USA > Iowa > Jackson County > History of Jackson County, Iowa; Volume I > Part 42
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is corroborated and substantiated so that there can not possibly be any question of its truthfulness. It is no unnatural or unusual thing for criminals to confess their crimes to cell mates. It has been done during all ages. It has been shown that there was no possible way in which Murphy could have received the information from any one on the outside, but even if he could, no one could have conceived so perfect a story ; so complete in all its details-the revolver, cylinder, the club, the meeting of Roberts and Guinther in Bellevue. With all that learned and skillful counsel could do after months of investigation, they had failed to throw the slightest suspicion on Murphy's testimony. And be- ing guilty there is no reason why he should not have received the extreme penalty. There should be no sentiment allowed to affect the action of the jury, nothing but a rigid enforcement that the law would do. At the. con- clusion of Mr. George's argument, Mr. Gibbs for the defendant began his ad- dress. He is a pleasing, polished speaker, and handled his argument with much effect. He referred to his position as being an unenviable one. That he deeply sympathized with the grief stricken mother, and other members of the family, bereaved by the murder of Mina Keil, but being convinced of the innocence of the defendant he asked the kind consideration of the jury that he might make a summary of the evidence, as brought out in the trial, in behalf of his client. The mere charging of the crime should not debar the jury from careful con- sideration, the right of the "pale faced, half imbecile prisoner at the bar." It was true he said, that they had been called on to sit in judgment upon one of the most remarkable criminal cases ever tried within the boundary lines of Iowa. Remarkable in the fiendishness of the crime, the circumstances upon which a conviction was asked and remarkable even in the prisoner himself. Referred to the insufficiency of proof against defendant, and stated with all the criminating circumstances, all that avowed criminals and ingenious counsel could do, they should say to the prisoner: "Go home; you have been made a victim of circumstances owing to your condition." He referred to Murphy, the tramp, as a confessed criminal who had laid the crime to Eckerlebe for a consideration, and that consideration, a reduction of the charge of assault with intent to commit murder, on which he was originally locked up to a minor charge. "He denied that there was a consideration," said Mr. Gibbs, "but you saw and heard him, saw haw he sat and in a declamatory manner told of the murder of that unfortunate girl." "That poor old mother is entitled to much sympathy. Her daughter was chopped down by the hand of a murderer in her young and fair womanhood, but the question involved in this is, did the de- fendant commit that murder? Mr. Gibbs claimed that there was a conspiracy against the defendant and that some of those would live to see the day when there will be a death bed confession, when the real culprit would acknowledge the crime. Referred to the party of eight which made a search of the ground where the murder occurred, looking specifically for a revolver. That they found none, because there was none to be found at the time. He said that when the prisoner was arrested that the real murderer was not a thousand miles away. The man who committed the murder and placed the revolver and other weapons where they were found was the man who furnished information to John Patrick Murphy, to fasten the crime on Eckerlebe that he himself might go free." Has it ever occurred to you why he, of all the neighborhood should be accused of the crime, because he is a boy practically without in- tellect and one who was likely to be less able to make a defense? "The improb- ability of the sleepy eyed prisoner making a confession to the criminal Murphy after a few hours' acquaintance is so hard that it is absurd." Mr. Gibbs made quite a strong point in his comparison of the testimony of Magistrate Campbell and Fritz Eckerlebe, the brother of defendant. It will be remembered that Mr. Campbell testified that when he was questioning defendant regarding his whereabouts on the 4th, defendant told him among other things that he ate a lunch of cheese and crackers at 12 o'clock with his brother Fritz, in the rear
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of Kucheman's grocery store, and also that this agrees exactly with the testi- mony of his brother. The fact that Eckerlebe was not notified of any suspicion or charge against him before his arrest, precluded the possibility of any connivance between he and his brother regarding the noon meal of crackers and cheese. This point was well taken and Mr. Gibbs brought it out with marked emphasis. He referred to the character of the witness, by whose testimony it was sought to impeach the evidence of Guido Worth, and drew a comparison between their standing in the community, and that of the witness, who testified in Worth's behalf. Reverting again to Murphy he asserted that he was an avowed, confessed criminal and that it was preposterous and absurd that the jury should condemn the prisoner against whose character there has never been any charges on such testimony.
