The Murder of Anna Wiese
Green Mountain, Iowa

EVENING TIMES REPUBLICAN

THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 1894

HEADLINES

APRIL 7, 1894

CLOSE TO THE CRIME

Witnesses Who Live in Sight of the Place of the Murder Testify

Arthur Hill Relates Leading Incidents of the Fatal Night

Testimony of Mrs. Russie, for Whom the Murdered Girl Worked

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

Continuance of Arthur Hill's direct examination: I stopped and looked at the body; the head was turned a little sideways; one leg was straight and the other drawn up a little; I remember the waist was partly red; the skirt was black; the clothing and body were bloody; I did not know when I went there that she had been murdered; I knew before I left that her throat had been cut; I did not look through the fields as I went down; did not think to; I probably stayed there about three or four minutes; did not hear any screams that evening; wind was in the southwest; it was bright moon-light and clear. Mr. Russie did not do anything with the body while I was there; I did not see the club until next morning; it was in some one's hands. I then went to notify the neighbors; first notified my father's folks; then Low's; saw father and mother and my brother Horace. When I went there they were in bed. I went to Bennett's from Low's; did not get off my horse at Bennett's. I called "Lei!" He did not come to the door immediately, but shortly the door was opened; can't say which spoke first after I called him; when he came to the door he had his shirt and overalls on; can't say whether he had on shoes. I heard Mrs. Bennett speak; did not hear what she said; he told her Anna was killed, or murdered, can't say which; could not understand what the reply was; the bedroom is in the northwest corner of the sitting room; no light in the house. I called twice, anyway, possibly three or four times; was only answered by his coming to the door; the door was closed; don't remember that I heard the door unlocked. He did not come out at all. I told him I wanted to notify the neighbors. He said he did not want to leave the house alone; did not see him leave the house at all; I went to the east door on the south side. When I returned to the place of the murder there were probably half a dozen there; there are four or five wires in the fence west of the place of the murder; a pasture is on the west, with nothing to obstruct the view except the weeds in the road. I had been up all night; lay down on the floor Sunday afternoon; parties were searching through the fields during the day. I was at the funeral; went to the graveyard and saw Mrs. Bennett; did not speak to her; Bennett's cattle pasture is opposite our place and extends down nearly to the place of murder; there is a slight rise of ground between Bennett's and my place; this pasture has about forty or fifty acres in it; next to the east is a cornfield. From the time Anna left my place and Perry Greggs came was about fifteen minutes.

Cross - There was not much wind that night; I had been north to Bomgart's that evening; got back near dark; Anna was there; I do not know how long she had been there when I came home; my mother was milking in the yard close by; saw Smelser that night; don't remember that I took milk home from father's; no one else brought the milk to us; I went up through the grove from father's; have two rooms below, sleeping rooms are above; when I got to the house it was quarter past nine; did not invite my brother and Smelser to come up, that Anna was there; did not tell them Anna was there. Horace was out searching that night; they asked me next morning where Anna was; Horace went to his milking and Smelser went home before I left the farm and went to my house. Anna was jovial with my wife; I didn't notice that Anna spoke loud that night; she did not say good night so she could be heard over to Bennett's; when she went away I did not hear her say good night; Smelser did not ride up to my house that night; I did not go out doors after Anna went away; we immediately prepared to go to bed; we hadn't retired when the boy came; I had taken my shoes off. I said to Russie when I got there, "Her throat is cut"; my best recollection is that Russie replied, "Is it possible?"; he was not bending over the girl. When I called Bennett he did not stand behind the door; don't remember that they conversed together about who should go; he said "Art" in calling Sherlock to come down; he came down and went over to my place. I live on same ridge with the Bennett's; I live on the south slope.

Redirect - When I was on my horse I could see the features of Mr. Bennett plain enough to recognize him.

