Show I THE MUSSER MUSS I A Rather Dreary Day in the District Court I I A Jury Impaneled amid Testimony Commenced The Dont Know and Dont Remember Re-member Class of Testimony In the Musser case yesterday afternoon Mr Brown objected to the special venire because the return of Marshal Ireland did not show that a diligent search had been made for the jurors not served The objection ob-jection was overruled I i Such of the special jurors as had been served were then examined and all but two of them AV A Pitt and W Ray bould were excused These two were i sworn making ten jurors in all and a I second special venire was ordered The following names were drawn from the box 1nIY M Clark 1 19J W Thompson 181 T Mnrit GlSam Levy 59Thomas Davis 181Y Skewes 151 G Davis 35J 0 Packard The venire was made returnable at 10 oclock this morning until which hour court was adjourned THE CASE RESUMED Hostilities were commenced this morning morn-ing by the calling of J Q Packard and Thomas Divis Mr Packard was a resident of Juab and therefore not within the district He was excused Mr Davis had read of the case in the Tribune but did not remember having read anything about the defendants personal per-sonal character lie was sworn and Sam Levy was called I Mr Levy possessed the statutory qualifications quali-fications and was passed to the defense Mr Brown questioned him as to his belief be-lief in polygamy and unlawful cohabitation cohabita-tion and he was accepted and sworn This completed the jury which consists con-sists of the following persons T G M Smith W A Pitt M S Simmons AV D Palmer E H Clute AV F Raybould Peter Clays J M Richardson E S Kessler Sam Levy C J Smith Thomas Davis The indictment was read to the jury and Judge Sutherland on behalf of the defense objected to any evidence being taken because it did not appear from the indictment that the DEFENDANT WAS A MALE 1ERSOX He was designated in the indictment aj A Milton Musser The principal ground for the ruling of the court on this point in the Cannon case was that the name was a masculine one In this case the first Christian name was simply indicated indi-cated by an initial The second Christian name was historically known as a family name and therefore did not indicate the sexThe The court held that the sex of the defendant de-fendant was indicated with sufficient clearness and the objection was overruled over-ruled I Judge Sutherland then raised another objection based on the ground that it was I not alleged in the indictment that the women with whom the alleged cohabitation cohabita-tion took place were the defendants wives while the court held in the Cannon Can-non case that this law was directed against polygamists and was designed to prevent them from living with their polygamous poly-gamous wives j Mr Dickson replied that the term co habitation embraced the idea that the i defendant was living with the women as I his wives i I The court in order to make itself clear restated its ruling on this f point in the Cannon case AVhen a man lives with two or more women as his wives whether they are so in fact or not he is guilty of unlawful cphaitation Of course a man could not live with two or more women as his wives in a legal sense but he could live with one legal wife and cohabit with other women and hold them out to the world as his wives The court held that the indictment was sufficient The offense was charged clearly and the time was specified The objection was overruled The prosecution then called ANNIE 31 SHEETS I Who testified as follows Live in Salt Lake My maiden name was Musser The defendant is my father my mother is not living I know Mrs Belinda Pratt Musser and Mrs Mary Musser I also know Mrs Segmiller McCullough Mus ser I have known Mrs B P Musser twelve or thirteen years I lived in same house with her I dont remember how long about six months at one time I guess QVhat relation if any does Mrs I Belinda Pratt Musser hold to your father I Objected to by Judge Sutherland Question withdrawn QIs your father married AI believe he is Objected to and objection sustained I do not remembor < that I ever heard my father speak of either of the three women as his wife QDo you know that Mrs Belinda I Musser has any children I i Objected to by Judge Sutherland A I single interview or a succession of interviews I inter-views between man and l woman would not constitute cohabitation Mr Dickson stated that the prosecu tion did not expect to prove all the al legations by one question or by one witness wit-ness If they proved that these women bore children which were recognized by the defendant as his own and that the women were living with him as his wives these would be circumstances tending to show cohabitation The court held that the offense might be proved by various facts and it might be necessary to prove it by numerous facts The question was a proper one The witness continued Yes I know she has children she lived in the First Yard at my fathers housw a year ago She does not live there now Dont know when she ceased to live there Think it was within the last four months Slip mnv two IN I with him a year and a half i > before AifcW II that nit j I time Mary Musser lived in the same j I I house during that time and is living j there now I know Parley and Minnie I I Mxisser they live with their