Decatur Democrat, Volume 47, Number 42, Decatur, Adams County, 24 December 1903 — Page 4

THE DEMOCRAT EVERY THURSDAY MORNING BY LEW G. ELLINGHAM, PUBLISHER. il.oo PER YEAR IN ADVANCE. Kt. tercd at th? postoflice a! Decatur. Indiana, as second-class mail matter. OFFICIAL PAPER OF ADAMS COUNTY. THURSJ ki DEJ. 24, 1903. p?e Osborpe (Harder <£ase (Continued from page t stand Mrs. Osborne remained ealm and told the story bravely. When Mrs. Osborne was asked dty Judge Heller whether or not it fs tact that she has considerable feeling against defendant she studied a full minute and when urged by the court to answer said, “1 don t know.’’ Asked if she had made any effort to see him in jail she said •*I came when he telephoned for mo but haven’t been there since, took children with her when she went to see him. Said her father weighed 170 jxmnds. Re-examined said ail eat breakfast and dinner together Sept. 8. After intermisson Thursday afternoon Mrs. Osborne was by State and asked where, she had found her fathers coat after the trouble and answered on the east porch. The demeanor of Mrs. Osborne on the witness stand bus certainly a study. Not a sob escaped her lips, not a musoie of her face twitched, she showed no sign of nervousness and not once so I’m as could be J glance at the husband ten feet of herji nd whose life and liberty hung on the words which fell from her lips. Her story was told in a matter of fact way and she smiled in a relieved way when excused from the stand. Still withal there was an appearance about her of one who felt keenly the pangs of inward torture. While his wife •was telling her story Joe seemed to dread each word, hi- face being ■covered by his hands most of the time. When his wife was asked if she hud any feeling against him. lie leaned forward, his face showing more expression than atj any tim, during the trial. As she answered “1 don’t know ” he leaned back, appeared rather pleased, but immediaat 4y lapsed into his old self. CHARLES MORRISON. Lives in Blue Creek, townslrp was foreman of the grand jury which returned the indictment against Joseph <)>borne. identified his signature. Me were unable to ascertain from the evidence what kind of an instrument was used to inflict the injuries upon John Busenbark. DALE OSBORNE The little eight year old son of the accused man was called and as his name was mentioned he began crying and another witness had to be called. This was the first sign of emotion shown during the trial by any one., WILLIAM BLACKBURN. Decatur, constable of Washington township, held that officebn Sept. s. Saw Osborne first that evening on street- when Osborne asked him to go with him to Mr. Moran’s office. At the office Mr. Osborne wanted an affidavit sworn out against himself for assault and same was done. Went to Osborne home that evening to subp ienu B isonbark wanted to wait until morning but Osborne said he w-i- levy a-ad -wanted it attended to that evening. At the farm saw Busenbark who was in bed saw se''"ra! people but didn’t know them. ''Came back right away. Saw Osborne again at Moran’s office. I said “the old gentleman is fatally hurt." "that there was a large crowd at the house.” Sheriff Butler came and took him away. Cross examined. Spoke to Busenbark but got no answer. Read the writ. Afer returning and telling ' Osborne of Busenbark’s condition j Osborne looked wild and excited | DALE ()S BORNE. At 4:30 the little son of the prisoner was called and came forth weeping and the scene as he was eximine<n>y Judge Erwin as the his qualifications as a witness was sad. The bright little fellow answered plainly and quickly. He is eight years old. goes to school, j reads second reader and under-’ stands he must tell the truth. He l Int his emh.ir< ss:nent after a mo- ■ me. t a 1 t: <• examination prece d-

