The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-10-31
Theft Charge Placed
Against Joe Murray
From tuesdays Daily.


From Tuesdays Daily.
Officer Mic Tilgen arrested man
named Joe Murray and brought him to
the police STATEN last night on a
charge of stealing goods from Man
kato parties. From the accounts of
the affair that were gathered this
morning, it seems that Murray, in
company with another man whose
name cannot be learned, made a
tour of several Of the hardware
stores yesterday afternoon trying to
buy cartridges for a thirty-eight cal
ibre revolver, They first visited the
store of M. j. Bekke, 400 North
Front. Here they We're turned
down." the proprietor refusing to
sell them ON the. ground that both
were intoxicated They we're given
the same treatment at the store of A.
A. Zimmerman 215 North Front, and
for like reason. AT this store
Murray wanted to do the buying,
leaving his pal on the outside.
Murray was waited on by Lester
Pettis. After he had been refused
the cartridges, Murray began to look
over the hunting coats and caps
and gathered up quantity of them
in his arms. All the while he
seemed to be studying the general
lay of things in the store. His
strange actions prompted Pettis to
ask him what he wanted and he
replied that he wanted to see 'the
boss" At this time it was neces-
sary for Mr.. Pettis!'' to go into the
cellar for some material and al.
though he was not there over half
minute when he returned, the
stranger had laid down the goods
and shortly afterward he walked
out of the store. Nothing was
missed until A. A. Zimmerman came
in at six o'clock He discovered
that some of the hunting caps were
gone.
Wanted to Sell Caps.
About six O'Clock Murray and his
companion went to the Peoples New
and Second Hand store, directly
across the street from the thinner
man store, and there they wanted
to sell two caps. Mrs. Shapiro, who
was then tending the store, refused
to buy the caps. The men went
outside and stood in front of the
store Satisfied that they were not
being watched, one of the men took
coat that was hanging in front
of the store and the two departed,
going south on Front street. They,
evidently turned when they came to
the corner Of the J, |. Case building
and went to the railroad. yards, re-
turning shortly to Front street, for
in about ten minutes they again
passed Zimmerman's store. going
south on Front street
Theft Was Observed.
The theft of the coat had been
observed by people in the boarding
house over the Schwender garage
and when the men made, the return
trip M. Shapiro saw them, and fol-
lowed them. When they came OPP
pCsite the Northwestern freight de-
pot the men separated and one of
! them started for the bridge and the
other one kept to Front street
When Shapiro came to the police
station he gave the !. alarm and Of
fcer Tilgen made the capture soon
afterward When = Murray, was
brought into the station he was
found to have two hunting caps con-
cealed under his coat and he had
la new liver Johnson 3S-caliber re-
volver in his nip pocket. A. A. Zim-
norman identified these caps as
coming from his store and while an
T, effort has been made to locate the
place that the revolver came from,
all efforts of that kind have failed.
Claimed He Bought Caps.
Murray was willing to talk and
, said that he had purchased the caps
! from a stranger near the Omaha
freight depot and that he had pur-
chased the revolver at the "Sheenies.'
The police investigated the last
statement and found that it is not
| true. Murray says that he is a
/ Belgrade farmer and that he does
not want his folks to find out about
the matter. To Mr.. Bekke yester-
day he related that he was farmer
and owned $50 acres of land, and
at the police station this morning
he said that his farm contained 100
acres. An effort has been made to
J locate the fellow who was with
! Murray, but he seems to have van
ished. A. A. Zimmerman intends to
! swear out a warrant for the arrest
of Murray. The coat that was
stolen, was evidently hidden in the
yards as the men had disposed of it
! before they came onto Front street
! for the last time.
In the excitement that attended
the making of the arrests Officer
Olaf Lundberg arrested Mr.. Shapiro
and was hustling him to the lookup
when the mistake was discovered.
! Murray is Arraisned.
/ Murray was arraigned in the num-
cipal court this morning on a charge
OF grand larceny in the second de-
gree, the charge being preferred by
August A. Zimmerman. He waived
the examination and was bound over
for the next term of the district court
! his bond being placed at $780, When