Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-01-17
Raymond Men
Found Guilty
In Assault Case
!. E. Porter and Peter Hend-
rickseier Face Prison
Terms
Case Causes Much Interest
Court Room Not Large
Enough For Crowd

Prison terms are facing j. f. Por-
ter and Peter H. (Alkali Pete)
Hendricksmeier both of Raymond,
who Tuesday afternoon were found
guilty in district court Of participat-
ing in an assault upon John O'Grady
in a Raymond pool hall last July.
The verdict, guilty Of assault in the
second degree, calls for a penalty of
from one to five years.
The case, although of short dura-
ton, had many features connected
with it of sensational order and the
crowd of interested spectators that it
attracted was far larger than the
seating capacity and standing room
Of the court room could provide and
many who had come to the court
house for the purpose of listening to
the case returned to town disap-
pointed.
The incident that caused the two
Raymond men to fall afoul of the
law was a brutal assault upon John
O'Grady, man SO years old, by
three pugilists and a police dog, the
assailants being the two men found
guilty and William Garner also of
Raymond who disappeared few
weeks prior to the opening of dist
rict court and has not been seen or
heard of since.
According to the evidence brought
out in the trial, Mr. O'Grady had
gone to Raymond on the afternoon
that the assault took place and had
gone into the pool hall, purchased a
cigar, and sat down for smoke
when Garner came in.
Garner walked up to O'Grady in an
apparently cordial manner and o.
Grady reached out to shake hands
with him. Gamers answer was a
blow in the face. They clinched and
rolled on the floor and although
Garner was pugilist, with a repu-
tation as tough customer, he seem
ed to be getting the worst of it and
called for assistance of his two pals
also pugilists and all three lit into
him. Not content with that a VIC
ious police dog was set upon the be-
labored man and as a result he was
terribly bruised, beaten up and blind
ed, the effects of which he has not
fully recovered from to this day
Seven witnesses were called by the
state, six Of whom were eye witness
es and the other, DR.. j. c. Storken
who dressed the injured mans
wounds. All corroberated the al
legations made at the outset of the
case.
The defense sought to divert the
blame from the two men on trial and
place the sole responsibility upon
Garner. Two witnesses were called
for the defense, John Jorgensrud
and N. Markuson, both of whom
were present in the pool hall when
the affair took place.
The case began Tuesday morning
with testimony by the witnesses be-
ing completed the same evening
The pleas of the attorneys and in
struction of the judge were finished
by eleven o'clock the next morning
and the case was in the hand OF
the jury shortly afterward
While the jury was out and an.
nounced to the court that they had
reached a verdict, another sensation
was sprung. Hendricksmeler had
disappeared A spectator reported
that he had seen him drive off in a
car with a Raymond man, gave I'm
dersheriff Robert Smith a tip on
which to follow and he set off, post
haste for Raymond "Alkali' was
found in the pool hall when the dep
uty arrived and returned without
protest to Plentywood.
The return of the jurys decision
provided a dramatic incident as the
ewes of the curious were fastened
upon the two men standing trial.
Porter was apparently unmoved by
the decision while Hendricksmeier
Hung his head as though bewildered
over what it was all about. The
latter man was the object of SYM
pathy on the part of the people
present, it being apparent that ne
was of sub-normal mentality. When
asked by the judge if either had
ANYTHING to say, both declined to
speak. !,
Judge S. E. Paul, who presided
over the case announced that SEN
tence would be pronounced on Tues
day, January %.
The case was prosecuted by County
Attorney Grant Bakewell and l.. j
Onstad, the latter having been re-
tanned as special prosecutor. J.. D
Gunther represented the defendants
William Garner, the defaulting de-
fendant and chief principal in the
case left for parts unknown early
this month, making liable the two
bondsmen, for the payment of the
81 900 bonds which they jointly
signed. Tuesday the bonds were de-
clared forfeited and the bondsmen
had to make payment the amount
required in lieu of his custody.
The case. was of wide interest as
all Of the principals involved were
widely known in this territory, es-
pecially the three defendants who
have figured in boxing cards in many
towns throughout eastern Montana
and western North Dakota.