In reference to the blood upon Eckerlebe's clothing, he would not deny it was human blood and the blood of Mina Keil but that it came there honestly and while the defendant was in the discharge of a Christian duty in assisting in the removal of the dead girl's body. Denied that the revolver had bent in the attack of the girl; said it would be utterly impossible to bend the handle of the weapon in the manner shown by beating it against the head of even a fully matured person. Mr. Gibbs in a very feeling manner referred to the tes- timony which showed that the defendant visited the home of the murdered girl the morning after her death, going with the searching party to find the body, assisting in the removal of that mangled and bleeding form to the home, even to driving the vehicle containing it from the scene of the killing, and in assist- ing in caring for the remains after reaching the house, and asked the jury if his actions on that occasion were the actions of a man who twenty-four hours be- fore had committed the fiendish crime which robbed that fair and' innocent girl of her life. There has been a terrible mistake made, said Mr. Gibbs, and it was inconceivable how the jury or any one could conclude that Eckerlebe was the right man in the right place. In closing he admonished the jury that the State of Iowa and all the forces combined could not bring back that poor girl Mina Keil. They might hang, they might quarter the defendant, but that would not return the unfortunate girl to the widowed mother, and in determining the merits of the case they should give the defendant the benefit of all doubt, asking them to remember that it were better that ninety and nine guilty men escape than that one innocent man be made to suffer. He closed with an appeal that they temper their deliberations with mercy and justice to the unfortunate and half witted accused.
Mr. Ellis followed Mr. Gibbs and made an able and admirable plea in behalf of the defendant. His argument was a forceful one, delivered with an evident earnestness and marked throughout with a natural eloquence which made it very effective. He said the duty of the jury was to uphold the law of the state and protect the citizens of the country, and that he stood before them asking for both the upholding of the law and the protection of the rights of the de- fendant. He stood before them to ask nothing but simple justice for an inno- cent man, accused of a horrible crime. It was not for the defense to prove his innocence but for the state to show beyond all question of reasonable doubt that he was guilty. Accepting the statement made by Murphy to be true, ad- mitting for argument that defendant made the confession attributed to him, the circumstances fail to show that the crime with which he stands charged was a premeditated one. The language which is put into his mouth shows that there was no murder in his heart. His actions at the time, the pleading with the girl, show that at that time, even if Murphy's story were true, that he had no thought of taking the life of Mina Keil. Even as taking the statement as true, there is not the least evidence that the crime was premeditated. The jury must find in the first place that there is malice, some reason for the mur- der, then a concoction of a scheme and carrying out of that scheme, before they could return a verdict of murder in the first degree. If he took her life without
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premeditation and without deliberation, then he is guilty of murder only in the second degree. If, however, the crime was committed in the heat of pas- sion at a moment when reason was temporarily dethroned, then no charge other than manslaughter could be maintained. The condition of the weapon used, the mangled form of the dead girl, nor the grief of the family should be considered in determining the guilt of the defendant. Mr. Ellis referred to the testimony of Fred Keil as being inconsistent and unreliable, judging from his manner on the stand and his action on the day the body was brought home, and spoke eloquently of the actions of the defendant on the same day in com- parison. Asserted that a guilty man could not have assisted in moving and conveying the body of his victim from the scene of the murder, as it had been shown Eckerlebe had done. He dwelt with emphasis on many of the points drawn out by Mr. Gibbs. The story of the alleged finding of cartridges in de- fendant's pants at the Eckerlebe homestead, he alluded to as absurd, when it had been shown that the pants had been searched and taken from the defend- ant at the time of his arrest. If they were found as alleged, then they had been placed there by some person other than the prisoner. Without the confession of Murphy there is positively nothing connecting Eckerlebe with the murder. The jury were admonished that they were called upon to say whether defend- ant was guilty as charged, and in determining the truth of the testimony it was their duty to scrutinize the character of the witness furnishing that testimony. He referred to Murphy as "the sewer from which emanates the malaria with which they attempt to convict the defendant." Mr. Ellis said that Murphy was not only a tramp, a self-confessed criminal, and a jail bird, but that by his own evidence he had proven himself a liar, alluding to the fact that when before the grand jury he had sworn that his home was in San Diego, California, and in this court testifying upon oath that he had never been west of the Rocky Mountains. He referred to a blood spot found upon defendant's clothing and asked the jury if they believed for one moment that he would wear the clothes with Mina Keil's blood upon them for three and a half days if he was the mur- derer of the girl. Mr. Ellis closed with an eloquent appeal to the jury asking mercy and justice for the defendant consistent with the testimony in the case.
