169 Ind. 301 | Ind. | 1907
Appellant, together with Otto Cook, William.
The evidence in the record is long and the. circumstances in the ease are many and minute. Therefore it would be impracticable in this opinion to give a complete statement of the testimony given upon the trial. We, however, note some of the facts which there is evidence to establish. Edward P. Sanderson was murdered at Blackford county, Indiana, on the night of October 23, 1904, about 9 o’clock. At the time of his death he ivas forty-six years old, a farmer owning considerable property, and residing on a small farm, which he owned, near Hartford City. As a matter of history connected with the case, it is shown that his father, Lemuel Sanderson, who died some years prior to the murder of his said son, sometime after the death of the mother of Edward P. married a Mrs. Cook, a widow. Appellant was a child by this marriage and a half-brother of the deceased. At the time of Mrs. Cook’s marriage to Lemuel Sanderson she had three children, the fruits of a former marriage. These children were Ollie, William and Otto Cook, all three of whom are codefendants in this action. Ollie Cook married á Mr. Smith. Clara Smith, one of the codefendants, is a daughter by that marriage. Upon the death of Mr. Smith his widow married the deceased, Edward
In April, 1904, Mr. Huffman went to see the deceased in regard to purchasing from him a steer. Appellant was present at the time and would not' allow the animal to be sold, and on that occasion he said, “Pres.,” meaning Edward P. Sanderson, who was generally called Preston, “has got to support us.” In May following, the deceased was plowing a field belonging to Walter Ayers, using his own team for that purpose. Ollie Sanderson, William and Otto Cook came to where he was at work for the purpose of taking from him the horses with which he was doing the plowing. They appear to have failed in their mission, but in the afternoon they returned, and then unhitched the horses from the plow, and by force took possession of them, hitched them to a wagon, and hauled certain household goods owned by Ollie Sanderson to her own house, situated on her farm a short distance from the home of the deceased, where she then resided. At the time William and Otto Cook unhitched the horses and took possession of them, and as part of the same transaction, William Cook assaulted the deceased, knocked him down and severely injured him. On this occasion, in addition to taking from the home of the deceased the household goods, they also took chickens, cattle, horses and other property which belonged to the deceased, and which at that time were on his farm. About October 21, 1904, William Cook received information that the deceásed intended to institute an action to replevy this property from Ernest Sanderson, William Cook, Otto Cook and Ollie Sanderson. On receiving this information William Cook declared that he would go and “do up” the de
Early in the month of October, 1904, appellant loaned his 32-caliber pistol to a Mr. Emory, who was a near neighbor of Ollie Sanderson. A few days prior to the homicide appellant called upon Emory and obtained this pistol. The murder, as previously said, was perpetrated on Sunday, October 23, about 9 o’clock at night, and on the following morning blood was discovered near a culvert on a highway at the foot of a hill, known as Patterson’s hill, in the neighborhood of the houses of the deceased and Ollie Sanderson. On October 31, 1904, about noon, the dead body of the deceased was found in a pond known as Croninger’s pond, which is just east of Hartford City, and about two miles from the house where the deceased resided at the time of his death. There was a strap around the neck of the body, and a stone weighing about sixty-eight pounds was fastened to this strap with a halter chain. A witness on the trial testified that this chain looked like the same chain that he had seen in use at Ollie Sanderson’s home to hitch horses. The body was taken from the southeast part of the pond at a point about one and one-half squares east of the Lake Erie depot, at Hartford City, and near the public highway running east and west. It was four feet from the bank, and was under about eighteen inches of water, and when discovered there were two gunshot wounds near the right temple and two scalp wounds on the back of the head. Both of the gunshot wounds were made by pistol balls and the wounds on the back of the head were made by some heavy, blunt instrument. The gunshot wounds were made by balls from a 32-caliber revolver. Both of the