Mrs. Rebecca Russie - Am the wife of Henry Russie; Anna Wiese worked for me; came to my place the first Sunday in June last year; worked then from that time till her death; she was a tall, slim girl, weighing about 130 pounds; she claimed her back was weak; her hair was brown; she was not a very timid girl, but if anything would turn up to scare her she would scream. Isenhart came to see her the week before she was murdered; she did her usual work Saturday; I heard her go out of the house that evening about dark or a little before; did not know where she was going. She stayed one night at Arthur Hill's and one night at the old lady Hill's before this. When they were putting me to bed heard her scream; heard it the second time and I asked them to go and see about it, for it was Anna. Mr. Russie told Perry to go and see what was the matter with Anna; he started and said he was afraid; my husband went with him; when he came back he told me Anna was killed. I did not go to bed that night. They brought the body to the house about 3 o'clock. She had on a black sateen skirt and red waist; this is the waist she had on; this is her corset; I think she had on a striped underskirt; her drawers were not torn when they were taken off; I can not say about the buttons. I know her hair was put up before she left the house and fastened with hairpins.

Cross - Anna was not inclined to scuffle and exhibit her strength while at my place; her hair was quite heavy; she did not run out bare headed much; generally put on a hat or bonnet; don't think there was any difference between the color of her bangs and the balance of her hair; she never curled her bangs. I have known the Hills ever since we have been in the state. Mrs. Bennett did all she could for me when she sat up with me.

Henry Russie Sworn - I know Anna Wiese; knew her when she was a little girl; she had lived with us for twelve weeks before she died; on the night of her murder she got supper, as usual; saw Mr. Low in the evening go past my house; saw the Knights go by; Anna had started away; they spoke of meeting her on the road. We had a sick colt that night and were doctoring it; when we went to drench the colt Low came by. Went to undress my wife and heard Anna scream; heard the sound twice and then went to look after Anna; told Perry to go and see what was the matter; he said he was afraid; I ran down with him; heard a slight moan again before we got to her; found her by the side of the road. She had previously told my wife that she fainted when scared; I suppose this was why I thought she had fainted. I moved her head a little; sent the boy to get Hills; did not think then of murder; stood by and watched her expecting to see her move. I did not see that her throat was cut until Arthur Hill came; I said to him, "My God! Arthur, what does this mean?" He then discovered that her throat was cut. She lay in the grass, close by the ditch made by the grader; George Row and I were the first that saw the club; it was about a foot and a half from her head (shown exhibit); these are the pieces that were picked up there; saw the blood marks on the fence; the posts are seventeen feet apart; I could press the middle wire down six and a half inches on the fence west of the road; there are four or five wires; they are barb wires; have examined that fence and could find no blood marks; west of the road is my pasture and was pastured close; it is twenty to twenty-five rods to the corn across the pasture. When we found her the clothes were not disarranged; when we took her to the house her hair was all down and matted with blood; saw her drawers when taken off; they were not torn. In going south to the place of the murder I could see a person going in the road; was looking along the road to see Anna; when we went down the road we ran; went at a pretty good shack. I had run a mower along through the slough a few weeks before. She was laying just in the edge of the grass that was not mowed. There was blood on the club; several spots on it; I saw a scratch on her chin; saw the head and the neck wounds; the wounds on the head looked like cuts; I didn't examine very closely.

Cross - John and Frank Knight went by my house in the evening; told me they met Anna in the road. They live about three-quarters of a mile from me. They were ahead of Low until they came to my place; Low drove by them while at my place. The Knights had two wagons; had been hauling corn to Green Mountain. The scream did not seem smothered; she seemed as if in great agony; the last scream was fainter. I did not hear the fence rattle. While standing by her I had no other idea than that she had been badly scared and had fainted. I told the boy to run and tell Arthur Hill Anna was bad off. While the boy was gone I watched her closely to see if she moved. It did not occur to me that she was murdered until Hill came. She had wounds on her head sufficient to saturate her hair with blood. She was carried up on a board; was as tall as I am and rather slim. She often asked me to lift milk cans for her. I don't recollect that the hair hung down from the board when they carried her up to the house. The wires were medium tight. I saw the club first the second time I went to the body; a dozen persons must have been there. It lay east of her head; I would not allow anyone to move it.

