Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 January 1885 — Page 5

The republican.

Wartner Must Hang.

This is the verdict of Judge Ward. The tffe&e Is fixed fnr fifty On Tuesday afternoon, tlie time s&t for hearing evidence in the cfisd of Wartner, who plead guilty to the charge of murder in the first degree, two weeks ago, the court- room was crowded beyond its seating capacity with spectators. Wartner When first brought from the jail was taken into the jury room, to consult with his attorney and the interpreters. He had been busy for some days preparing some kind of a paper, which he wished to have translated for the use of the attorney. This was done and required considerable time. The paper was not put in evidence however, but was read to the court just before final senei itence was pronounced. After long Waiting Wartner was taken within the bar of the court. He was accompanied by his wife and several children, by his neighbors and interpreters Punter and Feldman. As on every previous occasion when he has been before the court, he evinced great emotion, but this time he did not show the abject fear winch characterized his first appearances He is a man of about medium size, or perhaps a little above that, and strong and sinewy. His head is of a bad shaps, of small brain capacity. His face was constantly distorted by his feelings, but we judgethat its natural expression is not particularly bad. His age is forty years. His wife, though poorly and plainly dressed, is of rather prepossessing appearance, and his children look bright and intelligent. The woman evinced a great deal of grief, as was but natural under the circumstances. The objects and purposes of the day’s proceedings, it should be stated, were not for the purpose of proving whether Wartner was guilty orinnocent, for he acknowledged his guilt, but rather for the purpose of informing the Judge’s mind of all the circumstances of the case, to the end that he might tliemore wisely determine What penalty to affix. R. W. Marshall, of Keener tp., was the first witness sworn. He has been closely connected with the case, from the time the body was first discovered. He has been indefatigable in working up evidence in the case, and has done perhaps more than any one man towards weaving around Wartner that chain of circumstances which showed him the hopelessness of his case, and drove him to make confession. Mr. Marshall’s testimony was mainly in regard to matters with which readers of The Republican are already familiar. He told how the body was found, of its condition at the time; and of the wounds and braises it bore. He also gave Wartner’s testimony at the coroner’s inquest. How he (Wartner) had stated that he knew Dreger, but did not think the body before him was Dreger’s; aid how he had said that he paid Dreiser a check for S4OO and that the latter had gone to Chicago to get it cashed JCO. V ** -A. P. Feldman, of Keener, was the next witness. Mr. Feldman was the interpreter it the time Wartner’s confession, given below, _ was made. He testified as to the statements made by Wartner, at the time; and further that, so far as he knew, no threats or promises were made to induce him to make the confession. The defendant’s wife was then sworn. She testified Us to the length of time they had lived in this country, and the time they came to Jasper county. For a year or two before they came to this county, they KVed at Rose liand, 111., a suburb of Chicago, near Pullman. She also testified as to their great poverty and destitution; but from the fact that she swore that at the time Wartner and Dreger started upon their fatal journey to the river, they had Bot a single article of provisions in the house except a few potatoes, and yet was forced to adinit, upon cross examination that thay did have 50 pounds of Hour and some pork, fish and coffee, at that time, her evidence was, of course, of no benefit to her husband. Wartner himself was next sworn. As was the case with his wife, he was obliged to testify through an interpreter. He told a story of the crime, varying materially from that given in his previous confession, and winch without doubt, he had devised during the last Tbw days. His story was rather

long and rambling, but tbe Essence of it was that he had induced Dreger to borrow a wagoij and take his team and go to the river and haal back a box of .fish; and that, upon arriving at the river, Dreger had asked where the box of fish was, and that he (Wartner) had then answered that they must set the net and catch the fish. At this Dreger got mad and picked up a club and strhek at Wartner, -.who dodged the blow, and in self defense, struck Dreger with the gun, and that the latter fell and struck upon a sharp “snag” which entered his head and killed him. He contradicted himself many times m his direct testimony and upon cross examination ; ackowledged that he had liqil to Dreger, to induce him to go to rives; and often found it convenient to say lie “could not remem - ber”, that “his head was out 61 shape” &c. Two of the Fairchild brothers, leading stock and business men of Ke ner, then testified to having paid Wartner constderable money, at different times, and on the very morning of the day on which the murder was committed, they paid him three or four dollars, for wood and fish. C. O. -‘ peneer, the store keeper at DeMotte, testified to having sold to Wartner, upon the same morning, 50 pounds of flour and other provisions. The testimony of these last witnesses conclusively established the falsity of the Wartners’ testimony, that they had nothing but potatoes in the house, when Drearer And Wartner started to the - . " **’ •; ' river. This closed the proceedings lor the day, and Wartner was remanded to jail until the next morning. Towards ten o»’clock, on Wednesday forenoon, Wartner was again brought before the bar of the court. The opposing counsel then agreed to submit the case without argument, at which the Judge retired for a time into the jury room, at the rear of the court room. After an absence of 15 or 20 minutes, he returned, took his ssat and in slow!, solemn, and well considered sentences addressed the court.

