New-York tribune., 1918-06-01
Court Decides Only Ques-
ton Is Who Aided in
the Lynching
Case Will Go to
Jury Late To-day
Quick Verdict Expected;
Three of Defendants Adj
nit Being in Mob
Especial Dispatch to The Tribxne)

Ell " "AhOoVlLi1E, III, May 3l.-
Each of the eleven men accused a.
numbering Robert Prayer took the
stand to-day and denied having an ac-
tive part in his lynching. Three ad-
mitted their presence as spectators
The others asserted they were not even
near the fateful tree
All the evidence offered By both
sides had been placed before the jurv
at the close of the afternoons session.
and argument of counsel will begin
in the morning. The jury will have
the case by evening, and a quick YER
dict is expected.
The patriotic issues, by which an
attempt was made to justify Prayers
hanging, were ruled out by Judge Bern
reuter-. The defence was held strictly
to the question of whether the accused
men had hand in the lynching.
Evidence adduced to connect the in
dividuals with the actual crime, except
in one or two instances, was without
the defendants, Frank Tlannery, was
not mentioned by the state as appear
ing at any time in the mob The de-
fence staked the outcome of the trial
on the prosecution's showing, together
with the almost unsupported testimony
of the eleven defendants.
Riegel Repudiates Confession
Surprise was caused in the court
room when Joseph Riegel, alleged
ringleader of the lynchers, was al
lowed to take the stand in his own be.
half
Riegel denied he had confessed. T
was in one of the saloons in town." he
said There was crowd on the
street, and somebody told me they
were out to get a man in jail. We
went down to the Jail and heard the
Mayor tell the boys to let the civil
authorities take care of this fellow.
l told the Mayor l was an ex-soldier,
well, they got the fellow out Of
jail. l hollered to the boys that they'd
better be careful what they were try
ing to do. But they went on down the
st. Louis Pike, and | followed. | was
about twenty feet from Prayer most
of the time, and couldn't get any
closer because the crowd was too
thick. Crahaer was there, and that
man Muller, the German who testified
against me, and Gording. the druggist
l didn't do anything myself. l saw 3
l didn't know. They got the rope and
hanged Prayer, and l walked back to
town. On the way somebody came
along and handed me the note Prayer
had written to his parents. l gave il
to tle editor of the paper, thinking
he'd know what to do with it."
Reporter Heard in Rebuttal
Paul Y. Anderson, st. Louis news
paper man, who claimed to have OBJ
tanned a confession from Riegel after
the lynching, testified in rebuttal for
the state.
"Riegel told me he and others fast
ened a moose about Pagers neck, and
a crowd of boys from twelve to sixteen
years old pulled him up to the tree,'
Anderson said.
"It might have been me who put
over the moose, Anderson quoted Riegel
me and was drunk. Brother, that was
the bravest guy ever saw. He never
shed a tear, except when he kissed the
flag, and he didn't once beg for mercy
or ask US to turn him loose"
The state rested its case shortly be-
fore noon after producing witnesses to
show that each of the ten defendants
either was at the scene of the lynch
ing or else member of the crowd that
stormed the jail.
The story of Prager's initial en-
counter with the mob was told by Louis
Fellhauser, who lived near the dead
mans home.
Prayer was visiting at my house the
evening of April d." said Fellhauser.
Along about dusk we heard a shout
ing outside, and then steps on the
porch. Prayer went to the door and
found crowd. They accused him Of
disloyalty, and gave him ten minutes
to leave town. All right, I'll CO., he
answered. The men started back for
the sidewalk, but somebody shouted,
and told the men he'd go with them
if they wouldn't hurt him. They made
him kiss an American flag, and led
him away. l never saw him again.
Confession that he helped Prayer
write his farewell note and later stood
by and watched the lynching was made
by Charles Cramer, another of the ac-
cused men.
Il had just reached Collinsville from
East st. Louis when | heard the mob
going down the street." he told tire
Jury. Il followed them out the road
to the tree they had picked. / found
q parked automobile. belonging to .
friend of mine, and got on the steps
so l could see better. About twenty
men pushed their way toward me, drag
ging Prayer with them.
"They asked me for pencil and
paper, and then Prayer asked me to
write down the name and address o!
his parents in Germany. He dictated
to me and wrote what ne asked. Then
he seribbled his goodby note and gave
me back my pencil. They took him
away, and the next | saw of Prayer
he was hanging in the air.
james Dematties was the third de-
fendant who admitted he was at the
scene of the lynching. 81 didn't do
anything but just stand by and watch
he said
The remaining eight said that curl
osity had taken them into the mob at
various times during the evening, but
all insisted they had gone home before
Prayer was killed