CZOLGOSZ MUTE

Assassin refuses to answer
when told to plead
to Indictment.

COUNSEL APPOINTED

Former-Justices Lewis and Titus
named at the Request of
the Bar.

GRAND JURY ACTED QUICKLY

Murderer's Lawyers may plead for
him Today-Indictment is peculiar

The vehicle of the law has moved fast thus far in the case of the assassin, Czoilgosz. At 4.40 o'clock yesterday afternoon, 6 hours and 25 minutes after the presentation of the evidence began, the grand jury reported to Judge Edward K. Emery in the County Court an indictment charging Leon F. Czolgosz, alias Fred Nieman, with murder in the first degree. Out of that 6 hours and 25 minutes the grand jury took a recess of 1 hour and 22 minutes for dinner. So the actual time of presenting the evidence, deliberating, voting and reporting the verdict was five hours and three minutes. The time consumed in examining witnesses and the tangible evidence was 4 hours and 43 minutes; in discussing the evidence, about 10 minutes, in voting for the indictment about 1 minute, and, in reading over the form of the indictment as prepared by Dist.-Atty. Penney about 9 minutes.

The indictment was reported to the court just 62 hours and 25 minutes after President McKinley died. Of that period it should be remembered, Sunday comprised 24 hours, and the case could not be presented that day.

A little less than an hour after the indictment was reported Czolgosz was taken into court to plead to it if he desired. He would not answer when asked if he had a lawyer or if he wanted one. He did not utter one word in court. The court was forced to assume he had no counsel and to assign counsel for him. Until counsel appears for him no plea can be taken, so the indictment was not read to him, though he was told what it charged.

The Hon. Loran L. Lewis and the Hon. Robert C. Titus, both former justices of the Supreme Court, were named by Judge Emery as counsel for the defense. This was at the suggestion of the Erie County Bar Association, which had held a meeting earlier in the day and had decided to make the suggestion in the interest of justice. Dist.-Atty. Penney sent out to find and notify the chosen lawyers, and Judge Emery postponed adjournment of his court until after 7 o'clock expecting to hear from them. But both of them were out of town, Mr. Lewis being at Lewiston and Mr. Titus in Milwaukee, Wis.

Will the Counsel accept ?

Whether the counsel will accept their appointment remains to be seen. It is known that one lawyer had offered to defend the prisoner, but he withdrew upon second consideration of the matter. Whether the eminent lawyers assigned will place duty in its strictest sense before whatever prejudice they may have against defending the assassin was the question that was generally discussed after the assignment was made. Assignment of counsel is a command of the court. Refusal to accept that assignment is contempt of court. Contempt of court is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or imprisonment or both, in the discretion of the court whose order has been defied. Those who best know Mr. Lewis and Mr. Titus say that their sense of duty to the State would impel them to accept the, assignment, unless they had reasons for asking to be excused apart from the character of the case itself.

Czolgosz's dumb Attitude.

The attitude of Czolgosz in court yesterday caused surprise to most of the spectators, but the police and the District Attorney were not entirely unexpectant of it. He betrayed not the slightest interest in the proceeding, maintained a stubborn silence and stared blankly either at the floor or straight ahead of him. The officials believe he is about to assume the role of an insane man or else is conforming to reputed anarchic teachings—the maintenance of a stubborn silence by a prisoner until he is convicted and all hope of rescue from death is gone, then the voicing in court of a bold declaration for anarchy. No one believes he is insane. Experts have declared he is not, and despite his apparent stupidity and stolidity in court yesterday he betrayed several signs of rationality.

Incidental to the bringing of the prisoner to City Hall, it was discovered that he has been confined in the Penitentiary, as was suggested in The Express yesterday, since his removal from Police Headquarters last Friday. He was brought from the Penitentiary to the Jail in the Black Maria. He was taken into the Jail through a rear door, then was ushered to the hall through the underground passage that crosses under Delaware Avenue. After the court proceeding he was returned to the Jail by the same route. He is now locked in a strong cell on the third floor, under an ample guard and will remain there, probably, until his trial. It is possible he will be arraigned in court today again to plead to the indictment. No matter how he pleads (if he pleads at all) the court cannot accept a plea of guilty to a charge of murder in the first degree. It is possible he will not be called upon to plead until counsel appears for him. That is for the District Attorney to decide.

Before the grand Jury.