Closing argument by D. A. Wynkoop:
"Whosoever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." This, said Mr. Wynkoop, is not only the law of God, but the law of man as well, and so recognized by all the courts of the country. Touching again upon the question of premeditation he alleged that murder was in the heart of defendant from the hour in the morning at which he learned that poor Mina Keil would cross the path where he met her ; yes, premeditation even existed from the time he purchased the revol- ver in the early summer. He made a strong and telling point in his reference to the revolver known to have been in Eckerlebe's possession prior to the day of the killing. "Where is that revolver?" Its introduction in this case by the defense would have been better than a thousand alibis. He is charged with having a re- volver prior to that date. It has been shown that he bought cartridges-thirty-two caliber center fire cartridges- for that revolver. Why not introduce it in court and relieve the defendant of this horrible charge of murder. If he was not guilty of the foul crime how easy it would be for him to prove that fact by producing the revolver. This he did not and could not do because that revolver-the self-same weapon with which the innocent Mina Keil was murdered-was in the court, stained with the blood of his victim, as evidence of the most convicting character of guilt of Christian Eckerlebe, the defendant.
Referring to the evidence of defendant's previous good character, Mr. Wyn- koop cited several important murder cases, among the number the murder of Catherine Ging, for which Harry Hayward was hung, and the murder of Pearl Bryan, to show that history is full of instances wherein men of previous good character have been convicted and hung for the foul murder of women. At times
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Mr. Wynkoop grew very eloquent, especially so in depicting the scene of the mur- der, when with a club or revolver in hand, he illustrated how they were used by the defendant as weapons with which to beat out the brains of his victim. He went over the whole of the evidence in a most thorough manner, discussing and analyz- ing it and arguing from it the duty of the jury. The revolver, he said, rises against the defendant as poor Mina Keil would rise before him on the day of final judg- ment. It stands as a monument of truth against the defendant, and carries a con- viction with it which there was no way of avoiding.
Up to the IIth of July everything was dark and hidden. There was no knowl- edge, no known evidence that the poor girl had been shot, nothing pointing to the means used in blotting out that fair young life ; but between the evening of the IOth and the morning of the 11th, God in his infinite mercy worked a wonder in the mind of Christian Eckerlebe wrestling with the spirit as did Jacob of old, con- fessed the crime to relieve the burning of his own soul. The instrument used by God in revealing that infinite mercy was John Patrick Murphy. The defendant's attorneys tell us that he is a tramp and unworthy of belief. It matters not what he is or what he may have been, his evidence does not stand alone. It is corrob- orated and substantiated in every detail and in every circumstance with which it has to do. The revolver, the farther fact that Eckerlebe cannot produce that re- volver ; the fact that the revolver is bent, "broken all to h-1" as Eckerlebe said, and cannot be cocked corroborates Murphy in the most emphatic and positive man- ner. The finding of the revolver and cylinder corroborates Murphy. The club and the blood stains upon the shirt at the place he told Murphy he pressed the butt of the revolver corroborates Murphy. The autopsy revealing three bullet wounds corroborates Murphy. The finding of a bullet-a 32-at the base of the young girl's brain, corroborates Murphy. The blood upon the grass, the marks upon the body, and the skull itself, corroborates Murphy. He is corroborated by the poison upon the gate and the finding of the box from which it was taken. In the name of Heaven what more convincing evidence of the perfect truth of Murphy's state- ments do you want? He is corroborated by the testimony of John Guenther ; cor- roborated by the defendant's own witness that Eckerlebe was in Stile's saloon and Hipton's saloon on the 4th.