Horace Hill Testified - Live with my father in Vienna township. When the murder was committed I was at home. It was one-half mile south of where we live. I first heard of it when my brother Arthur Hill called us. I was in bed and asleep when he called; he called me to wake me up; went down and let him in, and he told me what was the matter. It was about 10 o'clock when I went to bed; I milked about 8; Arthur was doing chores at the barn. I was not off the premises of E. N. Hill between the hours of 8 and 10 o'clock. Milton Smelser was at the barn a few minutes. After the notion that she had been killed I got on a horse and rode up on the hill, then rode back and forwards in the road to watch; after a little while I went with Arthur Sherlock, who came by, down to where the body was. The body was bloody. Looked at fence on each side next morning and saw blood on it.

Cross - Anna was 22 years old; did not chum with Smelser; he is no relation to me; didn't know what he was there for. I was milking when he came. I very often carried milk to my brother's house; did not carry it that night. Smelser was in his house when I saw him; don't know where he went; did not change my clothes; have the shirt yet that I wore that week. Miss Roberts did not wash for us that week. I did not know that Anna Wiese was at my brother's that night. I boarded at one time with my brother and slept at home; didn't ride down to the body, because I didn't know where it was. I never said I expected to be arrested for this murder. I did not go and hold councils with my father the next day; did not object to parties searching our premises. There was no blood on any shoe of mine that I know of; there was no blood on my father's porch the next morning. When I went down to the place of murder I went up to the body; did not hesitate any.

Mrs. Anna Sprecker, sworn - Live in Vienna township, about a half mile north west from where Anna Wiese did, and a half mile east of Bennett. First heard of the murder between 12 and 1 o'clock that night; got up when the dogs barked, at about 9 or 10. Mr. McCarroll came to our place between 12 and 1. I saw the body at Henry Russie's; saw scratches on lip and chin. Saw Mrs. Bennett Sunday morning; talked with her; she spoke of her as "poor Anna"; she said she saw Anna the Sunday before just about supper, that she came into the house and had quite a long talk with her; asked her to take a cup of tea; asked where Arthur was; said Arthur came home before Anna went away. This was the Sunday before the murder. She told me she was in another room and heard Arthur talking to Anna about bad conducts with a young man in a top buggy, and that Arthur was not careful how he talked to her; Anna saw Mrs. Bennett and went away. After the murder she again told me about this visit, and said Anna was outside and did not come in; was asked to come in and take a cup of tea, but she would not; said she had a talk with Sherlock in the road. Mrs. Bennett often spoke to me about Anna before and after the murder. She said Anna would do things a good girl would not think of; said she would act improperly with every young man she went with; said she rode every young fellow to death nearly that she went with. I was there the day she was arrested; she was outside and trying to lift up the porch with one hand, a small platform. I went into the house; she complained of being sick. She was poking a stick under the platform after a rat; she did not go to bed while I was there; said she did not know what was the matter with her. Since the murder she has often said, "Poor girl! Who could have done such a cruel thing?" Was there when Barney Schultz was there; Barney took hair from her head; he took hair from several places on her head; she was excited and felt badly; went into the house and talked about Barney Schultz, and while she talked scraped the table all the time; scraped it until it was white; when she got up to leave the table her knees were weak and she nearly went down; this was immediately after Barney Schultz went away; I knew she was feeling badly; first noticed that she was nervous and felt badly after the murder; one time when she was at my house a pair of men's shoes caught on her dress and she dragged them across the room and did not seem to notice them; she was absent minded. I have seen her carry water, a bucket in each hand. She told me before the murder that she had her right arm thrown out of place and had to be careful about it; she threw apples at me with her left arm; she could throw as far as I could, but not as straight. At the time of the search she wanted me to go with her down into the slough; she seemed to be very nervous that day; she said the night of the murder "My God! Mrs. Sprecker, wasn't you scared?" She said when the man called she jumped out of be and Ci pushed her back; said he pushed her back twice; said they had gone to bed but were not asleep yet; said she jumped out of bed as soon as the man called, because it scared her, as soon as she heard him call. She said Arthur had just come home when Hill called and was up stairs sitting on the edge of the bed. She said she was excited and afraid lest they would take Arthur, because he was out so late. I was subpoenaed in her yard before the grand jury; she told me she did not sleep for two or three nights after that.