The presentation of the evidence against Czolgosz to the grand jury began at 10.15 o'clock yesterday morning. During the 4 hours and 43 minutes spent in taking testimony, 28 witnesses were examined and the revolver with which the President was shot down, his clothing and the prisoner's statement to the police at the time of his arrest and which was reduced to writing, were presented. Dist.-Atty. Penney had charge of the presentation. He was assisted by his staff, Attorneys Sickman, Haller, Ticknor and Hinkley.

Dr. Herman Mynter was the first witness. Next came Dr. H. B,. Gaylord, next Dr. Herman B. Matzinger, next Dr. M. B. Mann. All those physicians, were present at the autopsy upon the President's body and were called as witnesses to tell the story of the bullet wounds. Each of them remained in the juryroom for about fifteen minutes.

Witness to the Crime.

Then came some of the eyewitnesses to the crime, men who were close by while the President was shaking hands with the people in the Temple of Music. The first of these witnesses was Albert L. Gallagher of Chicago, one of the United States secret-service men who were there to guard McKinley from any such attack. Gallagher's story was not long. His examination lasted fifteen minutes. As he left the session-room of the secret tribunal, James L. Quackenbush entered it. Evidently his was the most important evidence given during the morning session, as he remained in the juryroom from 11.30 to 12.15 o'clock. Mr. Quackenbush, as a member of the exposition committee on ceremonies, was at the President's fatal public reception and was close at hand when the shooting occurred. It is said he was one of the calmest, coolest persons there and that an instant after the shots were fired by Czolgosz, the experienced former prosecutor, noting that the President was in careful hands and that Czolgosz was caught and could not escape, was scanning the crowd to see if anyone was hurrying away from the scene. Had there been, Mr. Quackenbush would have had him overtaken and detained as a possible accomplice of the assassin. Instead, however, every person within the Temple was crowding toward the spot where the wounded President was, and the keen, cool scrutinizer became convinced that if the man who did the shooting had any accomplice, he was not in the building. In further proof of the lawyer's composure and foresight, it may be stated that it was he who, within a few seconds after the tragic happening, caused the doors to the Temple to be closed, so that none of those who were present could pass out until he had been looked over more thoroughly, and so that no important witnesses necessary to the prosecution of the assassin could escape.

Jury goes to Dinner.

After Mr. Quackenbush emerged from the grand-jury room, Capt. Louis L. Babcock, another member of the exposition committee on ceremonies, who was in the Temple of Music when the President was shot, gave his evidence. He told his story in a quarter of an hour. He was succeeded by Maj. Alexander R. Robertson, assistant commandant of the exposition police force. A detail of 20 exposition patrolmen under Maj. Robertson was assigned to duty at the Temple of Music during the reception. This detail was divided in two sections. One section was stationed outside the building, the other inside. The inside squad was composed of Patrolmen James, McCauley, Westenfelder, Sullivan, Merkie, Warner, Dougherty, Smith, Mahoney and Taylor. All those policemen were subpoenaed to appear before the grand jury and reported at City Hall yesterday morning.

Maj. Robertson was before the grand jury but seven minutes. It was 12.38 when be came out. The jury filed out after him, having adjourned for dinner.

Soldiers tell their Stories.

At 2 o'clock the grand jury reconvened, but it was 20 minutes before the examination of witnesses was resumed. H. F. Henshaw, director of music at the Temple, went into the juryroom and remained five minutes. He, too, was in the building when the crime was perpetrated. After him came Capt. W. A. Damer of the exposition police, who was in immediate command of the detail inside the building. Next came some soldiers of the 73d Company, Coast Artillery, which was part of the guard over the President in the buildiIng. The first was Private Louis Neff, the next Private Francis P. O'Brien, the next Corporal Louis Bertschey. Neff was in five minutes. O'Brien ten minutes, Bertschey eight minutes. Private Herbert Brooks was examined for six minutes; Private Fenenbaugh testified for one minute.

Next came a medium-sized man about 40 years old, with thin, sallow face, black hair and mustach and black clothes. His name is E. C. Knapp of Buffalo, an exposition visitor, who was in the Temple at the time of the shooting. After a seven-minute examination, he was let out, and Mrs. Van Dozen Davis, a negro, who had charge of the toilet-room in the Temple, was called. She remained before the jury for five minutes. She was succeeded by a negro named John Branch, the negro porter of the Temple, who was examined for ten minutes. Branch stood 20 feet back of the President when be was shot.

Police Chiefs heard.

Chief James F. Valelly of the exposition detective force gave the grand jury three minutes of his time.

Supt. William S. Bull of the Buffalo police force was the 20th witness. He entered the juryroom at 3.20 o'clock and came out seven minutes later, being succeeded by Asst.-Supt. P. V. Cusack, who remained only three minutes.