During the review of the testimony Mr. Wynkoop brought out many strong points against the defendant as shown by the evidence and argued them to the jury with a force and an earnestness that could but carry conviction. It was an able argument and a clear and fair statement of the facts. He closed with the final plea for the upholding of the biblical law which demands "an eye for an eye" and urged the conviction for the defendant for murder in the first degree.
Judge Wolfe instructed the jury as to the law governing their determination of a verdict and a form in which the same should be returned. These instructions were quite lengthy, covering every phase of the law to be considered at, arriving at a decision of the guilt or innocence of the prisoner. The jury retired and were out one hour and thirty minutes when they brought in the following verdict, "We, the jury, find Christian Eckerlebe guilty of murder in the first degree and we designate that he be punished by death. As soon as the verdict was announced the attorney Gibbs for defendant gave notice to the court that application would be made for a new trial. And proof being furnished to the court that one of he jurors had previous to the trial expressed an opinion, a new trial was granted and the long legal fight was fought over again in the Clinton courts resulting finally in a sentence of life imprisonment in the state penitentiary for the defendant. Jackson county paid to Clinton county for the first trial, one thousand five hun- dred and twenty-two dollars and eighty-five cents ; for second trial, one thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven dollars and sixty-two cents; paid Cal George, county attorney, fifty dollars. The expense in Jackson county for coroner and jury and two autopsies, sheriff's fees, expert doctors' fees, etc., will bring the cost up to between five and six thousand dollars.
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MURDER OF A. D. ROWLAND.
On the morning of the 9th day of April, 1897, as Alfred Kenney was driving along the road leading from the Maquoketa and Iron Hill road to the Morehead bridge, at a point in the road almost in front of a small house occupied by A. D. Rowland, he discovered a dead body of a man lying partly in the road with his head crushed and covered with blood. Mr. Kenney gave the alarm and when some of the neighbors had assembled, the body was recognized as that of A. D. Rowland, and Coroner Miller of Preston and Sheriff Mitchell of Maquoketa were notified by telephone. Sheriff Mitchell was soon on the scene but the cor- oner had to drive some twenty-five miles and the roads being very rough did not reach the scene of the tragedy until late in the afternoon. A large crowd of ex- cited neighbors surged around the premises all day. There were three terrible wounds on the head, one on the forehead near the temple, another on the left ear and one on the jaw. It was evident from the wounds that they were made with a blunt instrument and a search was made in every direction for the weapon, and the club was found by J. W. Ellis about ten rods from where the body lay. Fresh blood and hair on the club left no doubt in the minds of any who saw it that it was the weapon with which the unfortunate man had been done to death. Deb Rowland, as he was familiarly called, had lived alone in a two room cabin on part of his father's land about nine miles northwest from Maquoketa, was thirty-four years old and of inoffensive, peaceful character. He was not known to have had any trouble with anyone except a little trouble with a near neighbor in regard to trespassing stock. During the summer he had worked on a farm and in the winter had been chopping wood for a neighbor. On one side of his home, about twenty rods distant, in a southerly direction was the home of George Morehead and family; in the opposite direction, some forty rods distant, on the same road lived John Slaughter and family, at whose place both Morehead and Rowland had been getting their supply of water as neither had a well of their own. The theory most popular at the time, from appearance of the body when found, and the presence of a tin pan lying near the body, was that the deceased had started to Slaughter's place to get some eggs as was his custom. He had worked for Slaughter according to evidences deduced and was taking eggs in part pay and the pan found near the body was the same or similar to one he had used to carry the eggs in. While on the way he had been waylaid and beaten to death with a club prepared for the purpose. Rowland had been married and had two children who were living with relatives, but he himself was living alone. Nothing had been taken from his pockets and it was not supposed that he could have had but