Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1920-10-30
SHOOTING WAS UNJUSTIFIED,
VERDICT OF JURY
COrOnef's Jury Holds Federal Men Re-
spOnsible for Death of John CHA
pusiO. Further Action Awaited,

puAiO. FuTtneI ActlOn awaited,
That John Chiapusio was shot
and killed by federal prohibition
agents and that the shooting was
unlustifiable, was the verdict of the
jury called in the inquest into the
death of the local saloonkeeper as
the result of gunshot wounds re
ceived on the night of October Q.
In the forenoon the jury, com
prised of 7 +. Esan, J + Sulli-
van, R Paul, Harlow Whitman
Chas. Galdabini and II c. Lewis
visited the scene of the shooting on
the Mercer road and took mental
notes of the curve inthe road where
the federal agents barricade had
been placed and the spot where
Chiapusio's Car stopped following
the shooting.
AT two o'clock in the AFTERNOON
the inquest was resumed and three
witnesses. Gust Castagna, Peter
Werlich and George LaPorte were
examined Castagna and Werlich
were the men who were stopped at
Woodruff by federal agents aud
their cargoes of liquor and automo
biles Confiscated The former testi
fed that he had 10 cases of bonded
whlskey in his car and Werlich de-
clared that he had IA cases. They
said that they went to Milwaukee
to get booze at the solicitation of
of John F Fllion, federal agent,
who used that method, it has been
declared, to get evidence against
the men and then double crossed
them. George LaPorte, of Spider
Lake, testified that on the night of
the shooting he was stopped by two
men and asked to direct them to
Woodruff. He said he thought they
were federal men and also testified
that he was given bottles of whis-
key by them.
The verdict of the jury, returned
after -deliberating about a half
hour, was that Chiapusio was un-
lawfully killed by gun shots fired
by federal officers acting under the
supervision of Leo. J. Grove ="
Others held responsible for the
man sdeath besides Grove included
]. T. Brereton, Victor J. Dowd,
VIM. Knourek, Arthur Scully and
Jay 2. Sweeney.
Whether charges will be brought
against the men named in the
verdict of the inquest jury is up TO
the state authorities, according to
District Attorney Reid, who has
declared that he will go 10 Madison
and place the testimony in the case
before the governor and the state s
attorney general Three of the
men heldresponsiblefor Chiapusio' 5
death are residents of Illinois and
the others live in Michigan. it
would therefore be necessary for
Gov. Philip to issue extradition
papers before they could be brought
to trial.
Several witnesses were examined
when the inquest was started last
Friday afternoon. the most i'm
portant testimony being that in
troduced by Chas. S. Smith, Of
Woodruff, who met aud talked with
the federal men following the shoot
ing. According to Smith, who
declared that he had a talk with
Grove, it was bullet from rifle
in the hands of Scully that killed
Chiapusio, the others in the party
using revolvers and it was only
after Scully had used his rifle that
Chiapusio's car came to a stop.
That the rifle bullet was soft
nosed one and that it struck metal
in the car and spread before in
flicting the wounds in Chiapusio 5
back was indicated by the nature
of the wounds, Drs. c. c. Urquhart
and T J Hambley testifying that
several fragments of metal were
i co,,,J -, (>L iort,utose hoot,