Show THE TH E SPENCER TRIAL the case of howard 0 spencer and deorle george charged with the mur murder er of sergeant ralph pike in this citrin august 1869 was called for trial in the third district court may 6 before judge judd there was a large larte attendance of spectators mr spencer pencer came in just before the hour of opening court he is represented by arthur brown sheeks rawlins and le grand young george was represented by C 6 0 whittemore the prosecution was conducted by peters and hiles mr young stated to the court that they desired a separate trial for mr spencer an order to this effect was made in reply to a question by the court mr peters said he thought the spencer trial would take three or four days the case was set for friday next mr whittemore wanted a further postponement but the court declined to grant it the list of jurors summoned on open venire was called all answered except samuel H Auerbach against whom the court entered a fine of 25 for failure to appear the following witnesses were then called james gordon stephen taylor G albright Albrigh fc arthur pratt henry heath joseph caine alma williams george rand band lewis W smith mrs townsend wm appleby william L pickard P F faust fau st henry dinwoodey leonard phillips nephi daniels and henry Cush gushing lug most of them answered to their names mr peters stated that those who had not appeared as yet would do so later in the day the jurors were called singly and examined heretofore in the third district court considerable latitude has been allowed in the asking of questions to ascertain the jurors state of mind this day however judge judd brought the inquiry within narrow limits and when the attorneys asked questions that the court considered were not directly to the point he would ask the questions himself the first juror called was waa john D cornwell who was passed and took his seat in the box george A lowe said he had talked with lewis W smith one of the witnesses court have you an opinion in the case mr lowe yes sir one that it aou would id take strong evidence to remove court you may stand aside john B hartford was called and said he had read of the case had bad also talked with a juror A H kelly had formed no definite opinion ke he was accepted J J oreilly had heard john dennis Denni and sand two policemen discussing the case about 18 mouths months since upon upuia what he heard he formed an opinion me was excused prank frank shelly was excused for having an opinion james T little had an opinion on the case for 25 years court long enough to be fixed he was excused james J parrell farrell did not answer to his name and was fined 25 L goldberg said he was opposed to capital punishment and was waa challenged by the prosecution court if the law and the evidence warranted a conviction of murder in the first degree would you find a verdict of guilty mr goldberg kesslr Yes sir lr court take your seat in the box P F D clift and henry siegel had a fixed opinion in the case and were excused james M kennelly had no opinion in the case he was opposed to capital punishment but would find a verdict passed simon P F mackie john knapp and julius malsh were excused for or having fixed opinions as to the guilt or innocence in the case george robinson had never heard of the case and was passed samuel H auerbach came into court and stated that he had bad just received the notice which had been left with his brother the fine of 25 was remitted isaiah anderton had never heard of ef the case on trial and was accepted wm win sloan was excused from service because of sickness in his family george daniels and C S wilkes had ex expressed an opinion and were elc excused prank frank van horn knew nothing g of the case and was passed T C Book ledge was excused for having formed an opinion john cunnington was excused from service ow owing ing to ill III health john B milan had an opinion and was excused B M froyseth Pr Fr said he had no DO opinion in the case mr brown said he propos proposed ed to show that mr froiseth Pr h had expressed an opinion had written on the subject and had had trouble with one of the defendants the court peremptorily forbade mr brown from proceeding frossel ao an farther and directed mr froiseth Froise tb to take his seat in the box james li berry and E B sheperd herd had not formed an opinion and were accepted tho thomas mccoy kasnot was not a citizen was excused george T bourne had formed an opinion in the case and was excused A F P barnes had not formed an opinion and was accepted 0 B durst was callea called in examining him for statutory qualifications eions mr peters failed to ask him if he could take the oath court mr peters can he take the edmunds tucker ktucker oath mr peters I 1 think he can he as just been ma married ried mr mr durst cant you excuse me on that ground court well hardly mr durst had formed a fixed opinion and was excused for that season reason P 0 horn said he was opposed to capital ft ital punishment bourt court suppose the law and the evidence warranted a conviction mr horn I 1 would not convict court you are excused M L cummings had no opinion in n the case and was accepted the prosecution peremptorily challenged M L cummings the defense challenged B R A M froiseth Pr Tol seth for actual bias f court I 1 did not know a juror had been