CRIMINAL COURT
TRIAL OF ENOCH H. YOUNG
FOR THE MURDER OF ISRAEL
BENSLEY.
AT WALDO, MARION CO.,
FEBRUARY 25th, 1880.
THE TESTIMONY.
[CONTINUED FROM YESTERDAY.]
JOHN PLANK.
Cross-examined — Cleveland is my home; have lived with my folks
there eight years; Young said he was the best man in Waldo; Houseworth
said the same and defied any of the officers to arrest them; no one else
struck Enoch Young during the fight; Coleman was the only
one that struck Young; did not see any one have any iron weights;
did not see any one strike Young with a club, iron weight or hatchet;
did not see any one have a club or cane there.
Re examined — it was not half a second after Young
passed me that he struck Bensley with the knife.
PHILIP MILLER.
Reside in Waldo; was there on the 25th of Feb. last; saw Enoch
Young there; the first I saw of him he was running past the corner,
west; heard his voice before that; I was upstairs; he was trying to drive
Houseworth's
boy home; told the boy to go home or he would kick him; afterwards another
fuss occurred; went down stairs to send my boy home for fear he would get
hurt; sent the boy home; met Young rushing back with a knife in
his hand and said, "Where is my man?"; Bensley was standing with
his elbow resting on the window sill; Young said, "Here is my man,"
and threw his left hand on Bensley's shoulder, and plunged the knife
in Bensley's breast; Bensley came forward, falling or grabbing
Young;
saw Young strike Bensley two or three licks in the head with
a knife, (knife shown to witness and identified); I then went and sent
my boy home for fear he would get hurt; I then went up stairs; was within
5 feet of Young when he struck
Bensley; followed up; could
not tell how long Young was gone; when I saw Young I halloed,
"Look out, Young is coming with a knife!" He said, "Where is my
man"? When he saw Bensley,
Young said, "Here is my
man." Plank told me they (sic)
had killed Bensley; they carried him in the store; I stooped down
— (objected to by Scofield — objection sustained).
Cross-examined — When Plank told me they (sic)
had killed Bensley, I went into the store.
J.D. BISHOP.
Saw Young strike Bensley three or [
] times; can't tell whether he struck him on the head or breast; they called
for help; I was ready to assist in taking the knife from Young;
there was help enough; I stood by Bensley until he died.
Cross examined — Was there [ ] when Young
and Coleman had their fight; was within 4 or 5 feet; did not see
any one strike Young with hatchet, club, or anything else, nor did
I see any one kick him; he straightened up; was not as bad hurt as I thought
he was; he knew what he was about; I heard them say, "Here he comes."
I wondered what he came for; my recollection is that when Bensley
fell, he did not get up; he fell on the ground.
Re examined — When Young went home I thought he would
stay there and was wondering what he came back for.
JOHN JUSTICE.
Was in Waldo the 25th of February; saw Enoch Young; first
heard him damning the boy; told him to go home; don't know what boy it
was; there was a fuss there; Young says, "Get off the side walk
or you may get knocked off"; I went to the lodge room; did not see Young
any more; when up in the lodge room I heard a fuss; looked out of the window;
they appeared to be in a tussle; Young went by the window I was
looking out of; heard him say, "I will fix the son-of -a-bitch"; in from
5 to 8 minutes saw him return with a knife in his hand; he held in his
right hand; he came and took hold of Bensley by the shoulder with
his left hand, and with his right hand struck him about three times in
the breast or head; the next lick went sqare (sic)
on the head; I was standing in the window immediately above him; Young
said, "I will fix the son-of-a- bitch."
Cross examined — Was looking out of the window; light burning
and reflecting out of the windows below; no gas or lamp post burning; Young
had him by the shoulder, and Bensley had his arm around Young's
neck; that was as near as I can tell; Bensley did not have anything
in his hand; did not see any hatchet |
nor anything else in the hands of Bensley.
JAMES FRANCIS.
Reside in Waldo; saw Young about 7 o'clock; pulled his
coat off; turned round to John Smith and handed it to him and asked
him to hold it; Smith said he did not have to; he then struck Smith;
I afterward saw him leaning up against the banister with a knife in his
hand and talking to Colman; he said he was the best man in Waldo;
Bensley
said he was not by a damn sight; they went away; came back with something
in his hand and said, "Where is my man"; he then saw Bensley and
said, "He is my man," and caught Bensley by the left shoulder and
played the knife on Bensley; I saw him strike Bensley with
the knife; some one said, "He has killed Israel Bensley"; the marshal
said, "Help me take the knife from him"; I got hold of his wrist and finally
got hold of the knife; found it on the ground west of the walk and kept
it until the Coroner's inquest and delivered it to Dr. Christian;
(knife shown to witness and identified). Bensley was resting
his elbow on the window sill when Young struck Bensly.
Cross examined. — Could see Bensley didn't strike
Young
first; know that Young struck first; Henry Anderson was between
me and Bensley, but I could see that Bensley did not strike
Young.
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