Bisbee daily review., 1915-05-04
John R. Lawson, Leader of Striking Coal Miners in the
 Colorado Strikes, Is Found Guilty First Degree Murder
LIFE IMPRISONMENT
 IS THE SENTENCE
Lawson Was Charged With Having Killed John Nimmo, a Deputy Sheriff In a Bat tie In October, 1913

TRINIDAD, May 3.-lue jury this afternoon found John k. Lawson gull ty Of murder in the first degree, fixing the penalty at life imprisonment, for killing John Nimmo. a deputy sheriff. in battle with strikers in OctoDer, 1913.
 John R. Lawson was charged with the murder Of John Nimmo. a deputy Of Las Animas county, who was killed
 in battle between deputies and striking coal miners near Ludlow on Oct 20, 1913 Lawson is the mem
 her of the International executive board of the United Mine Workers of America for District No. 15, He was one of the prominent leaders in the recent coal miners strike iu Col. orado.
 This strike is conceded to have been one of the most notable labor con. 6icts in the history of the United
 States. It was called for September 23, 1913 On that date thousands ol miners laid down their tools. These living upon the property of the coal companies loaded up their household goods and moved out, most of them settling in tent colonies established by the union. The largest of these tent colonies was at Ludlow, few miles north of Trinidad and in close proximity to the Hastings, Delagua Tabasco, Berwind and Forbes mines Violence began early in the strike
 There was series of clashes in the Ludlow and Forbes neighborhood. and on October % the national guard of
 Colorado, on orders from Governor F. NJ. Ammons took possession oi
 the coal mining districts.
 It was in one of the Ludlow fights 1 before the arrival of the state mi. rtia that John Nimmo was killed Nimmo was one of force of depu
 ties stationed at the Ludlow section house under command of K. E. Iinder felt. Linderfelt a witness for the prosecution, said the deputies were ordered by the sheriff, James s. Gris ham. to preserve order and prevent trouble between strikers and mining guards. Early in the afternoon o l October 25, 1913, a fight started be- ! tween these deputies and a large body of strikers. Firing ragged in the arroyas and railroad cuts until eve ming Some time during the battle 1 Nimmo was shot through the leg | bleeding to death.
 Lawson was charged with the hom
 ocide on the theory of the prosecu
 ttion that he was in charge of the tent colony and in command of the strikers during the battle. The in ! formation upon which Lawson wal tried was filed by the attorney gen eral of Colorado in February of ,hli
 wear. The original indictment wa ;returned by the Las Animas count, crand jury in August 1914, but wal bv q e s lection of a jury The jur
 ors follow: J. O. Rosebrough, farmer E. M. Forbes, farmer; Grover Hall
 omnibus driver; T. P. Brown, livery
 man; Lloyd Bloom, ranch employe D. F. Patterson. garage owner; Home
 Canterbury, farmer; William ortr
 garage owner. John Richards, brou
 cho custer; w. w. Wilson, travelini
 salesman; c. Sturgeon Herring, gar
 age employe; Minor Hogan, farmer. The prosecution was under dire' !. ton of Attorney General Fred FarTa of the state of Colorado. Frank Wes 5 and Norton Montgomery, assistant l to the attorney general, represente l the state in court Counsel for Oh defense consisted of Horace N, HaWH . ins. chief attorney for the Unite . Mine Workers; Edward P. Costigar , Fred w. Clark and O. II. Dashe E The case was tried before Judge Grar , by Hllyer in the district court ' Las Animas county