Decorah public opinion., 1922-04-26

ness then went on to tell the story
Kneeskern told him about what hap
pened at the cabin. Some time after
the murder the witness stated Knees
kern came to his home and wanted
to talk to him and he told him
Frank, that's alright but if you
had listened to me in the first place
you wouldn't have had this trouble.
He said Kneeskern claimed he had
misquoted him before the grand jury.
Friday afternoon was practically
all taken up with testimony from
Lawrence Acres, of Decorah, who
was called by the state as gun and
ammunition expert. He proved a
good witness and knew what he was
testifying to. He was questioned
at length about the size and condi-
ton of different shells, shot and
waddings placed on exhibit. He was
cross examined by Atty. Cutting for
the defense, and Mr.. Acres claims
of being an expert on guns and am
munition held despite all efforts of
the defense to disprove his claims
along this line. He examined shot
and gun wads found where the cof-
fee pot was picked up and also shot
and wads taken from the bodies of
Charles and Irene VanBrocklin, and
Mr.. Acres said they were the same
size. Various sizes of gunwads and
shots were exhibited to the witness
and he answered correctly the vari-
Gus sizes and guage of gun they
were for. He proved good witness
and knew what he was talking about.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Acres
testimony the state rested its case
at 4:30 o'clock.
Other witnesses who testified dur
ing the day were Rudolph Jahnke,
Dell Harvey and Henry Jahnke, and
their testimony was about the in
quest over the murdered couple on
the night of the murder and also told
about the action of the defendant
Kneeskem while there.
John Tiebe gave testimony about
a conversation had in August 1921
with Kneeskern regarding the latter
bglng caught vi 4 IlelN NanBroek-
lin.
John Longstreet, a Decorah Photo
grapher was on the stand for the
state and testified to taking pictures
of the Van Brocklin cabin, and some
nine or ten pictures were exhibited
and shown to the jury.
Exhibits such as the shot gun,
shells and a coffee pot full of bullet
holes were placed on exhibit, and
Clerk of Court S. ]. Moore, Miss
Ruby Ness, clerk of the grand jury
and Sheriff o. o. Ellingson gave
regarding the various eX-
hibits, and these were all passed
around among the jurors who care
fully examined them.
When the state rested their case
at 4:30 p. m. Friday, it took the
defense by surprise, and Atty. Muir
phy, counsel for the defense, made |
the announcement that the defense
was not ready to proceed, and court
adjourned for the day.
The first witness called by the
defense was George Neunswander,
of Castalia, a hardware dealer, and
he was questioned by Atty. Murphy.
Asked about the kind of shot Chas.
Van Brocklin had purchased at his
store about four weeks before the
testified he bought 12-gauge
gun cartridges with smokeless pow
der and No. 6 chill shot. He was
on the stand about 10 minutes. His
answers to all questions were strenu-
ously objected to by County Attorney
Nelson.
The next witness called was Chas.
Altfillisch, of Decorah, a civil engi-
neer and architect, who had been hir-
ed by the defense to make a map
and survey of the Van Brocklin
cabin and the ground in that vicinity.
A big map with drawings of the
cabin, roads leading to it, etc. was