The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-08-22
NSASMAN CHARGED
WITH ; N j R D { R s
FACES HIS ACCUSERS.
RUFUS KING APPEARS FOR PRE-.
LMINARN HEARING IN TOWN
OPERA HOUSE

Eskridgc, Kan, Aug. 2l.-Rufus King
faced two additional charges OF murder,
making three in all. when he appeared
today at his preliminary hearing for
the alleged killing of Reuben Gutshall,
young Maple Hin farmer. in 1916,
Just before the hearing, warrants
were served on King by Wabaunsee
county officials, charging him with the
murders of John Woody and of IAN un'
named man." to whom state officials
otherwise referred as an itinerant
jewelry salesman who disappeared in
1908. A warrant previously issued was
found TO be faulty in that it gave the
peddlcr name the officials cannot
prove The preliminary hearing on the
new charges was set for next Thurs
day.
When King after a quick and un-
eventful automobile trip from Topeka.
entered the opera house where the
hearing was conducted, he was followed
by silent crowd, many of whom were
old neighbors and acquaintances. As
the spectators entered, they were
searched by deputy sheriffs.
soon the crowd had grown so large
that officials were compelled to clear
the stairway. Hundreds of persons
crowded the sidewalks and streets be-
low. Among the crowd in the hall were
a number of relatives of King and of
two young farmers whom the state al
leges to have been murdered by the
former Maple Hill livery stable owner.
Senator c. T.. Cooper appeared for
King, while John Martin, prosecuting |
attorney, was aided by Assistant States |
Attorney Maurice Mcneil and Odin +.
Hungate of Topeka.
With somewhat of an air of bravado
King sat with his back to the crowd,
noting every move of court officials
during the reading of the new warrants
and as the preliminary opened.
William Gutshall, a brother of Reuben
Gutshall, was the first man called to
the witness stand.
lust before King arrived at the opera |
house. a deputy sheriff reached the hall |
with two of the skeletons which We're
unearthed recently at Maple Hill.
Production of a skeleton, said to be |
that of Reuben Gutshall. brought the
first dramatic incident of the proceed
ingS. The opera house courtroom"
was hushed for the first time during
the hearing. The boys father Levi
Gutshall, sitting almost within arms
length from the men charged with kill
ing his son, leaned forward. In this
tense moment William Gutshall asked
if he could identify any part of the
skeleton, pointed to the skull and said:
THAT is the skull of my brother
Reuben"
a woman in plain white, Reuben
Gutschall's mother became hysterical
and the proceedings We're stopped while
she was taken across the hall. For
the first time during the morning
King became slightly nervous.
Topeka, Kan, August 21.-With only
two guards, Rufus King, charged with
the murder of Reuben Gutshall in De-
1913, was taken from the To-
peka Jail to Eskridge by automobile
this morning for his preliminary hear
ing. The state set out to prove that a
skeleton found with what is said to
have been stored personal property be-
longing to King was that of Gutshall a
young farmer who disappeared from
Maple Hill and that he was murdered by
King.
Kings attorney had announced that
mony and that everything possible