State v. Anderson
Decision Date | 24 June 1889 |
Citation | 11 S.W. 981,98 Mo. 461 |
Parties | The State v. Anderson, Appellant |
Court | Missouri Supreme Court |
[Copyrighted Material Omitted] [Copyrighted Material Omitted]
Appeal from St. Louis Criminal Court. -- Hon. J. C. Normile, Judge.
Dr Lutz, who made the post mortem on the body of the deceased testified to the wounds on the head, which could have been made by a blunt instrument, such as a wooden club which was shown him, and that it was likely that death would result from such wounds almost instantly.
Police Sergeant Boyd states he first saw the defendant at the police station at 7:25 on the morning of the ninth of August; that the defendant walked into the office and said in response to questions put, substantially as follows: "I came here to give myself up; I have killed my wife; I am tired of the way she has been acting; I killed her with a base ball bat; I had been out the night before looking for her." Witness did not exactly remember whether defendant said his wife came home, or whether he brought her home, but next morning defendant arose about five o'clock and she was asleep at the time, either on a pallet or on a bed. Defendant told witness that he drew the sheet over her head, and took a base ball bat and mashed her over the head; he did not know how many times he hit her; he hit her until he thought he killed her; defendant then left the house and stopped at a lady's house, telling her to go and take charge of the child at his house, which was an adopted child; defendant said he contemplated suicide by drowning himself, but on second thought he came to the police office to give himself up; defendant said he lived at 2514 North Broadway, in rear, second floor; that is where his wife laid now; "the base ball bat is in the room; I prepared it two or three days previous; I contemplated killing this woman for the way she had been acting; that she was not doing right."
Witness did not visit the premises but saw the body at the morgue; saw the base ball bat afterwards at the coroner's inquest, and defendant identified it as the bat he killed her with. Witness further testified that when defendant came into the police office, defendant walked in cool and unconcerned, but did not know whether defendant was under the influence of drink; he may possibly have had a drink. Defendant was locked up by witness. Witness was present at the coroner's inquest, when defendant identified the dead body as that of his wife. On cross-examination, witness said defendant, when he came into the office, did not seem to be very sober, nor tolerably under the influence of liquor, but witness did not think he smelled liquor on him; but seemed to be perfectly cool and collected, and in response to a question asked by Boyd, said: "I understand what I am doing and what I am saying."
Hugh O'Neil, a police officer, stated that he saw defendant in the calaboose, and had a conversation with him in Sergeant Boyd's presence; defendant identified the club with which he killed his wife; defendant said his wife had been acting very badly, acting as a prostitute; he pleaded with her to stop it; he pleaded more as a father than as a husband, but she would not stop it; but finally he could not stand it any longer, and he killed her. On cross-examination witness said that defendant said that he had found a postal card from some man wanting her to meet him, and that he begged her not to go, and she said she would go, and kept on going. The circuit attorney here offered the club in evidence.
Annie Eberhard, living at 1821 North Ninth street, in August, 1888, knew defendant and his wife; they were living together; had no children, but had an adopted child living with them; the child was three or four years old. On the morning of the killing, defendant came to her house, telling her what he had done, and asked her to go and see to his wife, so he could get away; he killed her. This was about six o'clock in the morning. He then went away.
On cross-examination:
On behalf of defendant. Gustave F. Bauer, a grocer, testified to the good character of defendant; that the wife's reputation was not good; "I saw him frequently; the last time he was in my store he grieved himself greatly, worried himself about his wife; I thought when he was gone the man acted very funny; he was very much worried about the woman; this was two or three years, maybe; he and his wife were together in my store often and I saw he treated her kind in my presence; I heard from different parties his wife's reputation for morality was bad -- from people who knowed the parties; I heard it in my store; her neighbors been telling she was out often whole nights."
Henry Fehr said defendant sometimes worked for him; that he was a good, honest workman.
Julia Hughes, a married lady, lived in the next yard to the Andersons;
Mathew Walker, a neighbor of defendant, said: "His general reputation is very quiet, hard-working, industrious man; his wife was a woman that would run around among men; that was her reputation; everybody around there knew her to be a very common woman of that kind; a woman that everyone knew; that would run at night with men, with anybody and everybody; I saw her in company with men most any time; her husband was not there in the daytime; she hardly ever had any lady company; she had great many gentlemen visitors; strange men, all strangers to me; I heard her husband trying to get her to stay at home; several days before her death I heard him talking to her, trying to get her not to go off on an excursion that was going up the river; I heard she was arrested once; I didn't see her arrested; but I know she was away from home several days; at times Anderson would not act as well as he did at others; at times he would sit and cry, and you could not find out what he was crying about; he was crying the day before the death of his wife; I have noticed him several times before; in my opinion he was not right; he would talk foolish at times; his principal talk all the time was about him and his wife, her troubles, how they would get along and her running around; I saw this club on the day she was murdered, never before; I knew him to collect wood and coal on the railroad very often; in pleasant weather, every night, I sat in an old wagon in front of his door; the night preceding the killing he came out and said he was going to look for his wife; I did not see him afterwards."
William Anderson, the defendant, on his behalf, testified he was fifty years old, born in Denmark, was in this country twenty-two years, and lived in St. Louis eleven years. At one time he moved away to Fort Chartres, Illinois, stayed there a year, and returned to St. Louis; first met his wife at the Woman's Guardian Home; he was introduced to her by the mother of Charles P. Johnson; got married, went to housekeeping; had no children, but adopted a child; ...
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