The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1922-03-23
TOOK WANATKA
FOR THE JAILOR
Oscar Johnson Failed to
Identify Wanatka as
Man He Saw.
NOT CALLED TO STAND
Witness Brought from Cali
fOrnia by SymmOnds Is Not
Asked to Testify.

Oscar Johnson, in whom the district
attorney believed up to last Friday he
had star witness, and for whose COM
ing from California the preliminary
hearing was continued one week, was
never called as witness during the
examination of Emil Wanatka on the
charge Of the murder Of Charles Paci-
nj, which has been withdrawn and the
case dismissed on the decision of
Judge Slater late Saturday afternoon.
Moreover, Johnson failed to identify
Wanatka as the fugitive of August IA,
1920.
Instead of appearing as witness in
the case, johnson spent four hours in
the coop" Saturday afternoon, locked
up on the orders of the district attor-
ney, who declared that the young man
was intoxicated. Johnson was booked
on the charge on police arrest sheets
but released later Saturday afternoon
without being called into court to an
swer the charge or pay fine.
Not Intoxicated But I'll.
Johnson declared that he was not
intoxicated but i'll, and friends of his
maintained that while the young man
might have had a glass or two of wine
in celebration of his return to Keno
sha, so that the district attorney
Nigh have "smelled liquor on his
breath" he was otherwise sober.
Oscar Johnson was one of the main
witnesses upon whom the state de-
pended, as he had testified during the
trial of Frank Lang for the defense
that minute or two after the shoot
ing Of Charles Pacini he had seen a
man running south on Maiden Lane
past the porch on which he, Johnson,
was sitting with Harry Steinbach and
Miss Hoyt OF The three witnesses
Johnson was the only one who rose and
followed the fugitive, coming within
about twenty feet of him under the
arc light at the corner of Maiden Lane
and South street The runner, accord
ing to Johnson, wore, q green cap, tight
fitting suit, was dark complexioned,
about % years of age, and 5-foot in
height and in weight about lao pounds.
Wanatka Not the Man.
In the event that Johnson recognized
in Emil Wanatka the runner of that
fatal highg, the witness wound have
ectn the strongest of all Identification,
Witnesses for the state in the Wanatka
case, This because Johnson's observa-
tion of the fugitive was no casual one;
he connected the runner directly with
the shots which came from the north,
as the fugitive did, minute or two
before; he pursued the, fleeing man
and focused his attention upon him
under the arc light.
The supposed star witness for the
state arrived from California at noon
last Thursday. Thursday afternoon,
directly after his arrival, he was taken
to the Office of the district attorney,
where he was handed packet of pho
tographs and asked to pick out from
among them the man whom he believed
to be the one whom he saw running
on Maiden Lane directly after the
shooting, Among the bunch was the
photograph of Emil Wanatka, but
Johnson could not pick him as the man
or identify from the photographs any
one as that of the man he had seen.
The district attorney did not isolate
the photograph of Wanatka or call
Johnson's attention to it in any way
Thinks Wanatka Turnkey.
At s o'clock Thursday evening John
son strolled into the sheriff's office at
the county Jail. There was only one
man in the Office and Johnson, think
ng it was the turnkey addressed him
If to the man, asking if he could
ak with friend who was held at
Jail on a minor charge. The man
1m Johnson took for the turnkey
was Emil Wanatka.
Friday morning, the first day of the
preliminary hearing, johnson stood at
the fence surrounding the "lake" next
to the municipal court, to see Wanatka
come across from the county Jail.
Johnson said that the fugitive of Aug
ust IA, 1920 had peculiar gait, which
was noticeable both in his walk and
his run, so that he expected, if he ever
saw the man again, he could establish
his identity most definitely through
this feature.
"Wanatka did not walk like the man
saw on Maiden Lane the night Pacini
was shot," said Johnson later, saying
t.,I L.. 49,