een passed when it was shown he ha had actual bias mr brown we have not shown but I 1 we can mr frilseth Fr said he had had some trouble with mr am betit but it was settled and he haff had no fee feeling ng now the challenge challene was denied mr froyseth Pr Fr was peremptorily challenged by the defense mr barnes went out in the same way by the prosecution rose cution mr gold by the jelense Jef defense ense mr kennelly by y thi pro prosecution ution mr shepherd by bi the defense deafen s e mr hartford by the prosecution and mr robinson mr AU anderson adderson derson and mr berry by the delease defense this left two jurors frank van attorn and J B cornwell who were sworn orn in continuing the paneling em of uhe the jury sam levy was called lie he was excused for having an un hufled opinion at this point court took recess till a afternoon in the afternoon the defendant did oot lot appear promptly and the court the attorneys to go on with the em paneling of th the jury eJury mr hiles objected on the ground that oat such a proceeding roce eding would be the athe statute he said required that the defendant in a trial tor 0 felony be present at every stage of the cue case th at A t this aa point pa the bailiff suggested 08 ae covar reporter was also also ab ft fellk ht and that the examination ra could not be taken up ie me reporter came in shortly after b ut it was 2 before mr spen el VP appeared eared he having understood wt to be the hour instead of 1 clock tames james J parrell farrell was called for ai nation as a juror he said he d formed no opinion as to the or innocence of the defendant he was opposed to capital punishment but would convict if the testimony warranted it he was accepted henry had an opinion that could not be removed tie he was excused 0 A H kelly had no opinion in the case and was passed jamb jacob E bamberger had an apiu opinion excused M C phillips went out for the same reason P F M bishop and J J L had formed no opinion and were accepted K R alff had an opinion excused saml hauerbach was calle dand was examined by the judge himself he was excused for having an opinion robert binnie was relieved from service for the same reason K R J walker was not a citizen T A wickersham was excused for having a fixed opinion as were also john and M H lipman owen ho hogle le had no opinion and was accept accepted el J E foote said his wife was a niece of the defendant he was excused E B welch had not resided in the territory long enough to be qualified to act as a juror eli B kelsey had formed no opinion in the case passed william J lynch said he had not any fixed opinion yet it would require evidence to remove it he was passed T TW W jennings said he had no opinion today had an opinion a week ago but it was owing to a misunderstanding as to the case he was accepted E H parsons had an opinion excused eugene holt was accepted not having formed an opinion john mcdonald failed to answer to his bis name and a fine of 25 was entered against him the open venire that had been issued was exhausted and another was ordered for forty names returnable at 10 am next day to which hour the court adjourned F in the third district court on may 7 the open venire for forty names in the spencer case was returned the first person selected from the list was ralph goldberg who was excused because he was not a taxpayer T J mackintosh had conscientious opinions against capital punishment but would convict if the e testimony warranted it he had an opinion that it would require evidence to remove excused martin harkness said he could not take the edmunds tucker oath and was excused he is not a mormon P A harmon a gentleman about 6 feet 8 inches in height was excused because he had not resided in the district the bequir required length of time to qualify him as a juror lohn john had no opinion in the case accepted judge judd stated that amro H kelly who hid had been passed for cause had stated that he lid did not be lieve he would be an impartial juror as he had an ol opinion Linion in the merits of the case tie he was excused S C pancake said mid he had no opinion he had frequently been on the j ury he was passed peremptory challenges were next in order the prosecution excused T W jennings the defense suggested that the prosecution should either exercise or waive another challenge court proceed gentlemen mr ballins b began to refer to the statute on t the su subject court proceed gentlemen mr sheeks give estime us time to consider boat you the defense athen peremptorily excused 8 C pancake eugene eucene holt F M bishop and J J farrell this gave seven jurors P F van horne home J J B cornwell wm win J lynch owen hogle ell eli B kelsey keisey J L and john mcvicker john F hardie and C H henderson were callei and were excused for having formed an opinion in the case cam L bamberger was called mr brown objected as hemann bamberger was the name or the venire deputy franks was called and explained that he served herman and then changed it to louis mr bamberger was excused frank shelton 0 H jennings H C reich belch and john wickel had no opinion in the case and were accepted c t erd W S sharp was not a citizen george D decker had an opinion but it was not so strong as to affect his misjudgment judgment in the case accepted the fhe prosecution peremptorily challenged