Cross - I was born in Noble county, Ill.; came here a year ago last November; live east of Mrs. Bennett. Dogs barked the night of the murder; between 9 and 10 o'clock my husband got up, and came back in a few minutes. The dogs seemed to bark at something northwest of the house. I was up that night at 2 o'clock; saw a party just east of our house; he was eat of the grove; it was not my husband. My husband went up northeast to look for the murderer on horseback. I have answered some questions of the detective; have not helped him; I went to Bennett's more than to the other places, but have gone to several of the neighbors'. I know Mrs. Bennett told me Anna Wiese came into the house that Sunday. Mrs. Bennett has never talked to me when others were present. She did tell me Annie Wiese and Sherlock had a conversation in her kitchen. Barney Schultz has talked to me about what I would swear to.

SATURDAY MORNING - Continuation of Mrs. Sprecker's examination by Boardman - Saw some one pass our house on Sunday morning, after the murder, about 2 o'clock. Before the murder Mrs. Bennett spoke to me several times about her right arm being crippled; after the murder she claimed it was her left arm. Mrs. Bennett told me after the murder that her hair was exactly like Anna Wiese's; that they often compared their hair. I saw her the day before the murder carry water, a bucket full in each hand. She told me one time that Anna's parents wanted Anna to work for her, but she did not want her around, she was so silly.

Cross, continued by defendant's counsel - Barney Schultz has not refreshed my memory as to what I should testify to, nor has Pence. I don't remember of asking Mrs. Hooper at one time how Mrs. Bennett told the story about Anna being at Bennett's the Sunday before the murder. I was not trying to pump Mrs. Hooper for the detective. When Mrs. Bennett said Anna was riding the boys I don't know that she meant anything immoral by it. She didn't say what made her nervous when she was subpoenaed before the grand jury. She said she couldn't imagine why her neighbors had been subpoenaed and she was not. I went with her next morning to see the body; she seemed to be in a great hurry to get to Riverside; didn't shun going to the body. Think I told the grand jury about the scraping of the table. She was not cleaning the table; she seemed to be doing it because she was nervous; said she jumped out of bed when the news came of the murder; said she had not been asleep.

George Sprecker testified - Live in Vienna township; know Mrs. Bennett; saw her at her house two or three days after the murder. The sheriffs were searching around the house. In strength she (defendant) is a good ordinary woman; saw her carry water to the threshers in a milk can. My wife helped her while threshing; Mrs. Bennett did the balance of the work without help. I heard her say if she had to hang she could hang, and if she had to go to the pen she could go.

Cross - She said in the same connection that if they did do so they would convict an innocent person.

Redirect- No one accused her of being guilty, to draw out the assertion that she was innocent.

W. H. Wilson called - Live in Marshalltown; have been constable; was at Bennett's about ten days after the murder. The sheriff's men were searching there; went from the spot of the murder up the slough to Bennett's house; went through a cow yard; went into the yard through a gate; the gate stood north and south; it was a sliding gate - slid to the south. Saw stains on the gate; were on the second board from the top; there were the marks of two hands. I put my hands into the marks and they fitted. The mark was the plainest on the east side of the board. The stain is hard to describe as to color; it was between a dark red and brownish color; it had the appearance of a blood stain.

Cross - Came to the cow yard from the west; went out of stubble field or a pasture into the cow yard. The gate was standing north and south; it was on the edge of the grove. The work showed plainer on the east side of the gate. There were thumb marks on the west side. The stain was a dull color; I saw no other marks or stains on the gate; don't think I could have missed large stains on the board; a board was nailed across the center of the gate. I don't remember of any boards being broken in the gate.

Alva Nicholson sworn - I am bailiff; helped search for the murderer; Ed Beebe gave me a button. (Shown button) This is the button.

Cross - I know it by a mark on it.