Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1913-10-30

court room IN the court house, was Oc-
cupied on Friday night when Justice
A. J. Field opened court to hear tes-
timony Of witnesses in the triple
murder committed near Ray on Tues
day, October 21.
The trial was to have been held on
Friday morning at 10 o'clock, but a
number of witnesses from the scene
of the tragedy could not bet here,
and the trial was postponed until 8
o'clock. At this hour the witnesses
were still absent and the time was
set at z o'clock, at which time num-
Der of people from that section were
present.
Justice Field found it necessary to
hold the hearing in the court room, in
place of his regular offices, in order
to have room for the crowd and the
large number of witnesses. The room
was crowded, every seat being taken
and the windows and aisles were fill
ed with those anxious to hear the tes-
timony. It is estimated that more
than 800 people were present, and
for four hours, from z to II o'clock,
the crowd remained listening to the
evidence of witnesses, in one or two
cases horrible recital of the crime,
by the men first at the scene of the
murder.
Counsel For Prisoner
When court opened Attorney c. A.
NJ. Spencer appeared on behalf of the
prisoner, Cleve Culbertson, the man
charged with the murder, and demand
ed an examination. Culbertson was
brought into the court room from the
Jail next door in charge of the sher-
iff and his deputies. He took his seat
facing the justice and beside his at
torney. States Attorney, U. L. Bur-
dick opened the examination of wit
nesses by calling the sheriff to the
stand.
Sheriff's Story
Sheriff Erickson, the first witness,
testified in detail as to what he saw
when he first reached the scene of the
crime at the Dillon farm, after be-
ing called from Williston about IL
o'clock. He described the location of
the buildings, and as to where he
found the dead bodies of Mrs. Dillon
and the eleven year old daughter. He
told of going to Ray on the track of
the man who committed the murder,
and of sending out telephone and tele-
graph messages along the railway,
and also to the fact that he discover
ed a strange man had registered at
the Smith hotel and had disappeared.
He told of the capture of man at
Temple by the train crew, who took
their captive to White Earth. Upon
his arrival at White Earth the Sher-
iff told of finding the man, then a
prisoner before the court, in charge
of the police officers at White Earth.
He took the man in his car and start
ed for Ray. Reaching Ray he took
him to the hotel, where the clerk iden-
tilted him as the same man who had
registered there between eleven and
twelve o'clock that night, and who
was not in his room when the clerk
went up to call him in time to catch
train No. 4 going east.
Taken To Dillin Farm
Sheriff Erickson stated that after
spending a few minutes at the hotel
he started for the John Dillon farm
near the scene of the murder, with the
prisoner, and took him before D. T.
Dillon, who had been taken to the
John Dillon farm after he had been
nnorta]ly wounded. D. T. Dillon, who
had escaped being killed out right,
said, when the man was brought be-
fore him and the sheriff asked him if
this was the man who shot him:-T
know you are the man who shot me.
Vhv did YOU shoot me through the
back" Other strangers there at
the time told the sheriff they recog
nized the man under arrest as the
same fellow who had travelled along
the road in that section on Tuesday.
Culbertson told the sheriff that he did
not have grip or suit case, and when
the one was found with some papers in
it bearing his name, he admitted hav-
ing a suit case but said that it had
been stolen from him at Plentywood.
He told the sheriff also that he had
taken a freight out Of Williston on
Tuesday afternoon and had gone as
far as Ray. He said he had reached
Ray about 9 o'clock and had gone into
the depot and laid down to sleep and