Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-01-05
.SIERCKS REVIEWS THE
DETAILS Of HIS CRIME
Goes Over Entire Story With
Newspaper Men Without
Important Alterations

LllpUl tdill HllcI dllUllS
While, during the recital of his
every movement from the time of his
leaving the ranch of j. l.. Smith, near
Hillsboro, on the evening Of September
i, 1911, to the scene of the commission
of the crime and back again to the
ranch and ready for work again on the
following morning, John G. H. Siercks
selfconfessed murderer of Mrs Daisy
.Wehrman and her little three-year-old
son, did not vary materially in the
main points of his story, there were
several points which he brought out
that were contradictory to the salient
facts concerning the details of the
murder and others in which he contra
dicted himself, or at least modified for
mer statements to the point of uncer.
tainty, during an interview at the in.
sane asylum last evening
While some of these points may not
have much weight with jury or
court in passing upon the soundness of
the confession, there are others which
might have considerable bearing upon
the case of man whose very life,
liberty and happiness are at stake. Up.
on John Arthur Pender who was con
victed of the crime to which Siercks
has confessed the authorship and upon
the substantiation or refutation of an
imbccile's story depends his liberty or
his lifelong incarceration, as the ease
may be, even the slightest variation in
the relation of the horrible details of
the commission of the crime is Of the
most vital Importance.
There Were Motives A-Plenty
As to motive, there was double one
insofar as Siercks' confession is con.
e cerned. First: To satisfy his animal
= desires upon the woman in which case
he went prepared to accomplish and
murder or to murder and accomplish in
3 any event, and second: To throw sus-
picion of the crime upon John Arthur
r Pender in order to revenge himself and
his father, the elder Siercks, for Pen
!, der's alleged killing Of their bulldog
and consequent quarrel with and abuse
of the elder Siercks. The second mo-
, tive appears to have been subsequent
+ to the original one and formulated aft.
, er the commission Of the crime for the
U purpose of throwing suspicion off him
= self. In other words, he saw where he
5 could ''kill two birds with one stone.
His keenest desire, it seemed was not
+ so much to protect himself as it was
:, to have Pender suffer the death pen
e atty for the crime, and this, he says
prompted him to throw the incriminat
ing hammer into Pender's tent as h,
passed by from the scene Of the crime
Refutes Lock.of hair Theory.
& One of the strongest points whicl
v was brought out in the cross.examina
tion in course of the interview was tn,
3, direct refutation of the story of tho
!. incriminnting strands of blonde hail
which were claimed to have been fount
% clmtched under the finger nails Of tn,
G dead woman's hand and which, as hai
q been stated, matched Sicrcks hair ex
II actly. According to Siercks story ot
o the crime there was no physical strug
i gle whatever between himself and Mrs
Wehrman; in fact, he said that h,
g "shot her 80 quick that she did no
:, have time to fight" According to hi
G story, he did not come into contac
V with the body at all until the victim
II must have been quite dead.
70 Wasn't Certain About Gun"
a. Furthermore, after stating, and re
# peating the statement two or thrc
4. times that, after the shooting he ha,
@ taken the revolver with which Mrs
.o Wehrman had fired the first shot a
ii him and buried it in the yard undo
" Il log, he finally said that he did no
<. know whether he put it under u loI
r or not; that he buried it in the var,
(. some place, but that he could not eS
s. aetly remember where. He said tina
It he had heard that "they had found th
gun when they plowcd up the yard.
When asked how they could plow III
o, gun up from under n log he said h
was not sure whether he had put i
10 under n log or not. He said that h
~ had buried it in the yard; he didn
~ know whether he could find it or mol
,r ''I don't know what kind Of n gu
fo she had" he said. "T don't kno,
what the number (cnlibre) OF il wa
Whether it was 80 or n 3S. II wa
- gun something like the one / ha,
! think. The one used was n 81
q But ! was so scared and in such a hui
n ry for fear some one would catch m
3 that ] did not look TO see what tn
q number Of her gun was. ! took it ou
q and buried it in the yard and the on
9 ] did the shooting with was the one
n took from the trunk in Hanson an
8 Riley's cabin took IL back with m
g and cleaned it and put it back in III
3 trunk put the cartridges back i
o the box where took them from, to,
/ did not want them to know that tina
D, gun had been taken or used" "
ps Relates Details Of Killing.
lg with the above exceptions, he tol
It the story from beginning to end niue
~ as it was related in his written confei
- sion Tho story Of the trip frol
|ff FaF a.