JUDGE WARD'S FINDING. By courtesy of Mr. Parks, the shorthand reporter for the court, vve are enabled to give, herewith, the words, used by the Judge upon this occasion: “The defendant havings entered u plea of guilty, aim the court having fully considered the evidence that has been introduced in this cause, there will be a finding of guilty of murder in the first degree. Tnis devolves a very grave responsibility upon the court in determining the sentence. If the statue provided but one grade of punishment, it would have been the duty ot the court to pass sentence at once. Inasmuch as the statue provides that the punishment might either be by death or by confinement at hard labor in the State prison for life, Evidence tfas heard in order that the court might determine whether or not the defendant suffers the higher, or lower penalty. In cases where the defendant is charged with a crime, And enters a plea of! guilty, it is the duty of the court to consider that, and especitdy is that the case in the lighter grades of crime, and in snch cases the court usually passes slighter sentence without investigating the matter at all; but in cases of this magnitude, it is proper for the court to enquire into the nature of the offense, so that tbe conviction may be upon something tangible. In this ca-e the evidence shows that the defendant and deceased were living near neighbors, and had been for some time, that they were on friendly relations, and that the defendant told the deceased that he had a box of fish at the Kankakee river, and that he wanted the deceased to go and haul to fish lor him. When they reached the river and the deceased asked where the fish were, the defendant told the deceased that they were to be caught.

There Was then some statement made by the defendant in regard to the deceased becoming angry. Those statements were not made In the first confession, and were not made for a considerable time afterward. They make no excuse, or show any mitigation in favor of the defendant.- T.hft defendant, by his own testimony, and tie testimony of his wife, stated that they had a family of five children, and had nothing to eat in the house. After the evidence was- introduced upon which other side, that they had received mosey that day, bought groceries, and had provision, and they had at least fifty pounds of flour, with potatoes and fish and pork. They both testified that it was food which they and family relished. The defendant, immediately after the killing, took possession of all the property of the deceased. These are simply the main out-lines, and the court, after having fully considered the evidence, and taking in consideration all the circumstances as shown by the evidence of the witnesses,

and the Statement of the defendant himself, fixes his punishment at death. The Jfidge then abased the interpreter and through Mm directed the! prisoher to stand up, and answer whether he had anything to say why the judgement should not bo pronounced against him. To this Mr. Babcock responded By presenting the paper before referred to. prepared by the prisoner during the last few days, and asked that it be read. It was irt the Dutch language, and was road first hv Mr. Punter and translated, sentence by sentence, by Mr. Feldman. It was a long, incoherent document, and the work of a man of a weak understanding. It rreited his previous good life, his poverty and destitution, his distress at the suffering) they etltailed upon his family, the difficulty he had in obtaining food and shelter for them; the deep sorrow and remorse he felt for the crime, asked the judge, several times, lo take measures to enquire into his past life before he sentenced him to death, and again and again implored him for mercy. At the conclusion of the paper, Mr. Babcock addressed a few words, in plea for leniency for his client. He asked for mercy for the sake of the unhappy man's wife and children; suggested that his plea of guilty should entitle him to some clemency, and pointed out that this man, poor and friendless, and mentally deficient as he was, could never hope to pass the prison walls, should the penalty be made imprisonment for life. The Judge then responded in a few words in further justification of the death sentence, remarking, among other things, that had he the making of the laws, there-should oe no such punishment as death, but that the law being as it was, and it being his sworn duty to enforce that law, he felt it his duty to inflict the extreme, in this case. H 4 then commanded the prisoner to stand. The poor wretch, weeping fast but silently, tremplingly obeyed. Slowly and deliberately, without rising from his chair, and in a voice which betrayed emotion only by the deliberateness dt his sentences, then pronounced the few words which doomed the unhappp man before him to ati early ond ignominious death. Mr. Feldman, Standing between the Judge and the prisorfer, translated each sentence as the judge pronounced them.

