Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1916-03-08
CASES CLEANED Up
ON CRIMINAL CALENDAR.
February Term of Circuit Court
Is Just About Over.
Walter NeWcOmb Acquitted Of Murder
Charge Several Prisoners Re-
ceiVe Their Sentences.

A Grant county jury was unable
| to find Walter Newcomb of BOydtown,
guilty of the murder of Wallace Faust
of the same place, who died several
weeks following MS receiving inj1r-
les in an alteration one Sunday at
ternoon last September.
The defendant in the case is Craw-
ford county man; the deceased had
his residence in the same bailiwick,
and practically all the witnesses live
on the north side of the Wisconsin
river Despite this Grant county was
put to the expense of trying the af-
fair because it occurred on Grant
county soil.
No material evidence was introduce
ed at the trial not divulged at the
hearing last fall and reported in de-
tail in the Herald at that time. The
only new testimony being that from
Newcomb himself. Newcomb claimed
he had told Mrs Faust that he was
glad the paddle broke or otherwise
he might have killed the deceased, in
stead of being sorry it broke as he
intended to kill him, as sworn to by
Mrs. Faust Dr. .Dillman of Steuben,~
testified that he had treated the de-
ceased and how Faust had violated
his advice by going away to Grant
county for a week or so while in q.
serious condition. Faust died few
days after returning home. Ben Jones
storekeeper at Boydtown, Chester
Faust, brother of deceased, Paul
Dougherty Frank, Drake, Jay Clarke
and Geo. Faust, all told substantially
the same stories of the events on the.
Grant county side OF the river. Fred
Lecheski of Fennimore, stated that
NewcOmb was defending himself from
the attacks of Faust and had struck
back IN an effort to defend himself
Briefly, there was a fishing party
and drinking bout held by several
men in Grant county across the river
from Boydtown, September 5 last.
Newcomb went over to join the men
and a quarrel arose between him and
Faust while there. The men fought
in the boat and during the struggle
NewcOmb hit Faust with an oar. The
men struggled in the river and final
ly went home Faust neglected his
injuries and died several weeks later.
The prosecution offered three charg-
es of murder in the first, second and
third degree degrees The court at first
that the jury should be confined in
the care of an officer, but as the trial
wore on, allowed the jurymen their
customary liberty, stating that the
case presented no acute angles. The
affair was apparently an ordinary
drinking bout between men of loose
habits and ways, and would have re-
suited in nothing more than a few
sore heads and severe thirsts had the
dead man taken proper care of his.
| injuries.
Administering Sentences.
Five men stood before Judge Glenn
entson last Wednesday and received
such action as the court deemed nee
essary in their cases.
James Braunberg told the court he
was 33 years old in May and was
born in Iowa. He is an Austrian by
birth and has no known relatives
Braunberg gave blacksmithing as his.
trade and knocking around" as his
occupation. He was evasive to the.
4 ldSL, GIuS111& " give oil QGIllI1iG ans
wers as to where he had lived since
1910 when he took to the road. 81
don't ride the bumpers" said Braun
/ berg. Ny hide is worth too much for
that"
| Braunberg can also carve ivory, re-
| pair watches, and drink "You see,
your honor" said the prisoner, 81 am
what you might call a sporadic
drinker and when I drink l get into
/ trouble" Braunberg's voice quicken
ed and his eyes lit when he spoke of
his reading He spent no time on nov
els or trash" like that, but read me-
chanical magazines and books. He
has been in trouble before for "run-
ming horses" This, be it known, is
simply getting drunk and raising a
disturbance by driving teams too fast
and so OH. Acting the Jehu," sug-
gested the court helpfully, Eyes" said
the prisoner, and asked for a confer
ence with his attorney r. A. Watkins,
for few minutes, which was granted
Mr. Watkins, upon his return, stated
that the prisoner had told him a story
of his whereabouts on the dates he
was supposed to have committed the
CassVIlle robbery The first cOgent
explanation he had given. The court
inflicted the minimum sentence posi-
ble-that of three years at Waupun.
He seemed to regard the denoue-
ment of the Cassville affair as neces-
sary and something whimsical. A
strange character
Antony Regal, a mere strip of lad,
stood before Judge CIementson and in
a soft, respectful voice told his story.
Regal was raised in an orphan asy-
lum-you see his parents died or left
him when he was young, and he has
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