Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1919-10-22

I'LL JUl1lv UN1U11 7
MURDER CASE TRIAL
Penalty for Man.laughter IN the
First Degree i. Imposed.
John R. Wright was sentenced this
morning to serve from five to twenty
years in the penitentiary for the shoot
ing of his wife.
The case Of John Wright of New Lon
don who has been in custody at the
county jail since last April and who
was indicted by the grand jury for the
shooting of his wife on April %, came
to close last Saturday afternoon and,
after two hours of deliberation, the jury
returned verdict Of manslaughter in
the first degree. The case is the first
one occurring in the county on such a
serious charge for over thirty years and
attracted a great deal of attention.
The selection of the jury occupied
the court on Wednesday afternoon when
the regular list Of Jurors and a special
venire were exhausted. second spe-
CId1 Feu1IS was SUtAulO1lGu uOTSUdt anu
at two o'clock the examination Of jury
men was resumed. The jury as finally
selected was composed of the following
men: Harry Moline Of Gennessee; r.
Brus Of Holland; Leonard A. Boom
of Lake Elizabeth; Carl Larson of WILL
mar: Jonas Grain Of Kandiyohi; Arthur
Rosell of Lake Elizabeth; Rueben He'd
Lake Lillian; Arnt Bolt of Holland;
Franklin Glader Of Atwatef; Ole E.
Erickson of Lake Lillian; and julius
Holland of Dovre. They were sworn in
at $3.50 p. m. and the examination of
witnesses occupied the rest Of the day
and all Friday. On Saturday forenoon
the lawyers made their pleas to the
jury and after the noon recess the judge
gave his instructions.
The case was not one in which there
was much conflicting testimony or in
which circumstantial evidence figured
to any great extent
Jno, Wright, the defendant, is a man
of So years of age, native of New Lon
don, having lived on the same place,
a mile east of the village, since boyhood.
He was married to Annie Pelky in 1890.
They had no children. He was addicted
to the use of strong dring which habit
finally became the curse of his life.
The: shooting took place about midnight
on Sunday, April 2Sth. On that day,
it was told, he had been with his wife
on a visit to Green Lake, returning
home in the evening about eight o'clock.
He had become intoxicated during the
day After a while he went back to
town in his car and on the way met
John Batterberry, young man who was
gravel at his gravel pit Batterberry
went with him to town and returned
with him home and, being present at
the time of the tragedy, was one of the
principal witnesses in the case.
The first to be called to the witness
stand were Ole E. Olson, photographer,
and Oscar Fridlund, draughtsman, who
had at the request Of the County Attor-
ney made photographs and drawings of
the premises where the shooting took
place. 80 - ..5-s-,-
DR.. NJ. o. Oppekaard was the next wit
ness. He told of having been called to
the Wright home on the night of the
tragedy, of having found the injured
woman lying in bed and of taking her
died at 8 o'clock. He told of having, to
gether with Dr. H. J. Hanson and Alber-
tine Gunderson, the nurse, taken state
ment from the dying woman, which were
in effect that the husband on his return
home about IL o'clock had insisted on
and when she demonstrated he had be-
come angry and shot her.
Dr.. Hanson and Miss Gunderson, the
latter having done the writing when the
ante-mortem attest was made, were also
on the stand to corroborate of the testi-
mony of DR.. Oppegaard.
Jno. Batterberry's story was in effect
that when they came home from town
Mrs. Wright had retired That he went
upstairs to bed and few minutes later
heard Mrs. Wright calling: John come
down, John has got the gum Witness
hurried down not taking time to Dress
and found Wright sitting on the stairs
with his 1856 ca1ibre Remington rife
in his hand. Batterberry ried to inter-
fere. The poor woman rushed out into
the night; dressed in her night-gown.
Wright raised his gun to a half way
position and fired out thru the window.
From the testimony it would seem that
it is doubtful that Wright saw his wife
at the time he discharged the gun. It
seems rather that his bemuddled brain
had acted on the impulse of the moment
It was one Of those cases where the
inscrutable hand of fate took a part.
Neither the drunken man nor the young
boy knew how unerrlng the bullet had
| sped on it's deadly course until few
minutes later when Mrs. Wright came
crawling in thru the door, bleeding from
| big wound in her neck.
Batterberry first ran to the home of
Mrs. Wrights brother, Joe Pelky, who
| lives but a short distance from the
Wright farm, and summoned him.
Joe Pelky who followed Batterberry
on the witness stand told that when he
arrived at the Wright house he found
! his sister on the floor and beside her
was the drunken husband. With Bat
terberrys aid he lifted the injured WON
| an into the bed, and the doctor was noti.
fed to come out Pelky testified that his
| sister had on other occasions come run.
ming over for help, scared by the threats
of her husband when he was in drunken
condition.
Sheriff Bonde and Deputy Ernest OIL
| ing been called to the scene of the shoot
ing to take Wright into custody. They
found him sitting in his automobile IL
a befuddled condition Of mind.
I With the exception of Muriel Carlson
who had stayed at the Wright home a:
a domestic. testifying to the friendly
relations between defendant and hi:
wife, John Wright was the only witnes:
in his own defense. He stated that h.
occurrence but remembered having not
iced the loading mechanism of his riff
open, that he had picked it up to clos'
it, and while so doing the gun went of
accidentally.
Attorney Barnard of Renville as spe
cia1 assistant Attorney General, mad
the plea for the state and Attorney Sui
livan of ST. Cloud pleaded for the de
fendant. The court gave his charge t.
the jury which went out at $3.50 render
ing their verdict two hours later.
At eleven o'clock today the convtcte
man was brought before Judge Oval
to receive sentence. l.. E. Coveu O
New London, one Of Wright's attorneys
made an eloquent appeal for clemency