THE SENTENCE: WiebrenW&rtfier yoS*’may staaJap. It is the judgement of the court that you be taken from hence to Vhe jail of* this county and there confined until the 15 th day of May, 1885, on which day, between the hours of 5 o’clock in the forenoon, anA 4 o’clock in the afternoon, you shall be- hanged by the neck until you are dead. The sheriff of the county is charged with the execution of this order. At the conclusion of the sentence Wartner sank down into his chair, overcome with agony, and wept bitterly and long, but not loudly. He was shortly afterwards removed to the jail, whose doorway he will probably never again pass alive.

Wartner’s Confession.

Below we give the fall text of the confession made by Wartner, early last months- The questions were propounded by Mr. James W.. Douthit, Dept. Prosecutor, and the answers were, of bourse, by Wartner. Mr. P. F. Feldman, an intelligent and estimable Hollandish citizen of Keener township, interpreted both questions and answers. The confession is as follows: CTATE OF INDIANA,) * *.> Coimtv of Jasper, I December 4th, A. IL 1884. P. F. Feldman, first by me being duly sworn to truly interpret the confession of Wiebren Wartner, we proceeded as follows: Q Where did you kill John Dreger? A I killed him by the river, Q How did yon kill him? I A I killed him with the gun. Q Did you bhoot him, or strike him with the gun? A I struck him with the gun. 'Q Did you cut his throat? A No, I struck him with the gur, the broken end of the gun. Q What part did you use? A The broken end, with the lock on it. Q Was be on ttie boat cr jd the ground? A He was on the bank of t-5 nrev. Q Was any one present? A None but naeend t)reger. , • Q -What time in the day was it? A Between three snd four o'clock in the afternoon, on Wednesday. Q At what 'point bn the river did it occur? A At the French Island landing. Q Did you have the pumps down there, or did you tike them "With you? A I took them with me. Q What did yt>d take the pumps therefor? A I wasgom<fto.»ink a net. Afte I lulled huh I tic'4 them to hid back.'

Q & Where did yen get tbe tope halter that yon tied toe pomps to Dreger with? A I had the halter on the wagon to I in fastening the irons to the nets, if' Where ala when did you break Wf wagon? A When we were almost to river, I hooked on a stump and broke it. Q Wliat did you do with the standard of tlie wagon? i, A Tim box flew oft* the wage i Q What did you tell John Dreger to induce him to go to ilio river.’ A I told him to come and haul some fish. Q What induced you to kill John Dreger? A To get something to cat an l drink for my family. Q What time did you get home that night? A Ido not know, but it was getting dark. Q Ditji yotf tell your wife that night? A I told my wife that Dreger went off with two men. Q What did you do with John Dreger’s best suit of clothes? A At John Dreger’s place, between the cow yard and tho hay stack, I buried them. Q Did you put them in a box? A I buried them the way they were. Q Did yon bury them before or after arrest? A Before I was arrested. Q As a matter of fact, did you not cut John Dreger’s throat with the knife, and then put it in Dreger’s pocket? A I did not. <| How did you get the blood off the I washed it off in tbe river. . ’■< w Has any one promised you any inducement or reward to make this confession, and do yon make the same with your own free will? A Ido it with my Own free will. GTAT.K of INDIANA.; QU k - 3 Jasper County, 1 1013 I, Wibreh Wartner, being duly sworn upon my oath say that the above confession is true as I verily believe. WIKBKEN WARTNKR. Subscribed and sworn to v before me, James W. Douthit, Deputy'Prosecuting Attorney of Jasper cognty, appointed by Mathew H. Walker, Prosecutor of the 30th Judicial Circuit, this 3rd day of December, 1884f*

JAMES W. DOUTHIT,

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El si

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