On Sunday, the day of the murder, appellant and William Cook ate supper at the home of Ollie Sanderson, at which place they appear to have met on that day. After supper, they left the house, and there is evidence tending to show that they did not return to Ollie’s house before 9 o’clock on that night. Witnesses testified at the trial that they heard two shots fired about 9 o’clock on the Sunday night in question. These shots were in the direction of the house where the deceased lived, and were fired in quick succession. In addition to the blood found at the 'foot of the hill, there were drops of blood also found along the way leading from the point where blood was first discovered to ’Croninger’s pond. About 9 o’clock in the forenoon of the day upon which the corpse of the deceased was discovered, but before it was found, appellant was seen sitting on a porch in front of the Lake Erie saloon in Hartford City. He remained there for about one hour, and then walked over to the Lake Erie depot, and stood looking towards Croninger’s pond. Beginning with Tuesday after the murder, William Cook did no work during that week, but on each day he was seen to go to the highway running past Croninger’s pond and look at the pond. Appellant took no part in the search that was made to find the body of the deceased; neither did Ollie Sanderson nor William nor Otto Cook. On the morning of the day upon which the body w!as found, but sometime prior thereto, Wright Peck met appellant and had a conversation with him at Hartford City. Peck inquired what he was doing, and appellant responded that he was not doing anything; said he could not work;
There is evidence to show that the stone which was attached to the body of the deceased had been taken from the highway near the foot of Patterson’s hill, where the blood heretofore mentioned was found. Edward P. Sanderson worked at the home of Walter and Clara Ayres on Saturday, October 22, leaving for his own house, which was about a quarter of a mile away, between 5 and 6 o’clock, and spent the night at- his own house. A light was seen at his window. There is evidence to show that he was about his home on Sunday. He was there as late as 8 o ’clock Sunday, October 23, for a light was seen in his kitchen by certain persons who testified at the trial. The deceased, on the date of the murder, was living alone. A short time after the finding of the body, appellant and his half-brothers Otto and William Cook met the sheriff of Blackford county at a saloon in Hartford City and requested that official to protect them against any violence on the part of the people, which he did by confining them in the jail'. There is evidence going to show that appellant was in the immediate neighborhood of the home of the deceased during the Sunday evening in question. On that evening it also appears that he had in his possession a 32-caliber revolver, the one which he had loaned to Mr. Emory, as hereinbefore stated.
Charles Kingsbury, who was confined in the jail a£ Hartford City with appellant, on the trial testified that at a time when he and appellant were alone in the jail they had a conversation about breaking jail. The following is the material part of the evidence which this witness gave:
“Q. At a time when you and Ernest [meaning appellant] were alone, you may tell the jury whether or not you had a conversation with him relative to breaking out of jail.
*310 A.. Yes, we had a short conversation in regard to that.
Q. Tell the jury what you said to him and what he said to you.
A. Well, we were talking about breaking out of jail. In the first place, talking about getting in there; about having been arrested and put in there. I said I was in there for something I hadn’t done, but I expected they would convict me because the evidence was strong against me. If I could get out without hurting anybody, and get away, I believed I would go. Well, he said, he didn’t know whether he wanted to go or not. He said the women folks [meaning Ollie Sanderson and Mrs. Smith] were upstairs in a separate part, and Otto and Bill [meaning Otto and William Cook] were over at Bluffiton [in jail], and if he would get out then it would show they were guilty, and he says, ‘By me staying, too, and all going together, probably they could get out of it.’
Q. What further was said, Mr. Kingsbury?
A. I asked him what he would do if he got convicted, and he said he had hi.s revenge anyhow; and I looked around and I says ‘You do not mean to say that you killed him?’ ‘No,’ he says, ‘but I helped to.’ ”
Again, it may be said, we think, that the two assaults made by the Cooks appear from the evidence to have been
The basis of the rule upon which such evidence is admitted is that, where a combination of persons has been formed for an unlawful purpose, they may be said to have assumed an individuality in respect to the purpose or design in question, and the acts of each are by law chargeable to all of such co-conspirators. 3 Ency. Ev., 417; Gillett, Indirect and Collat. Ev., §28; Gillett, Crim. Law (2d ed.), §311; Card v. State, supra; Wolfe v. Pugh, supra; Musser v. State, supra.
We conclude, for the reasons given, that the evidence in question was competent.