motherMrs Belinda P Musser I suppose my father I lived in the same house I have taken i i my meals there and passed I the night there occasionally no other man but my father lived there no other children of Mrs Belinda fuss fus-s r lived with her except Parly and Min mime there may be a small chird there I j believe there is a small child there about two years old its first name is Arthur I do not know to a certainty that it bears any other name do not recollect the oc casion of its birth I first saw the child there about a year ao it could walk at that time and could I say a few words I was never there when my father and the child were both present 1 know Blanch Gertrude Samuel Dora and Joseph I suppose their last name is Musser they lived in the First Ward in the same house < with Belinda and Mary Musser r1 I I Mr Ararian Please describe the arrangement ar-rangement of that house to the jury WitnessThere were eight rooms on I the ground floor and four upstairs The I rooms on the ground floor had communication I communi-cation with each other Mrs Belinda Mubser occupied the west part of the I house she had five rooms a kitchen bedroom and parlor down stairs and two I bedrooms upstairs Site occupied the I bedroom l downstairs Mrs May Musser had l six rooms in the east part of the house and she also occupied a bedroom downstairs My fathers sleeping apartment apart-ment was between these two suites of rooms and communicated with both Blanche Musser is between two and three years of age I first saw the child I about two years ago but do not recollect the occasion of its birth I have seen my father at Mrs Mary Mussers table but not at Mrs Belindas I have never heard I him speak of Mrs Mary Musser as his wite but have heard him address her as Mary I have heard him speak to Mrs Belinda Musser as Belinda he has spoken to me of Mrs Mary Musser as my aunt Mary or my stepmother but not as his wife QHas he ever spoken to you of Mrs Belinda Musser as his wife ANot that I remember QHas he ever referred to her in your presence ANot that I remember I havenever heard Belindas children speak to de fendant as their father The name of her I children are known in the family as Musser except the child Arthur I dont I know by what name he is known I dont knowwhere the child is now I last saw it four or five weeks ago I last saw Mary Musser some four or five weeks ago I do not know where she went Annie Segmiller McCullough Musser lives in the house next to that occupied by Mrs Mary and Mrs Belinda Musser QDoes that house belong to your father AI dont know I QHave you ever seen your father there t AKot that I remember QHave you ever seen your father go there AoL that I remember QHae you ever seen him leave the house ANot that I remember There are children at the house they are named Eva Fred and Maroni QHave you ever seen any infant there AXot that I remember I suppose that Mrs Annie Musser was the mother of the children I have heard them call I her mother The defense objected to this testimony but the objection was overruled QIIavc you over heard your father speak to these children as their father ANot that I remember j QH1e you ever heard him speak to them at all AKot that I remember QIIwe you ever heard them address ad-dress him AI have QHow did they address him AAs their father The witness was then turned over to I the defense for crossexamination and described the arrangement of the house occupied by Mrs Mary Musser and Mrs Belinda Musser On redirect examination the witness stated she did not know whether Mrs BelindajMusser and Mrs Mary Musser were her fathers wives They were recognized as such MRS LIZZIE LEE A daughter of Mrs Annie Sc miller Mc Cullough Musser was the first witnes called this afternoon fjhe testified that her mother was recognized as the wife of the defendant She did not know who supported her mother and the children or whose house she lived in She did not know how old the child Maroni was j his family name was Musser QDo you know how old the boy Wil lieis i AX i QDo you know what his family name isA AI have an idea QDo you mean to say you dont know the name of your own hallbrother I Didnt you ever see it written ANo sir I QIs he old enough to write ADidnt I say he was only 4 or 5 I years oldl Hed be a smart child wouldnt he to write at that mte A7arian Ill not discuss that with you now You can sharpen your wits after I while Judge Bennett to Varian AVell sharpen your wits now The witness had seen her father going to and from from her mothers house On crossexamination by Judge Suther land witness testified that she had not resided at Salt Lake continuously since her marriage MARY RIDEOUT Vas the next witness She knew Mrs Mary Musser and Mrs Belinda Musser had seen children in both families but did not know how old Mary Mussers youngest child was had not visited her house for three years witness also knew Annie Segmiller Musser her youngest child was an infant last winter about three or four months ago had seen de fendant at Annie Mussers house went to the lake with Mrs Annie Musser last summer when they returned Mr Mus ser met herOn her-On cross examination the witness stated she was not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints lived in the Musser neighbor hood and was on friendly terms with the ladies mentioned |