The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-12-25
Self
By M. QUAD
Copyright. 1914. by the Mcclure
Newspaper Syndicate
By NJ. QUAD

l had been practicing law In the
town Of Lancaster for about -four years
when James Higgins. merchant. was
murdered. According to the testimon!
Of his wife. they were aroused ut miu.
night by a noise downstairs. and he
rent down to Investigate. She heard
angry words. followed by "A shot. and.
giving the alarm. 1t was found that
the husband had been shot through the
heart
The first suspect arrested was the
hOstlpr ut the barns of one nf the no.
tells. He uau been seen Oh the streets
ut midnight: he was known to have a
pistol; he betrayed many signs of guilt
when arrested. | WIS employed in his
defense and after half an hours talk
with him came to the conclusion that
he was guilty. He didn't admit his
guilt. but at the same time be didn't
deny 1t with the warmth expected OF
an innocent NAH 1t was an accident
altogether that | made Il series OF dis
cOveries. This man planned with an
other to break open the passenger
depot and rob the safe They had
been surprised in their work 10y Il
tramp. and the hOStler was afraid to
talk to me or any one else OF the muir
der case for fear OF being found out IN
the lesser crime. When once | had the
things Strengthened Out it did not tab
long to upset the case Of the police. |
had scarcely done this when | was up
set myself.
A building contractor named Otis
came to me to make q confession. He
had reasons to suspect that Higgins
had ruined his home, and when there
was no longer any doubt in his mind
he had determined to kill the man.
| went to work on the case, but was
bowled over at the very outset. Mrs.
Otis declared In the most emphatic
way that she had never spoken u dOZ-
en- words to Higgins and her husband
had never intimated that he had the
slightest cause for Jealousy Of any
man. and. better than all. she could
prove that from 10 O'Clock In the even
ing until two hours after midnight on
the night of the murder he was holue
olu III L dhu HuilV III. III ohS uIo
prove by two witnesses. Otis had told
me n purely imaginative story. and he
stuck to 1t for several days. but ut
length denied everything. There were
those who said he vas of In his
head. but he talked and acted as a san
man and returned to his business as
SOC as released
TNh1 ,,.li,,., ,,.,,y ,nt a. xh.s. G.t
theory The deed had surely been done
by some one who had entered the
house for plumber After some days
they arrested a saIoonkeeper in a town
some five miles away. claiming to have
a straight case against him. and the
man had been under arrest three Or
-four days when ! came into the case
again A young man named Salters.
who was u student Of the state normal
school. came to my house at 10 o'clock
at night to make a confession. He was
the murderer Of Higgins. Higgins had
accidentally got hold Of some love let
ters which the young man had written
and had refused to give them up for
less than 500 Not having the money
to pay and being rendered desper-
ate, he had gon to search the house
at night Salters told OF the conversa.
don when Higgins came down the
s%tairs-how he got In and got Out ana,
all the details. advised him to go to
the police. and. as In the other case.
they locked him up and felt sure that
they had ut last got the right man.
was not retained by young Salters,
who said that be would make no de-
tense, but ! set out to clear up q few
points to satisfy my own curiosity.
was not long In ascertaining that he
was not In love with any girl and had
never been known to write a love let.
ter, also that he was In q town twenty
miles away on the night OF the MUIR
der. When these facts became known
to the police they had to drop their
case. though Salters protested to the
last that he was guilty.
There was one instance. and It
DdrtOOk Of the ridiculous at once. A
n legged man named Wells. u resi-
dent OF the town. gave himself up
to the police as the murderer. He
" ~ NC u SOLuuou lUUIlSl duO Iu6l
the deed was done while he was
asleep. He didn't think he ought to
be punished. but he wanted to be tried
and acquitted Not ne true statement
did he make In his story. and be was
told to take bis leg and get out
The hunt for the true criminal was
Kept up for a year. but he was
discovered. The police we're no doubt
right In the drst theory. The man en-.
tered the house for plumber. and. being
discovered. II not attacked. he fred
the fatal shot and then escaped. 1t Il
more than likely that he was a straD.
ger in the town.
You will naturally ask why those
people charged themselves with the
crime when they were not the least bit
guilty. A physician could probably
give you a clearer answer. My theory
is that they had an intense argument
with themselves how tho crime waa