The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1926-07-15
SCHLAPS TRIAL FOR MURDER IN
SECOND WEEK; JURY SECURED 7THDAY
Continued From First Page)

IN 'front.' OF the Judge IS courl
stenographer Koser who must
take down every word that per
tains to the record of the case.
In an L-shaped line about the at
torneys' tables is County Attor-
ney Marion and his deputy, A
M. Foor, next is Ferdinand
Schlaps, a blonde youth with
heavy hair combed straight back,
dressed in a green and black wool
en- blazer and ~overalls. His stolid
face is seldom lifted and his gaze
is mostly in the direction Of the
floor. During the first days of
the examination of jurors the
emily signs of emotion which could
be detected were a CLINT Of the
eyes and a tightening of the lips
when hanging or the death pen
atty we're spoken of. Back of the
defendant is Sheriff Anderson, at
his right is Attorney Morford and
next Eric Noun, in charge of the
defense. Near a window on the
north side of the room is the
press table at which is a Herald
reporter.
Aged Mother Present
The scene is made the more i'm
pressive by fact of the presence
Of Schlaps' aged mother and sew
eral of his brothers. The mother,
unable to understand much of
what is said, at times weeps
quietly. Once she said, it is
stated, to local ONE who spoke
to her comfortingly in her own
language, German, that she had
tried to teach her boy the differ
ence between right and wrong.
Jurors Excused
Preliminary to the beginning of
the actual trial Judge Paul ex-
cused all jurors who had been
subpoenaed for this term but who
were not selected for this trial I'M
til next Monday.
The court dismissed from the
court DOM all persons subpoen-
aed as witnesses in this trial or
who had reason to believe thai
they might be called as witnesses.
This was with the object of their
not hearing the testimony in the
case before being called to the
stand. Exceptions were made in
a few cases, such as Sheriff An
derson, who was present in an Of
fetal capacity.
Statement Of Prosecution
AS soon as the jury were in
their places County Attorney Mar
ron read the title and complaint.
and read his opening statement to
the jury in which he set forth the.
essential facts which tine state be-
lieves it can prove. Among the
more important of these were ::
That the defendant entered the
employ of Tony Geisler as a farm
hand sometime during the first
days of April, 1926, and that he
had been employed about four
weeks at the time of the alleged
crime; that he was hired for seven
months at a wage of $50 per-
month; that on the afternoon of
Saturday, May /, he was at the
barn on the Geisler place prepar-
ing to 90 into the fields with ?
team to work, that the defend
ant, on pretext Of wanting a drink.
Of water, went to the Geisler res
idence a short distance from the
barn and procured a single barrel
shot gun and four cartridges. Re-
turning to the barn with the gum
and shells he fired two shots into
the body Of Tony Geisler, then
went to the house and firing
through a window screen shot
Ludmilla Geisler who was chang
ing her clothing. Entering the
house he fired another shot into
Mrs. Geisler. That during the af-
5ernoon the defendant, Schlaps,
washed, or attempted to wash, the
blood stains from the floor and
1ther parts of the house and with
4 shovel removed the blood stains
the ground where Tony
Geisler fell. That he put the
bodies into the Geisler automobile,
4 Ford sedan, and at dusk took
hem to the bridge over the Big
Muddy river, near Homestead and
lnloaded them into the stream.
That while doing so, and after one
oody had dropped from the
an approaching car caused
he defendant to drive off the
and down the stream %
short distance where he took the
)ther body from the car and
il in the water. That
.hree empty shells Of 12-gauge
5ize, the same gauge as the gun
lsed in the shooting, were placed
~ the defendant in the bottom Of
/ creek near the Geisler buildings !