ed. Has two brothers, teachers name is Jacob Cline, fathers name is Joe Osborne, grandpa’s name was John Bus«nbark. Remembers day his granpda got hurt. Pa and grandpa came from house and I came with them, was home from school, heard grandpa say "I don’t want to have any trouble" saw i papa and grandpa talking but couldn't hear them Saw father strike grandpa with his fist, grab him by throat, hit him again when grandpa fell, papa knelt by him and began hitting him. 1 screamed and mamma came. Pa hit grandpa in face, saw Ira take pa off and they went to water tank where pa washed his hands. People came and men carried grandpa into house. I stayed at the barn, saw grandjta afterwards in bed. his face was cut. couldnt’ see his eyes. He tiled next day. he was buried at Knox Chapel. 1 went to funeral. Cross examined by Judge Heller, lie told his story over and told it well, said he climbed into wag“n while the men were talking. Saw grandpa strike at pa after he slid off the wagon board. He missed papa both times.papa kept on walking towards him. Grandpa lit on i his back. 1 went to Schnepps to get help, no one there but children. Mrs. Schnepp had gone to our house by the road and I cut across field and missed her. Didn’t see men carry grandpa in but saw him in bed. Asked if his mamma had told him he would have to come to court and tell what he knew, he said yes but she didnt' tell him what to say. saw his father twice in jail, both times with his mother. Dale made a good witness and proved himself a clever and brave little fellow. He stood the hours strain well though he held back tears with difficulty. As he left the stand lie broke down and sobbed bitterly. His mother reached forward grasped him and kissed away the tears. While Dale gave his testimony his father watched him constantly. DR. C. H. SCHENCK. Lives in Borne, physician, graduate, is county coroner, was called to Union township Spot. 10 to hold I inquest over body of John Busen- | hark, post mortem was held byDrs. C ark and Coverdale, was present I ail the time and I examined body, described the. wounds as other physicians had. Believes the injuries were sufficient to cause death, due to the shock to a person sixtyeight years old. Adjourned at 5:30. A telephone message was announced for Mr. Pontius of Geneva who was allowed to go to the phone in charge of a bailiff. He returned shortly and reported that his wife’s sister was lying at the point of death and his folks wanted to know if he could come home. He thought he could be excused and the case continue without him. When informed that such was not the case he concluded not to go. The lady is Mrs. William Potter, who lives five miles west of Geneva. She has been sick for some time with consumption. < ,'ourt did not open Friday morning until 9:15, being delayed a few moments because the prisoner had been taken to a barber shop by deputy Butler. When brought in Osborne looked tired and apparently had little interest in tlie proceed ings. The crowd in attendant* when court convened was smaller than usual though before noon the room was well filed with people eager to sec the principal in the big ease or hear some of the evidence. Mrs. Osborne and son Dale were i.ih't-iii their usual place win n court opened but the former came in with some lady friends shortly afterward and took a seat farther back in the court room, where she was practically hidden from view. DR. SCHENK Again resumed the stand this morning and said ho believed that some blunt instrument was used to inflict the wounds, the injuries could not be inflicted without marking the hand of party who delivered bolws. Cross examined he said thi< was his opinion but under certain conditions this might not hold good. W ILLI A M BL ACKBURN Went on the witness stand to correct the statement that he had not seen Mr. Osborne after night of Sept, s, saw him next morning and he looked wild. ALBERT BUTLER Sheriff, exmained hands and face of prisoner after taking him into custody, found no marks or bruis-[ es of auv kind. The knife taken from prisoner Osborne was offered I

in evidence and handed to the jury for their inspection. It a large, two blade knife, quite heavy and with black handles. Attorneys lor the defease objected but the knife went to the jury. JAMES McCUNE Lived in Monroe township for forty years, is farmer, was member jof grand jury which indicted Os--11 borne, identified witnesses who i were examined Imfore grand jury. ' Unable to ascertain what kind of " weapon was used by Osl>orne in ' inflicting the wound didnt under--1 stand that any was used. IRA RICHARDS Was recalled and said that John Busenbark died in Adams county, Indiana, was the same man assaulted previous day. and of whom he told before. State rested at 9:50 this morning. DEFENSE. Statement by D. E. Smith. Fe said evidence for the defense will disclose the fact that some 35 years go a boy was born in Grant county Indiana, that this boy came into the world from descendants who arc afflicted with disease including mu«h insanity and consumption. ; That a great uncle, and an uncle were insane and committed suicide, an aunt and other relatives die of (consumption, that a cousin is a raving maniac in an Indianapolis asylum, that a sister is crazy and is kept constantly in cell at the old ; homestead, that a son of Osborne •is idiotic. The evidence will furj ther show said Mr. Smith that Jr e . I has had several falls, that he had :at one time serious sick spell, that since that time he has been a man of many peculiarities that on the right side of the head of Joe Os-i borne, the skull is low and presses again-t the base of brain. Busenbark came to live with Joe last February and even from the moment they arrived here the old man begun abusing and tormenting Joe and kept it up until a sane man could not have stood it. The evidence will show ’hat Busenbark was strong, quarrelsome, vindic-1 tiveand bragged of his fighting ability, that he was disliked by his Giant county neighbors. The evidence will show that Busenbark ! and daughter Mrs. Osborne talked ;of going to < alifornia and to leave I noor simple minded Joe here. That ,j„ was at a ball game here on Sunday and Monday and acted queerly., Mr. Smith said we will have a train load of people here from Grant county to show that his reputation for peace and quietude. Gentlemen —Joe Osborne was of unsound mind the day he assaulted John Busenbark, Sept.. 8, and was not responsible for his act. That fui ther than this he fought in self defense for Busenbark wanted him out of the road and had urged him to make the attack that he might j kill him. We will ask from your \ hands gentleman, of the Jury, said the lawyer, a verdict of ac- ‘ quittai. JOHN OSBORNE Old grey haired father of the' defendant was the first witness culled by the defense Lived in Grunt county 40 years, i- seventy years ; old. wife is dead, her name was Eliazbeth L:;’-ure. we were married in IO had oven children, six ar«> stiil living. Wife had brothers I and sister.-. Jur is 35 years old. He Hived at home until he wa- 21. went (to school while a boy. When five’ year-■ bl J ■ was butted against the i n' • ram and rendered uncons'-mns. shortly afterward he was' nock 1 •: vn while at play and hi- ‘ ' stirkin_ against a two inch board, bled profusely, was unconscious until next day. At another time he fell from tree and broke bis arm badly, again he fell off a rail pile and was injured. When twelve years old had long siege of brain fevi-r. Since being hurt Joe has been very nervous and easily excited. Joe owned forty acres of land in Grant county, house and barn burned about three years ago, everything j he had was destroyed, saw Joe' next day and he looked flighty and wild. Visited Joe once in this county, stayed several days. I have an insane daughter at home, she is kept in room, about ten feet square, built of fence wire, doors and windows are barred with iron, j Her name is Jane Snooks, she was married, was at asylum at Indianapolis for nine months. My wife died of consumption in 1902. Cross j examined he said “I have three sons. Attorney -Moran then asked I i'ne witness about his son building once. the quest i<xi was objected to I vigorously and Judge Heller be j