very little money and consequently there was no incentive for robbing him. The body was dressed in cheap, everyday work clothes, the cap lay about a foot from the head, the lining being soaked with blood. There was a woolen mitten on the right hand but the mitten had fallen or been pulled from the left hand, which showed two large bruise wounds evidently received while trying to parry blows aimed at the head. The coroner arrived about 5 p. m., and the sheriff summoned Hiram Stephenson, P. W. Tracy, and S. K. Pontsler, to act as a coroner's jury, and subpoenaed several witnesses. The body was carried into the little house which had been his home, and after Henry Harrison (under- taker) had removed the clothing and washed the blood from the body, a careful examination of the wounds was made by Drs. Miller and Ristine. It was found that four blows had been delivered on the left side of the head and face with a blunt instrument, one had broken the lower jaw, another had split the ear nearly severing the lower part, another had depressed the skull over the left eye and there was a long flesh wound near the top of the head. One blow had crushed in the arch of the cheekbone leaving a circular hole resembling a gunshot wound.
This was probed by Drs. Miller and Ristine and an incision made with a scalpel in the face, which showed the entire side of the face to have been bruised to a jelly. The theory of a gunshot was abandoned and the conclusion reached
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that the wounds were all made by a blunt instrument or club, the doctors fully agreeing that the wounds might have all been made by the bloody club which had been found. After the autopsy was finished, the coroner's jury adjourned to meet at the schoolhouse in subdistrict No. 9 later in the evening. In the mean- time hundreds of people had come to look at the remains and hear the particulars of the finding of the body of the murdered man. After procuring such supper as could be had in the vicinity, the crowd made their way to the schoolhouse, some on horseback, some in carriages, some in wagons and some on foot.
There was considerable delay caused by the nonarrival of County Attorney R. W. Henry, who did not show up until near 10 o'clock. Eight or nine wit- nesses were examined by Mr. Henry and the following facts elicited: first, that deceased had lived alone in the little cottage near where his body was found; that he had worked on Thursday with Francis Wright, cutting wood for P. W. Tracy ; that he had come home after his day's work about dusk; that he had been getting water for house use at John Slaughter's well, some thirty rods north from his place; that he had also been getting eggs from Mrs. Slaughter in payment for work he had done for Slaughter, and the tin pan found near the body was the same or similar to the one which the deceased had been accustomed to getting eggs in. These facts and the position and location of the body established a theory that the deceased had started to Mr. Slaughter's house for eggs when he met his death. It was also in evidence that the deceased and one George Morehead, a neighbor living about twenty rods southwest on the same road had been bad friends for a long time, and had had trouble quite recently. That Morehead also got water and watered his horses at Slaughter's well; that in going to Slaughter's well he would go past the house occupied by the deceased. That on the evening that the murdered man was last seen alive Morehead took his horses to the well about 7:30 or 8 o'clock, which would be about the time deceased had gone for the eggs, as he probably reached home about 7 o'clock, as he traveled about two miles from where he had done his day's work. Slaughter testified to hearing horses going by in the direction of where the body lay about 8 o'clock and sounded like they ran into the brush pile near where the body lay.
Morehead's clothing was carefully examined by the sheriff and coroner and a great many tiny spots which looked like blood were found on the sleeve of his coat, which was confiscated, as well as a portion of his pants which the coroner cut out, containing something which looked like fresh blood. The theory of the writer from all the circumstances and evidence is that Rowland met some person or persons horseback, or with horses got into an altercation during which the horses got away and ran back up the road. After the killing, the person or per- sons followed the horses throwing or placing the club where it was found. The horses were turned back but when they came to the blood covered body they turned out of the road, one of them dashing into the brush pile, making the noise heard by John Slaughter.
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