The producers news. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1918-1937, 1926-07-23

MURDER OF the GelSlerS. he stated
that he was not home on the after
noon Of May 1, but that ne had seen
Anton Geisler and another man, pre-
sumably Schlapsz, in the Geisler yard
about noon of that day Mr. and Mrs.
Hoffman left home between l and 2
o'clock that afternoon an did not re.
turn until about 4 o'clock Sunday af-
temOOn.
Seeing about 20 cars at the Gels
Ter place on his return, was the first
intimation Hoffman had of trouble
there. Hoffman identified the photo
graphs introduced as exhibits in the
case, and testified at length in re-
gard to the sort of holes made by
shotgun shots fired at long and short
range. He said that the hole in the
window screen at the Geisler home
was about an inch in diameter and
that, in his opinion, whoever fired
the shot must have been only two or
three steps outside the window. He
told of blood being spattered on the
ceiling and of blood stains on the
floor and on the wall of a leanto to
the house. Indications showed the
| second shot had been fired from with
in the house. On cross examination
! Hoffman testified that his two oldest
boys were working in the field on
/ the afternoon of May 1, and were a
half mile away from the Hoffman
| house.
Identifies Gun
A 12-gauge, single-barreled Stevens
shotgun was introduced as Exhibit f.
and was identified by Hoffman as a
/ gun which Geisler had bought at a
sale and as the gun which he saw al
! the Geisler farm on the afternoon OF
slay 2. The gun contained one shell
/ which had been exploded Hoffman
testified that he had seen three u
gauge shells, which County ATTORNEY
Erickson Of Sheridan county had Civ
en- him that he said had been dis
charged, and which he said he gave
to Sheriff Anderson. Upon cross ex-
animation, he stated that while he
saw a round hole in the window
screen, he could not remember of see
seeing any broken glass lying around
and that while there were bloo1
stains on the walls and ceiling of the
Gelsler house on Sunday afternoon
1 May 2, he could not say positively
that they were human blood.
He was positive that one of the
men at the Geisler place SATURDAY.
noon was Anton Geisler, when he hac
known for a number of years, but
said ne was not personally acquaint.
ed with Schlapsz, and therefore coulc
not swear that Schlapsz was the Other
man. The court room was packe,
Thursday afternoon, and the interest
was keen. Schlapsz displayed little
interest IN the proceedings and KEEP
his gaze on the floor most Of the time
LarsOn's Evidence
Olaf Larson, Homestead, a section
hand, was the first witness put on tn,
stand t11day by the state in the tria
OF Ferdinand Schlapsz, charged witt
the murder OF Lunilla Geisler a
Blem, May 1. Larson said that on tn,
morning of May 2, shortly after
o'clock, he started to walw to the irri
cation dam south of Homestead. Jus
south Of the steel bridge across tn,
big Muddy, on the east side of tn,
river, he noticed a bunch Of cattl,
looking at something in the river. HI
investigated and found it was tn,
body Of a woman, or girl, lying OF
the water about three feet from tn
4 shore and about 100 feet south of tn
bridge. According to his TESTIMONY
Larson returned to Homestead an,
told Of finding the body and he an,
several men returned to the placl
where the body was found. He ais,
told Of the discovery of the body O
Anton Geisler about 700 feet dow
stream from the bridge, at the sec
ond visit to the river. After this
the party returned to Homestead an,
fcalled the Sheridan county sheriff a
| PlentywOod.
Sheridan County Attorney Erickso,
and an undertaken arrived from Plen
morning and the bodies were takel
to Homestead in a truck. The Sheri
dan sheriff arrived later.
Larson described appearance of tn,
bodies when taken from the river
stating that of the woman was only
partly clothed, that she had only on,
stocking on and no shoes. The bod
Of the man was dressed in working
clothes. He described a large hol,
torn in the neck of the woman anC
also, a hole in the shoulder of tn,
man.
Larson identified a picture of tn,
steel bridge across the Big Mudd,
and told of blood stains he saw on tn,
planks and railing of the bridge neal
the east end.
Testifies for State
Jerome Friedenbach, 16-year-olC
step-scn of Reinhold Hoffman, VIII,
testified Thursday proved an exceed
/ ingly good witness for the state. Tes
timOny was given in a cool straight
forward manner, and his statement.
could not be shaken by cross examin
alton Of Eric Noun, attorney for tn,
defense. F'reidenbach identified pho
tographs Of the Geisler building an,
of the bridge across the Big Muddy
and told of observations he had madu
at the Geisler place on the Afternoon
of May 1.
According to his testimony, he wa
at home with five younger childrel
on the afternoon Of the alleged muir
, der, while the two older brothers wer
working in the field about tire
quarters of a mile from the nous
and his stepfather and mother wer
away from the place. He had las
seen Mrs. Geisler working in tn
garden about 9 o'clock that mOrnin
and Mr.. Geisler, when he came hOm
I from the field at noon. Ferdinan
! Schlapsz. he said, had been haulin
rock during the forenoon, in a fiel
. south of the Geisler place and he ha
] seen him come from the field, bu