The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1922-03-02
THE GUNNER TRIAL

The final stages of the GUNNER
trial were begun when court recon-
vened this morning. States Attorney
Green began his address to the jury
at the opening of court.
In his opening remarks he drew at
tention to the value of evidence,
which is purely circumstantial in the
fixing of the identity of the perpe-
traitor of any crime, but more espec-
tally the crime of murder. He drew
attention to the fact that the major
ity of murders are committed with
out there being any eye witnesses and
more particularly, such heinous
crimes as that for which William
GUNNER is now on trial.
He reviewed the evidence as pre-
scented by the state in their contention
that the defendant is guilty of the
crime of numbering pretty Marie
Wick at the Prescott hotel on the eve
OF June OtIAD AoAA'
The various guests Of the hotel on
the night Of the murder have all been
accounted for with the single excep-
ton Of one James Farrell, who reg
istered, according to the defendant,
between two and three o'clock on the
night of the murder, as being from
Willmar, Mimi. No such person has
been found residing at Willmar, and
the attention of the officials was
drawn to the signature, and lead them
to believe that the signature was false
by the fact that the name, Willmar,
was incorrectly spelled, only one 'P
being used. The various guests have
told of their movements on the night
in question and have shown that they
could have had nothing to do with
the crime, according to Mr.. Green. 1t
has been shown that the perpetrator
of the crime had intimate knowledge
of the plans of the hotel as ne knew
If the location of the hose nozzle with
which the girl was killed, and also
knew the location Of the bathroom,
where he went to remove the traces
Of the crime from the hose nozzle.
It. has been shown that there was no
logical means of exit from the hotel
except through the lobby, of which
the office was part.
The fact that the defendant IS de-
void If moral scruples in his relations
toward unaccompanied women who
repistered at the hotel while he was
NIGHT clerk there were shown by the
admissions which he had made to the
officials and by the testimony OF a
pretty Glyndon, Mimi, 10 year old
girl who testified that he had made
improper advances to her when she
STAYED at the hotel in 1921.
The state contends that the name
of James Farrell was signed to the
hotel register by Andy Brown, the
chum Of GUNNER. They base their
contention on the testimony given by
r. J. Cation, the Minneapolis hand
writing expert, who stated that, in his
opinion, there was no question put
that Brown wrote the signature. Their
belief is further strengthened by the
fact that Brown writes the name OF
the town, Willmar, with only one ~
the same as it is written in the sigma
ture of the register, and which is IN
correct.
The state has shown that the de-
PENDANT has made many mlsstate-
Hnents when questioned by the offlc-
i,ls While he had corrected these
reinstatement himself, the state con-
tends that he did not correct them
until he became afraid that the Of
ficials knew that he had lied.
The state has commended that the
door to room 80, occupied by the muir
dered girl, was opened by the use OF
hat min which was bent at the end
and could have been used in turning
the key on the inside of the door.
This pin was found on the second
Floor hall several days after the mur-
kder.
The state contends that the accused
hnd his chum, Andy Brown, had an
understanding that they were t;
Sskeep mum" regarding their knowl'
Edge of the crime. This was shown
kv the testimony Of two other in
MATES Of the Cass county Jail who
Manned that Andy Brown had asked
hem to tell the defendant not to
Ssouawk" until the last minute.
! The state contends that the crime
buld not have been committed by
k,vone other than the accused with
It the knowledge Of GUNNER, ow-
10 to the fact that he was the only
.rson around the hotel during the
ght who was awake and on duty.
(hey maintain that it would have
Zen impossible for anyone to leave