The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1920-02-26
SYMPATHY GAG TO
Be KILLERS PLEA
SILVER STATE REPRESENTATIVE
GIVEN FIRST OPPORTUNITY
TO TALK WITH MURDERER
Especial Correspondence)

L tSpeCtdi OoTTcspoHuenCeJ
| ELY, Nevada, Feb. 24.-It is the
same old story of ignorant young men
getting into trouble principally
through their ignorance, lodging the
| law for time, and at last becoming
desperately lonesome for wife.
child mother. or father. By that
word Ignorance 1t is not meant to i'm
ply lack Of intelligence-rather a
lack sof cultivated understanding.
have seen the killers in the White
Pine county jail-or. l should say.
the killer. The elder prisoner takes
the. blame for shooting both officers
at Cherry Greek last Friday, just as
the younger one disclaims the crime,
although they have not seen each
other since their arrest Monday
morning. nor will they be permitted to
| meet or speak to one another.
The desperate known as Frost now
gives the name of Leonard w. Fristoe,
and says that he been a COW puncher
all his life, mostly in the Roswell
New Mexico) country. He today
gave the name of certain Ely man
who, he says, rode with him in New
Mexico, and who undoubtedly can
identify him fully and prove that he
Is telling the truth regarding past
history.
Frost, or Fristoe, gives his age as
| twenty-seven years. This probably is
correct, although his weather-beaten
countenance and what looks like a
bullet wound in his right temple give
an impression, at first sight, of lit
| tie more age. His younger partner
in crime-at least in the crime of
stealing the automobile at Deeth and
the arms and provisions from the I'm
ion Land & Cattle Company-gives
| the name of Joe Bell, and says he is
| twenty.
| No charge had been entered against
the two men at noon today. Both
| claim to have been working at the
Ruth mines. The superintendent of
| that plant has said that Fristoe, at
| least, drew his time there a week ago
today. Fristoe says this is correct,
an that he and Bell took the train
to Deeth, stealing the car next day.
! The reason for the crime? There
| in comes the sadness, and the ex-
man in heading back into the country
him. 1t is a wife and child in New
Mexico; and / did not ask the killer
where in New Mexico, but l am suffi-
ciently well acquainted with that
country to be able to form a very
| close idea from the cow-punchers
| talk
Fristoe planned all movements.
apparently, because, as mentioned in
yesterdays letter. the younger man
was afraid when he found himself in
such bad company, and was only
awaiting an opportunity to get out of
! it, The idea which seemed predomi-
! nant in Fristoe's brain was that he
could work his way down in the
"jitney" to New Mexico, and get a
chance to see his wife and child.
Fristoe admits that he "got into
trouble" in New Mexico, and has been
lodging" for two years. He says
he knew he could not hope to get to
| his destination by way of the rail-
roads because of being recognized,
money to pay his fare. anyway. He
| thought that with an automobile he
might get down through Ely, over
the mountains to Phoebe, thence to
Las Vegas, and then across northern
Arizona and New Mexico.
| Maybe I am bad hombre," said
| Fristoe at the Jail today. II guess
that's what I ana bad hombre; but
didn't want to kill anybody; honest.
didn't. / sure didn't want to kill
Arthur st. Clair. because he was
nice feller. l had worked along with
him up on the Union Land & Live
stock Company ranch. l did it in
self-defense. He and George Requa
come up tracking us to where we was
hiding behind the sagebrush, and he
seen Bell and he says Come out of
there. you!' and he shoots.
II think now he shot twice at Bell,
and when he was pumping his gun
again, | shot him. He fell down.
Then the other feller shoots at me
may pC udu SHOl Cdu I
be sure-and l whirls and shoots at
him. He ducked down behind sage
brush and l let him have it-shot
right through the brush and got him.
Then l went over and seen st. Clair
was dead, but the other fellow was on
his face. squirming, and turned him
over: and | took their guns back to
the brush where we was hiding"
George Requa. whom Fristoe al
luded to as 'the other man." was shot
straight through the head from left
to right. the bullet puncturing his
hatband at the bow-knot on the left
side. and passing through until it can
be felt over the right temple. 1t was
supposed when he VISA brought in
here Friday night that his death
u