born in Martin
county and lived there until swas
FIVE or six years old. / first remem-
Der seeing the defendant in Okla
homa about five years ago. AZ that
time l onIy spoke 20 him to say
hello"
"On August II, 1912, | came to the
farm of my uncle, Chris Virgens, and
hired out TO him as a farm hand
and helped him With his stacking.
7 worked for him until the time of
the Minnesota state fair in the first
wook of September. We attended the
fair together. Later in the fall /
helped him with his threshing and
listed him for a day the following
February. The next time | saw de-
PENDANT was at the Martin county
iaii on the evening Of NAY o.. 1913
went thero for The purpose Of ind
ing ont If possible where he had hid
den his pistol"
When working for the defendant
I'm August and entember, 1912, I
lnew he had q 22-calibre automatic
Colt TistCl ! saw it cutie number
oI times, he carried it wrapped in
ha1derkerchief in his left hand front
pants pocket. He always carried it
with him when at work. shot the
pistol myself, firing at target made
OF plank and set up against the south
side Of the barn wall / also saw
the pistol at defendants house the
last of September or the first part
OF October He had it in his bed
with him up stairs"
The witness was shown the pistol
dug up in Virgen's field and identi-
lied it as the same weapon.
AT the jail on the evening of
May II l said to Virgens:
Hello, how are you getting
along" | then said, This is a hell
of place to be-" He answered Yes.
l then asked him in German (all of
our conversation at the Jail was in
Germany where his pistol was. |
told him that people were looking
all hic n1nnn ,;c
searching with spades and rat spears,
trying to find the gun and the best
thing he could do would be to get
II out OF the way. He said They
couldn't hit it with a plow." He
asked Where are they hunting?' |
told him all over the place and that
there were 400 or 500 people. I
was with him that night about four
hours"
The following night | again went
to the Jail and up to Chris CELL /
SAID 1 had overheard on the street
that there were as many as 500
people seaching on his place with
teams and plows, spades, rat spears
and large horseshoe magnets and
that they We're going to get a
dlp-needle. He asked me what that
was and | told him it was some.
thing that would draw fifty feet ON
both sides and four feet under
ground. He asked me if it would
draw under barb wire fence and
told him it would draw Just the
same. | told him when it got close
10 steel of any kind it would draw
down and point toward it,
| told him the best thing he could
90 would be to get the gun out of
there. He answered in German, Yes.
asked him whereabouts the gun
was. He didn't seem to want to
come out and tell me. | again told
MIN they would be sure to find if.
as they were going to go over the
whole neighborhood with the din.
needle. He wanted to know where
they were going to get this instr,l-
ment and 1 told him from some east
ern state"
"Virgens then said, "You know
Where the bull ditch is on nv south
line?" | told him / did and he said
should sneak up there, not letting
anyone see me. He said if anyone
So" me helping him they would lock
mo IN in there too He oout;onad