Show trial of navajo indians continues throughout another week editors note in relating this story we have made attempt to give an account of the important points discussed from day to day realizing that this trial is of more than usual importance and interest that many of our readers were unable to attend the sessions and an that others do not have access to papers which gave accounts of the trial we have gone into more detail for their benefit 1 I I 1 X we trial for the two navajo indians john chief and jack crank charged with the murder of a white man some 12 years ago as told in this paper last week brought to monticello the largest gathering of people since the rodeo of last july A stranger passing through the city would judge our town to be an indian settlement rather than the county codney seat unless he was aware of the reason f for or so many navajos cavajos basking in the sunshine on the court house grounds or along main street but let us look into iniz the court room to find out what is transpiring As related in previous issue john chief and his son in law were accused of the murder of a white man whose identity is is unknown after two days of examining 65 san juan residents subpoenaed to serve as jurors a panel of 12 jurors and one alternate was drawn and on wednesday morning the trial began witnesses for the prosecution and defense were sworn in and given instructions by the presiding judge F W keller to remain within call during the day brigham E roberts district attorney from salt lake city and assisting district attorney donald T adams outlined the case and told the jury the state would present evidence that two blows were struck on the head of the unknown prospector which caused his death attorney roberts related the events leading up to the murder and the capture of the two indians who later admitted the attack and led the party of investigators to the grave in a deep gully some miles from their camp charles platero interpreter for taz vea was sworn in and 9 F 10 IT instruction inspru action by the judge the first witness K B jackson navajo was questioned concerning his work on a coal mine road under tinder construction at the time and his knowledge of the white man and the three horses but little was gained from his testimony the second witness ahoi johnson navajo was similarly questioned and cross examined by the counsel for the defense and was able to add but little to the previous testimony both men declaring they were too far away to describe the victim the third witness john H taylor white indian trader during the years when the alleged murder occurred was asked to define tho of his trading post kymen ij Ky med on pages 6 7 and 9 TRIAL OF cavajos navajos continued from page 1 and to give testimony concerning his acquaintance with the prospector who apparently never gave his name preferring to be called shorty mr taylor testified that this man called at his place on several occasions for food promising to pay when he had the money apparently all he had was his pack outfit and three horses BS as also indicated by other testimony mr taylor described the man as of small stature about 50 years of age he also described the land crossings etc in thel the vicinity of the crime the fourth witness bert davis 1 white man from new mexico living near the taylor trading post testified he saw the white man and his three horses on several occasions and that he had called at his home f for or food his description of the man was similar the fifth witness of the morning session proved to be more talkative and through the interpreter gave more detail concerning the case he was john bish kishi navajo navaja also known as dave halliday he testified that shorty came to his farm asked for food and left his horses grazing in his cornfield and in the fields below he also tried to relate conversation between the victim and jack crank to which objection was made by counsel for the defense I 1 the sixth witness first of afternoon 1 session on wednesday wasl was dr john H carlquist Carl quest pathologist of salt lake city who was asked to testify that the blows struck on the head were examined by him the skull of the supposed victim was introduced as state exhibit A and dr carlquist Carl quest was asked to identify it as the one brought to him in salt lake city for examination which he did he also explained how the death blows might have been struck and based his opinion on the damage done dane at the point of impact when asked what might have caused the blow dr carlquist Carl quest said it would be with some blunt object larger than a hammer probably a club or an axe but he was definite in saying that such a blow would cause instant death exhibit 13 the bones of the skeleton were then introduced but were not permitted to be shown at that time W atness seven was W M hawkins special agent for the FBI who was sent to southern utah to investigate the alleged slaying he testified that he took a group of investigators to the ilie scene on september 28 1941 with john chief directing the way they left hayenga kayenta and travelled through thick sagebrush land some 12 miles north of moonlight wash to the spot where the supposed victim had been buried found the grave and the skeleton at the designated spot the next day mr hawkins returned with dr