State v. Rasch
| Decision Date | 26 June 1945 |
| Docket Number | 8772. |
| Citation | 19 N.W.2d 339,70 S.D. 517 |
| Parties | STATE v. RASCH. |
| Court | South Dakota Supreme Court |
Rehearing Denied Sept. 12, 1945.
William J. Holland, of Sisseton, and Danforth & Danforth, of Sioux Falls, for defendant and appellant.
Frank S. Tait, State's Atty., of Milbank, George T. Mickelson Atty. Gen., and Charles P. Warren, Asst. Atty. Gen., for plaintiff and respondent.
The defendant was convicted in the Circuit Court of Grant County of the murder of James Gaunt, a young man 21 years of age whose home was in Connecticut. The jury recommended life imprisonment and the defendant appeals from the judgment based upon the jury's verdict. The evidence connecting the defendant with the murder is entirely circumstantial. The body of James Gaunt was found along the north side of the tracks of the Milwaukee railroad at a point about 1 1/2 miles west of the town of Marvin in Grant County on the afternoon of August 25 1943. The body was lying with its head toward the tracks about three feet from the end of the cross ties. It was lying in weeds and grass which were from 15 to 18 inches high. The body was discovered by an engineer on a west bound freight train who notified the authorities at the town of Summit who arrived at the place where the body was found about 6 o'clock P.M. of August 25th. The body bore a bullet wound on the head which indicated the bullet had entered on the right side of the jaw and made its exit on the back of the head. There was a smear of blood and brain matter on the ground under the head and the body was dirty and covered with blood with a few minor skin bruises appearing thereon. At the time the body was found rigor mortis had set in and various witnesses attempted to describe the position of the body when it was first observed. Much of this testimony with reference to the position of the body was by demonstration and it is difficult to get a picture of the exact condition. For example one witness was interrogated as follows:
This type of testimony continued for several pages of the settled record. However, we believe it a fair statement of the record to say that at the time the body was found it was lying with the left side of the face resting on the left arm or shoulder and the left arm was flexed at the elbow and extended somewhat upward. The right arm was lying against the body and both leg were somewhat flexed at the knee joint. The day was foggy and misty and the weeds and grass around the body were damp and gave no indication of anyone having been in the vicinity of the body prior to the time it was found. The pockets of the dead man's trousers had been turned inside out and there was nothing found in any of the pockets of his clothes. Subsequently, however, there was discovered a money belt strapped around the upper portion of the body underneath the clothes which contained four ten dollar bills and some papers which lead to the identification. During the day of August 25th several trains passed over the tracks adjacent to the place where the body was found as did also the section crew riding on an open motor car but it was not until late in the day that the body was observed by the engineer as referred to above.
The defendant first appears in connection with this crime at Montevideo, Minn. at about 6:30 P.M. on August 24th at which time a freight train was making up to depart from this station. At Montevideo this train was checked by an inspector who observed the body of a bus loaded on one of the freight cars. This bus body was of peculiar construction. A picture of the bus is inserted:
(Image Omitted) The doors on the bus were closed and to enter it was necessary to climb through one of the openings which are referred to in the testimony as windows. However, there were no glass windows in the bus, except in the front. This inspector entered this bus body by 'crawling over the window in the door'. Sitting in one of the seats was the young man whose body was subsequently found as above described. The inspector asked this boy for his draft card and the boy produced a billfold from which he took the draft card showing him to be classified as 4-F. In this bus the inspector discovered a suitcase which he started to open but was advised by the boy that the suitcase belonged to a traveling companion who had left the train to get a drink of water. Nevertheless, the inspector opened the suitcase and found therein an army uniform and other personal effects. After leaving this bus the inspector walked on along the train and met the defendant who was walking toward the bus. He asked the defendant his name and questions concerning his draft status. The defendant produced an honorable discharge from the army. Defendant also stated that the suitcase in the bus belonged to him. Defendant was wearing civilian clothes of rather a light color. From the testimony it appears that the deceased had left his home bound for Seattle, Washington, where he hoped to secure employment in a defense plant. The defendant had left his home in Wisconsin either for the purpose of going to Aberdeen to follow the harvest, as he stated to the inspector at Montevideo or to Montana to obtain work as a sheepherder as indicated by witnesses for defendant. This freight train left Montevideo at 8:30 o'clock P.M. and arrived in Milbank, South Dakota, at 10:10 o'clock P.M. where it remained for two hours. The train left Milbank at 12:15 o'clock A.M. on the morning of August 25th and arrived at the point where the body was found about 1:53 o'clock A.M. that morning, about an hour and thirty minutes after leaving Milbank. At the time the train passed the point where the body was found, it was traveling about 10 miles per hour. This train did not stop between Milbank and Aberdeen where it arrived at 4:25 A.M. As the train was leaving Milbank two employees of the railroad company observed this bus body and one testified that he observed two men in the bus, the other on direct examination testified he also observed two men but upon cross examination said two or three. A train inspector who inspected the train upon its arrival at Aberdeen testified that he observed this bus on the freight car and that on the north side of this bus he noticed blood stains but that he did not go into the bus. The blood stains were below one of the openings toward the west end. After the body of the deceased was found the car carrying the bus was ordered set out at Deer Lodge, Montana where an inspection was made disclosing that on a cushion in the rear end of the bus and under the cushion there was blood. A pair of glasses were found in the bus which were identified as glasses belonging to the deceased. The lead bullet of a 38 caliber cartridge was also discovered in the bus.
After being seen at Montevideo the defendant was next seen at O'Neill, Nebraska, a day or two following August 25th, where he appeared in his army uniform, which was described in the evidence as being wrinkled. It appears from the evidence that a bus leaves Aberdeen for O'Neill, Nebraska, at 7:30 o'clock in the morning. At O'Neill the defendant obtained a ride west on a truck. A witness who talked with the defendant at O'Neill testified that the defendant stated he wished to catch a ride west because he was without funds to ride the train.
The defendant was located by the authorities of Grant County working on a sheep ranch near Lander, Wyoming. Defendant arrived in Lander about August 29, 1943. He was acquainted in this vicinity and had worked there at various times since 1935. Defendant was arrested at Lander on December 14, 1943, and while held there in jail wrote a letter to his brother in Wisconsin as follows:
After being returned to South Dakota the defendant made a statement related in the evidence as follows:
'* * * he said he met young Gaunt down the line in a small town and they rode on the freight train together, and Mr. Tait asked him if he stayed with Gaunt after he left Montevideo and he said he didn't remember what became of him but he stayed on the train until he got to Aberdeen, and Tait asked him how he left Aberdeen and he said he didn't know exactly whether by bus or hitch-hiked but he thought by bus but he went to O'Neill, Nebraska...
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