CRIMINAL COURT
TRIAL OF ENOCH H. YOUNG
FOR THE MURDER OF
ISRAEL BENSLEY.
AT WALDO, MARION CO.,
FEBRUARY 25TH, 1880.
FOURTH DAY OF TRIAL
THE TESTIMONY.
HENRY ANDERSON.
Did not see Young untill afterwards; the first they called
my attention was heard some one say, "There is my man?" was standing at
the corner; Young came around the corner, saw him strike Bensley
in the breast; did not see any knife then; when they went to fighting I
saw the knife in Young's hand; helped to separate them; helped take
Bensley
in the store; prisoner at the bar is Enoch Young.
Cross examined — Was talking to Bensley; Young
came at Bensley with his hand upraised and went for Bensley;
Bensley
was striking at Young and following Young up — did not see
Bensley
strike Young — saw Bensley when he fell — crowd got between
them and me and I followed up — he was 5 or 6 feet from me when he commenced
falling — falling towards the store; did not see Young after that,
until after he was arrested — 10 or 15 persons there — could not see if
others struck.
JAMES COLEMAN.
Reside in Waldo; was there the 25th of Feb; I met Houseworth;
was in Penny's saloon; Eckles, Houseworth and Young
were there; Eckles and Houseworth had a little fuss; the
men took them apart; Young said, "I will take care of Houseworth";
when Eckles was going out of the door, Young pushed Houseworth
onto Eckles; going across the street they caught Eckles and
pounded him some; Young pulled his coat and handed it to the Smith
boy and told him to hold it; the boy said he did not have to; Young
struck the boy — I said it was a shame to strike a boy — Young struck
me; we had a little fight — when I let him up he had a jack knife out,
and someone handed me a hatchet, and I said, "Young, if you pull
a knife on me, I will split your head — Young then went away and
went across the street — it was about a minute after the fight that Young
went away.
Cross examination was about the same as above, with very
little variation, tho' very lengthy. Said — I struck Young
as he struck at me — knocked him against the hitching post — Young
went over the post — did not strike him after he was down — I lifted Young
up, he drew a pen knife and opened it — I was handed a hatchet by Dan.
Schroat — I said to Young: "you use that knife and I will split
your head open with this hatchet"; he then left and, in a few minutes,
came back with a large knife — the moon was shining — never had any difficulty
with Young before — did not see Young strike Bensley
— I am 23 years old.
J.B. GATCHALL,
attorney-at-law, of Warsaw, Ind., testified: Was in Waldo, Feb. 25th,
teaching school — saw Young in Penny's saloon with Houseworth
— singing in the saloon — seemed very happy — next seen Young and
Houseworth
walking arm in arm saying, "I am the best man in town"; drew his coat and
commenced striking at all about him, to demonstrate. Saw him come
after some time with a large knife; I saw the stroke from
Young
at Bensley — heard the blow distinctly — I at first did not think
Bensley
was hurt, but as I was about to pass on, I learned Young had killed
Bensley
— I was an eye-witness to the wounds, etc., as stated by other witnesses.
[This is the witness upon whose testimony the defense based
their motion for continuance, swearing without whose testimony they could
not safely proceed to trial. We differ with the defense.— ED. STAR]
JAMES K. FRY.
Live in Waldo — was there the 25th — saw Young — first
saw him on the corner — heard him say when he started for home he would
fix the sons-of-bitches — saw him coming towards me with a knife in his
hand — stepped out of his way — he went and caught hold of Bensley
— saw Young strike Bensley — the man here is the man that
struck Bensley with the knife — should think it was 5 minutes after
he left that he returned.
The cross examination about the same as above.
SAMUEL WILSON.
Reside near Waldo — farmer — was in Waldo the 25th of Feb.,
last — saw Young — he swore he was the best man in that town — if
you don't believe it he would test it — handed his coat to John Smith, |
told him to hold it — Smith said, "I don't have
to" — slapped
Smith;
Coleman said, "Don't slap a boy"; they
got into a fight; Coleman got him down and pounded him; Young
got up and got out a knife;
Coleman said, "If you try to cut me
I will split you down"; he then left and returned with a knife; could see
it shinning in the light; said before he left he would fix the damned son-of-a-bitch;
returned and said, "Where is my man?"; saw him strike Francis, pass
on and strike Bensley; could see by the light from the window; heard
some one way, "Hold on to him, he has killed Bensley."
Cross-examination as above, with the following addition:
Young opened his knife, a pocket knife; could not
say how long after that, but Coleman stepped up before Young
and said, "If you cut or attempt to cut me with that knife, I will cut
or split your brains out; saw Bensley, he stepped up and said to
Young,
"You had better shut that knife up and put it in your pocket; saw no club
there; Young started for home then on a run; saw him when he returned;
came on a run; gone between 10 and 15 minutes; don't think it could be
less than 10 minutes; was standing on the corner; saw him coming across
the bridge; saw the knife glisten; stepped out of the way; he said where
is the damned son-of-a b____?; he then said, "Here is my man"; Francis
was standing between us; saw the knife shining back of his head when he
said, "Here he is"; did not see Bensley strike or have anything
in his hand; think they were clinched; Bensley had his arm around
Young's
neck, trying to strike Young;
Young was striking
Bensley
with the knife; Bensley was carried back in the arms of two men.
JOHN SCHROATS.
Live in Waldo — am a blacksmith — was in Waldo the 25th of Feb.
— saw Young walking up and down the streets, swearing there was
no damn man in Marion county could arrest him — (same as to drawing coat,
handing it to Smith, striking Smith as detailed by the other
witnesses). Coleman and Young got into a fight — Coleman
took him down, struck him a few times with his fist and then let him up.
Young
got up, pulled out his pocket knife — [here the quarrel stated by other
witnesses occurred.] Young went home on a run, came back with
a knife and said, "Where is my man?" he pushed several aside and struck
Bensley
in the left breat — it was 5 or 10 minutes after
Young left before
he returned.
Cross examined — Saw no one have a club, stick, cane, iron
weight, or any other weapon, except the hatchet; I had a club or stick;
was 1½ or 2 feet long, ½ inch at little end and ¾
inch at the butt; Israel Bensley's boy gave it to me and asked me
if I did not want a cane; it was about 3 feet long, I cut it off; I used
it that night on Houseworth; did not strike
Young with it.
The balance of his testimony was about the same as other
witnesses.
S.T. Elliott's testimony corroborated the last witness
in almost every particular — the evidence almost identically the same.
[Testimony continued to morrow.]
[Note: Sherman T. ELLIOTT was the husband of Odilva STRAUB,
who was sister of George W. STRAUB, who was husband of Sarah E. CORBIN,
who was sister of Martha CORBIN, wife of Israel BENSLEY. Maria Ann
STRAUB, sister of Odilva and George W. STRAUB, married Wilson S. COLEMAN,
who is probably related to the witness, James COLEMAN.] |