wickel and decker the defense challenged mr jennings T the he two new jurors shelton and rich were sworn making nine secured thus far B bruce I 1 7 uce dallin had lived in the city but t two wo months excused wm A A brim H U S margetts and hugh anderson had an opinion in the case and were excused J D pancake waa not a taxpayer charles brinck said he h had no opinion in the case and was accepted e VI T C patten john M young were passed on the he same ground D L bowman had bad not lived in the territory long enough to quality qualify him to act as a juror mr brinck was excused by the defense and mr patten by the prosecution se mr young youn was called to subscribe to the IL edmunds tucker oath he remarked that he had done so about ten times court well I 1 think that is enough mr young was sworn in the case george blair was excused for having in an u unqualified fied opinion p W an G G hall had not formed an opinion and were passed mr madsen was excused by the prosecution ution and mr hall by the defense or wm win chisholm had an opinion and was excused T 8 murray was and AR A R carter had no opinion mr carter was challenged by the defense mr murray was sworn C M donelson had an unqualified opinion excused john W clark had not been in the territory long enough to act as a juror herman hill would not convict in a case where the punishment was death and was excused samuel mcintyre did not reside in the district excused robert newsom had no opinion in the case and was passed he was peremptorily excused by the prosecution C P mason had an opinion excused joseph simons said he was prejudiced excused albion W caine had bad no fixed opinion accepted and sworn the jury as stands as follows frank van horne home J B cornwell Oom well E B kelsey owen hogle john mcvicker Mo Vicker J L wm J lynch frank shelton H C retell belch J M young T P murray A W caine in reply to the court the attorneys said the case would take all ajl the week all jurors except those in the case were excused till next monday court took a recess till pm after a strict admonition to the jury to be extremely cautious to hold no communication with any one outside of their own number in the afternoon after the reading of the indictment assistant district attorney hiles stated to the jury ury u what the government expected L to prove he said the jury should a approach p the trial with caution it la is 8 the duty of the prosecution to prove that sergeant pike was mortally wounded by the defendant spencer within the jurisdiction of the court they must also prove the killing to have been deliberate laud and premeditated the government undertakes to show such a case in this case we expect to prove that howard 0 spencer killed sergeant pa pike we think the evidence will leave no doubt in your minds we think it murder in the first degree in 1859 sergeant ralph balph pike of the tenth united states infantry was wae under arrest for an offense committed in rush bush valley he ead gad been brought in from camp floyd and was to to be turned over to the civil authorities for trial for assault on spencer there was being held at the time a preliminary examination the defendant planned laened to kill pike from motives 0 of revenge and with others executed the plan About noon on the alth of august 1859 pike was proceeding to the salt lake house in this city when the defendant ca came m u up IP and called to him he t turned u rn ed partly around when spencer fir fired 1 the ball entering dikea side aide file the bullet struck ck the handle of a knife which pike carried and which caused the ball to glance upward pike was taken into the hotel the next day we expect to show that spencer was the one who fired the fa fatal I 1 shot at the pursuit he escaped and fo for r many years his presence was unknown to the authorities it was only last summer that his bis arrest was effected we shall introduce the dying statement of pike and also evidence of eye witnesses to show that spencer is the man who did the shooting having shown that the killing was deliberate and out of motives rf revenge we shall claim a verdict of guilty of murder in the first degree as charged in the indictment LEWIS W SMITH was the first witness called he te testified stIfled I 1 live at kamas summit county have been in the territory since 1858 was in rush valley and camp floyd in 1859 went to rush bush valley in march 1859 was there one month I 1 was then in the tenth infantry united states army was acquainted with sergeant pike he was in co I 1 I 1 was in co athe the last time I 1 saw him in rush ush valley was in march 1859 he was first serge sergeant antof of his company he left camp floyd for salt lake in august 1859 there were about a dozen soldiers with either the captain or lieutenant of co L I 1 pike was under guard when he left his guards were also witnesses in the case the next time I 1 saw him was when he was brought back ded dead I 1 attended his funeral he was 90 0 or 35 and was in good health health when he be left for salt lake to mr sheeks I 1 joined charmy in philadelphia joined the tenth infantry at camp floyd the court ruled that the defense could not inquire how the witness came to utah witness continuing pike came to utah in 1857 1 I was 22 in 1859 1 I saw him nearly every day for about 10 months could not tell |