joseph A newton director of a sanitarium in kayetta kayenta Ka yenta and the members of his investigation party photos were taken of the remains which were then presented for examination mr hawkins was asked to examine the skull and to identify it as the one taken f from born the grave by dr newton who later testified that he be also removed all of the bones after examination they were then taken to the kayenta kayetta hospital for further examination and xray X ray mr hawkins was also questioned concerning the location and other detail about the remains found in the grave witness eight was dr joseph A newton who testified that he was called upon to examine the skull and othe bones as indicated he too to the jury how the blows might have been inflicted cou i ther her adjourned tc meet at ten thursday morning on thursday morning dr newton was cross examined and further questioned concerning the i location and rock formation in inthe the v anity of the grave i mr hawkins was then recalled as witness and questioned about the trinkets and a few personal aings found buried near a tree in the vicinity the collection included shaving articles buttons nalls nails buckles etc which were found by digging in the sand where a fire had been started I 1 in n an effort to burn whatever evidence remained questioning revealed that tha t these things were later sent to the salt lake office exhibit I 1 was offered a pair shoes taken from the feet of skeleton and was identified by mr hawkins according to they and the small articles arti cles later sent to washington in an attempt to identify the victim exhibit J proved to be the bone bona of the skeleton and mr hawkins was asked questions regarding it and an d about the missing tooth mentioned in the testimony of the previous day he was also cross examined in regard to the condition of he skull witness number ten fred smith was called to the stand his answers to questions concerning the white man indicated he talked with him and his description Ln tallied with 0 oher her testimony he also stated that he went to black mt ater with sammy chief a half brother of john chief to get some of their horses and also brought back two of the white mans horses which were found on ithe he top f black mountain at this point it was discovered that testimony contrary to that given to the states counsel the previous evening was in evidence plea was made for opportunity to request re question quest on without the presence of the jury the court dismissed the jury and the witness basques was questioned and faced with ahe testimony previously previus ly presented he was asked to explain his reason for contrary statement on the witness stand to which he replied replie i that having taken oath to tell eil the truth he could not do otherwise at that time thereby contradicting the previous tale ale witness number eleven squire mangin was called and testified that he was in charge of road work in the vicinity of the place where the white man was last seen aeeti and that he ha too ha had 1 talked with him and given him food he was asked to verify locations n a map court then adjourned for the noon recess mr mangin was further questioned regarding appearance of the white man his name habits of living etc the main point brought out was that this unknown character was destitute and of a very retiring nature witness 12 was charles ashcroft ashcraft deputy special officer in inthe the indian reservation testimony brought out certain facts concerning the arrest of john chief and jack crank on a charge of interference with federal officers mr ashcroft testified that although he did not make the arrest he was brought into the case at the pres bett jail when later investigation t I 1 required of him tj interpret 0 o the navajos cavajos the questions being put to them in regard to the finding of the skeleton which caused suspicion to be directed to them as the killers at this point counsel for he defense asked for opportunity to show chow cause for the dismissal of I 1 the case because of improper foundation and insufficient evidence 1 thus far the court again excused the jury to grant a preliminary i hearing of confessions before making a final decicio dec isio attorney pat erson preset ett att gnp opposition tj the bestir y of the witnesses heard up to this time declaring that no substantial evidence as to how when or where the human being john doe had been killed or anything about the transaction which led to his death he emphasized emphasised ed the uncertainty expressed about his appearance identity etc and introduced bits of conversation by previous witnesses which failed to prove anything that could fix the blame or on the prisoners he further stated that there was nothing in the testimony given to prove that the man n who owned the horses was the man who was killed it was also brought out that there must be some independent evidence that the man in question I 1 met death through felonious killing or criminal act since there was chance he might have met with an accident which caused caus edthe the skull fractures district attorneys adams an roberts answered the challenge with counter statements which up i held the testimony presented and called attention to the lack of preparation for burial which indicated that the man evidently met with