OCR Text |
Show I Wife and Son Declared Not Guilty of Murder of Harp by Jury. BITTER SPEECH MADE BY DAM DEFENDER Declares the Lulnber Trust Determined De-termined to Put Him Out of the Way. f By Associated Press. I HAl'WABD, Wis... May 13. John $ Y. Diets will spend the rest of liis nat- S ural life ;it hard labor at tlic state K pcuitcntiary at "Waupuu, by the vcr- diet, of the .jury today, for the murder, I of Deputy Oscar Jlarp in the battle 1 of Cameron Dam on October S lust. 3 The jury brought hi (he following " verdict: a ' ''John F. Diet::, guilty of murder in jj the first .degree., 8 "JJattie E. Dicta, his wife, not 1 guilty of murder in the first degree. ! "Leslie Dietz. his son. not guilty of 1 murder in the lirst degree.' I The smile with which the ;'o!d man-" 3 has always faced conditions did not J desert him as the .iiuTco read the vcr jj diet. He made no demonstration. S ,A frown came over the face of 1 3trs. Dietz. however, and she glared at 8 the jury. Leslie smiled faintly and S the color came anil went from his 8 face. a The, anrounccmcnt that the .ltiry a had arrive! at n verdict was made a S-45 o'clock. Judge Kcid wns imiuo- I diarelv notified and Sheriff Fred Clark a received a telephone message from the fl rlcrk of the court to bring John Dietr. into the courtroom. Scene in. Courtroom. -Mrs. Diet, had been with her husband hus-band throughout the night and Leslie had called . this morning. The three defendants, came to the courthouse, walking side bv side, accompanied by three special deputies. On account of the unexpectedly early verdict the courtroom was occupied only b' those who, have followed every move in the trial from the beginning. ' TliPre was a moment's silence following follow-ing the reading of the verdict. The 3 court then asked John Dietr. to stand fi up. ".Mr. Dietz." said the judge. jj "ha. e vou anything to say before sen- 8 lenre is missed 7" Dietz calmlv faced the judge. 9 ," Do you suppose." hp asked, look-I look-I ing .straight at Judge Keid. 'T haven't I I nowii rhat sooner or later the lumber trust, because it is big and 1 am little. would kill me or put me out of the way? 1 have fought my fight and defended de-fended my home and family. I have done nothing wr.ong and this conviction convic-tion does not alter the fact. The trust 1ms one creed, ouc law. one purpose. That. is 'rule or ruin.' They could not rule John. Diei.. so they tried, for six venrs to ruin him. Tnis morning it i looks as if. they got what they were after. Says- State- Is to Elanic. j "I have done nothing wrong, and the state has. And yet it is the state that sends me to jail. 3t is the state that has come in here, in a court of law. and told the jury J was a bad mau.'Wheu I was not allowed and have never been allowed to tell what started this trouble. "It is the slate that waylaid my children and took one uwuy to jail and J put a bullet through the other a young girl." : I "I cauuot sec. Mr. Dietz, that has a thing to do with the killing of Oscar j Harp' said Judge Itcid. . The judge then sentenced' Dietz to prison for life John Dietz made the usual motion for a new trial, although the' motion prob- ably has -never been followed by an L argument like- tho one heard this moru- ing in the little county courthouse. I V. W, .Tunics "o'f Euclair, special at- f torney for the state, suggested to the I convicted mau that he get au attorney, draw up the motion in proper legal form and ask .the court for a. ten days'" I stnv in Avliich to file the exception. Dietz ignored" the suggestion ( aud H plunged headlong, Into .his .denunciation M of the "lumber trust." Tho court also H advised Dietz to-gct'un attorney. Judge nj Jteid overruled, the ,iiptipy. fr, a new U trial, but gave 'Dicta ten. days hi which I to file an exception. . i I Hov Trouble Began. H The trduble between John F. Dietz II and the lumber companies operating in H Sawyer count, Wis., began in Pebru-U Pebru-U ary," 1004, through DietzVs refusal to H allow' tho company to flow logs over II the Cameron dam, located, 'on u quarter section bought, by Ms. Dietz, without I puving him the toll lip demanded. H In the ten principal; attempts to cap- II ture him on various charges and legal D processes. Oscar Har.pf a. deputy sheriff, was killed October S, last, several men H woro wounded. Mira Dietz was shot H through "tho body, Ckirenco Dietz wns H wounded in the forehead and John Dietz M was shot through the hand. Tho shoot-H shoot-H ing of Bert Horcl at. Winter, Wis., by B Dietz September 6, last, is niore or less n closely traceable to the original trouble. Tho tenth armed effort- to take Dietz H was successful and he became a prisoner H October S. last. He was charged with D various offenses, ranging from destruc-11 destruc-11 tion of property and assault and bat-H bat-H tery to murder hi the first degree. II Mrs. Dietz and Leslie were defen- II dants in the murder case. They. Mira U and Clarcnco and John Dietz, are de- n fendants in ether actious ponding u against tho family. |