The Best Values on the -, Market lap WtW Hart, Schaffner & Marx 811 Br~ OwOtz Suits or Overcoats (’ ; z They are bound to be appreciated. jp P° r Q <3ur a bility they . HjVC HO CQUals. Han Ikhaffncr Our lines of I' 1 Tjtlorcd | % Suits and Overcoats hL-O/lt Are still full of Choice patterns to ,jfey Mp|ySeiect from. Now is the time to do i aWMEu W Your selecting. fel Let us help you; you can’t go amiss. Holtase,Schulte&CoL£SEy

i came eloquent. . The attorneys are fighting every point of the case to la finish. The objection was oveiruled. CHARLES LEAR Lives in Green township. Grant county, 39 years old in school teacher and farmer. Has known Osborn since a boy. Is trustee of Green township, has known Busenbark 25 years. Joe came to school to me when he was 18 years old. He j learned to read and write, he was ; :an average pupil, but difficult in reasoning powers. Attended an other term after he was 21 years •old, studied only mathematics, learned very little, attended eight weeks. Joe’s talk has been rambling I told several conversations, and incidents. Knows John Osborne and family. Asked concerning the I r, putation of John Busenbark in his | (neghborhoo,! for quarrelsomeness.' Objected- to and a legal battle • n-1 sued, reputation of Joe Osborne ■ for peace and quietude was good. Court adjourned at twelve j o’clock. The afternoon session of court be- | van at 1:30 o’clock and the room ■ was again well filled with an inter-1 ested audience. Near the States attorneys table Dr. Scott and wife of Hartford City who appeared to ' take considerable interest in the proceedings. Mrs. Scott is a neice-. of the deceased man, John Busen-: hark and of whom both she and her ■ husband had the highest regard, i A peculiar incident is the fact that I Mr. and Mrs. Scott had never heard ( of the murder until last evening , when they received a copy of the I Daily Democrat. They imme,i ately made arrangement to come to i j Decatur to attend the trial. They I arrived at noon and will attend dur- ! ing the greater part of the trial. They seem considerably affected by the awful crime, the story of which they have just learned. Charles Lear was again called to the witness stand and continued , his testimony. Believes that OsIxjrne is and has lx?en for a number ■ of years, a ]>erson of unsound mind. ; ; The question asked by defense j G'fore noon was changed to “what the wa- reputation of John Busen-< ( hark in neighborhood in which he j lived in Grant county for peace and ’ ( (Continued ou page 5. first eohmin. i

A Weil Selected Line of C hrisli 11; is »=(Merings. / Solid Silverware. Knives and Forks, Spoons and Novelties. Plated Silverware, Knives and Forks, Spoons and Novelities. American Cut Glass — Bowls and Dishes, Creamers, Pitchers, Water Bottles and Glasses. Chaffin Dishes, Baking Dishes and Five O’clock Teas. Skates, Tool Boxes, Guns and Pocket Knives, Phonographs and Supplies. < Phonographs Records for the g / month at/2 price Schafer .Hardware Co.

linsdnc ht l