foul play and an d was hurriedly concealed after the death blows were struck I 1 the pleas of the counsel were w ere taken under advisement by the judge who then recalled the jury i and excused them for the day in order lorder that further testimony of the witness charles ashcroft might be heard before final decision was given the court then requested counsel sel to determine if the prisoner I 1 jack crank was threatened by the deputy si special ocial agent ques lions ions pertaining to a threat or promises or in regard to violence on the part of FBI agents were j denied testimony further revealed that jack crank had discussed the kill I 1 1 ing with john court I 1 morning was adjourned to meet on friday I court decision on the question lof of appeal offered by defense counsel sel and consideration of by states counsel was declared in favor of hearing the confessions submitted by witness charles ashcroft to the court I 1 alone in order to determine if they might later be admitted 0 o the jury iury the jury was then excused until shortly before the close of the morning session during which time the testimony of deputy special officer charles ashcroft was heard which will be gi given ven later I 1 suffice to say at this point that mr ashcroft related the conversation he had with jak jak crank in the latter part of september 1941 and with avith john chief on october 1 he also described the trip to the scene of the alleged killing and the finding of the body and belongings of the he victim which were burned to cover tip idly all evidence of the crime at 1130 the jury was recalled and land the case resumed where it was checked the previous afternoon further testimony brought out the date of arrest of jack crank for interference with federal agents on july 30 1941 which later resolved into an accusation for the murder of the white man although up to this point no information which would indicate why suspicion was directed to these defendants had been given court adjourned to meet at P m the afternoon session with the jury present resolved into a repetition of the testimony of mr ashcroft who repeated the story told in the morning blikh may be given here in brief attorney patterson first questioned the witness about the arrest A jack crank for interference wih federal officers at W a time when they were there to enforce certain grazing laws which ap patently parent ly resulted in argument it was brought out that jacl crank was rudely awakened r a in on july 27 handcuff and placed in a pickup his clothes and taken to the jai although the witness denied som of these charges it was burthe disclosed that jack crank wn wa held prisoner for 54 days any attempt to iry ry him and dur ing this time knowledge of cf the earlier offense came to light these disclosures led to the alleged confession of jack crank and later by john chief also the discovery of the body and ar an attempt 0 to o destroy the personae per persona sonai things found in the white mans camp when he was killed ane placed in the grave the story 0 the killing may now be told as I 1 51 was given by mr ashcroft tc the jury it appears that he questioned jack crank on the of sep and learned that he hac bar held conversation with john bish kishi about killing the white man but was told it was wrong to do he then went to john chief his father in law and asked him 10 to go with him to the white mans camp to kill him alt although hugh john chief made no comment he repeated his desire to kill three times and it was then that he and john chief went to the white mans camp and after trailing him for some di distance sance found him jack crank admitted that he struck th the white man with an axe altho the he stories of the two nav ajos abos differ somewhat according I 1 to jack crank he talked with the man while john chief stole up behind him and struck him on the head inflicting a seve severe wound rewound which felled the white man and that he jack crank picked up the axe and struck a second blow after the white while man fell nevertheless both confessions were to the effect that the white man was killed and quickly buried and that all of his bedding and other personal things were burned I 1 counsel for the defense made another plea in behalf of the defendants fend ants urging recognition of the fact that jack crank was held prisoner and apparently ill treated on several occasions which influenced him to try to gain his freedom by telling the story related when prevailed upon by the wv wit ness mr ashcroft testimony farther disclosed that on the of september the party of investigators including W M hawkins previous witness and other FBI agents took john chief to the scene of the crime and found the skeleton and remains of the personal belongings after digging around the spot V f which has been told aboa 1 I the remainder of the afternoon session was given to identification by mr ashcroft of exhibits mentioned previously court then adjourned to meet on saturday morning when a demand was made by attorney patterson for information relating to a previous conversation between mr ashcroft and the defendants relative to the killing mr ashcroft admitted having talked previously but stated that no record had been kept until the statements taken down down by mr hawkins which confession has been given it |