Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1938-08-27
Od-Tme Sheriff Admits He Was Scared Killer Jail

peculiar jerk which seemed 10 be 3
\ CHARACTERISTIC OF the man.
"Jal Mr. Bellerl"
/ Frank Beller, deputy sheriff, hac
I followed Robertson on his hunt fol
Zidmair He had arrived in time to see
from a distance the arrest back Of the
1 barn. and had gone on to the cabin
/ Seeing Robertson and the men ap-
preaching, he showed himself Just as
/ Zidmair had the impulse 70 run. lid
1 MAR went peaceably to the cabin.
Il want to change mine clothes;
no come back here" Zidmair said as
they entered. He started toward an
inner room where hung his guns.
DOciIe After Bluff Called
you just sit down there" he was
told, Tell us where your clothes are,
and Wen bring them out and help
Very docile now that his bluff was
called and he had no weapon in his
hand, Zidmair was brought TO the cOun-
ty Jail in Livingston.
All the information the public could
get for some days was that zidmair
was in custody, charged with the muir
der April TO- 1901, Of George Reider, a
neighbor on Trail creek, and that Held
and Weidenbauer we're held as &C.
complies.
EkElGCI AAdA BEEAA q kn44 AA4EA Va AAAAA-
MAR in a sawnlill. His sudden diSap-
pearance in 1901 was brief sensation.
zidmair claimed Reider had gone
hunting and had been caught in
SnoWslide Belief was pretty strong
that Zidmair had killed Reider and
had hidden the body.
Frank Beley, then sheriff, had
searched the sawmiH premises, even
to digging in a burning sawdust pile.
1t was known zidmair and Reider had
quarreled. But no evidence could be
found to prove that Reider had been
murdered.
The case broke soon after A. S.
Robertson became sheriff in January,
1903 Weidenbauer, fearing for his own
safety, had managed to get away for
a trip to Livingston and he gave the
story to County Attorney Albert P.
Stark dater judge Of the Sixth Ju-
dicial District and associate justice OF
the Montana supreme court, who died
recently at kirkland, Wash.)
After a quiet investigation Attorney
Stark turned the matter over to the
sheriffs office, with the resultant ar
rest of zidmair without any violence.
Pleaded Not Guilty
From Held and Weidenbauer Sheriff
Robertson learned where the charred
remains Of Reider's body we're hidden.
He went alone to the spot, after post
ing a guard to watch the country. A son
of Zidmair fired at Robertson from a
nearby hill. The guard answered the
fire. The youth was never heard from
again in Park county. Realizing that
the game was up he quietly disap-
peared.
Zidmair, Held and Weidenbauer
pleaded not guilty when arraigned. |
Held and Weidenbauer were discharged |
a few months later without trial.
zidmair was found guilty of first
degree murder in the April, 1908, term |
of court, at which the story Of the |
crime was fully developed for the first |
time; crime as revolving and as cold
blooded as history has ever recorded.
Zidmair and Reider, both Bavarians,
had located on Trail creek in 1898, as
partners in a Sawmill. Their homes
were three-quarters Of a mile apart.
zidmair had a family, while Reider
was single. Trouble soon developed and
the partnership as an active PROPOSE
ton was dissolved, though joint owner
ship continued. zidmatr had been
heard several times in threats against
the life of Reider.
Zidmair had learned that on the
of the murder Reider was