Fred H. Leiter, a timekeeper for the Exposition company, who was in the building and saw the shots fired, occupied five minutes. Charles J. Close, superintendent of the Temple of Music, gave testimony for six minutes. Close was within 20 feet of the President when he was shot. Following Close were several exposition policemen. The first was Fred Westenfelder, an eyewitness to the shooting, who told the story in five minutes. He and Patrolman Maloney are said to be the only two eyewitnesses among the exposition policemen. Next after Westenfelder was Patrolman James, who occupied six minutes.

Man who caught the President.

Then began the police detectives. Detective-Sergeant John J. Geary, who stood just to the left and a little behind the President, and who caught him as he was railing, was the first of these. He entered the grand-jury room at 3.52 o'clock and' remained for five minutes. After him was Geary's partner, Detective-Sergeant Albert Solomon, who also was close to the President when the fatal shots were fired. He was examined for ten minutes.

A little dark-haired young man with a slight dark mustache and gold spectacles, sat in a chair outside the jury-room apparently a little nervous as he awaited his turn. He declined to give his name and the police officers outside refused to divulge it, though they said he was not an important witness. He was next after Solomon and remained in the juryroom for seven minutes. He was the 28th and last witness.

He was the only man who refused to add his name to the roll of those who aided the prosecution by their testimony,

Withheld his Name.

"I have very good reasons for not wishing to be known in this matter," he said to an Express reporter. "I am a Buffalo man. I did not see the shooting and my testimony is really unimportant-at least I believe so and hope so. I don't expect to be called for the trial and so do not ‚wish to have my name dragged into the case."

It was 4.10 o'clock when this man emerged from the room. A few seconds later Dist.-Atty. Penney and Asst.-Dist.-Attys. Haller and Hinkley came out and went across the corridor to Mr. Penney's office. A couple of the grand jurors came out a moment later for a littel [sic] exercise. They returned a few minutes later. Stenographer Hory of the District Attorney's office came out. Then, it was rumored, deliberation over the evidence began. That was at 4.25 o'clock,

About this time Supt. Bull, who had remained in the District Attorney's office after giving his testimony, came out in the hall, and beckoned to Detectives Geary and Solomon, who left the building with him.

Two deputies stood on guard outside the juryroom. At 4.32 o'clock Dist.-Atty. Penney re-entered the juryroom, which disproved the rumor that the jurors had begun their deliberations. He came out a minute later and went to the County Court room which is on the same floor as the grand-jury room.

Jury makes its Report.

Five minutes later the jury filed out of its room and into the County Court. Judge Emery was on the bench awaiting a report from it. He had dismissed his trial jury in the morning to leave his court clear for the Czolgosz case. It took a minute for the clerk, to call the roll of the 21 grand jurors and receive their responses. Then, at 4.40 o'clock, Judge Emery asked of the jury:

"Have you any report to make?"

Theodore Krehbiel of Clarence, who is foreman of the jury, arose and replied:

"Yes, Your Honor, we have a partial report." He handed a typewritten document of three pages to Dist.-Atty. Penney, who, in turn, passed it to the judge. Judge Emery glanced at it briefly and said to the jury: "Gentlemen, you may be excused." The jury either did not understand or was not anxious to be excused at that moment, for the jurors remained in their seats for several minutes. Judge Emery passed the document to his clerk, who made a record of it. It was the indictment against Czolgosz. It was prepared by Dist.-Atty. Penney in accord with the vote of the jury, which, it is believed, was unanimous.

Text of the Indictment.

Indictments nowadays are seldom drawn with such extreme care and fullness of wording as is the Czolgosz indictment. It follows an old form, that nowadays sounds somewhat ridiculous, because of the tautology into which it sgreat [sic] care to cover every point leads it. The indictment contains two counts. In full, it is as follows:

Prisoner sent for.

After delivering the indictment, the District Attorney hurried to his office and did some telephoning within his private chamber. It was whispered about that he was arranging for the arraignment of the prisoner. Those who had gathered in the court to hear the grand jury's report remained and others came. Still, the courtroom was by no means crowded, as word of the indictment did not reached the public. It developed that Supt. Bull's departure with Detectives Geary and Solomon was for the purpose of getting the prisoner to the County Court as soon as possible after the grand jury made its return.

During the hour's wait that followed, the news of the expected arrival quietly spread through the building, and the Commissioners of Public Works and other officials and a score of newspapermen took up posts in the lower corridor and in the rear of the building, where it was expected by some he would arrive in a vehicle of some kind.

The police preparations were entirely in line with their previous policy of keeping the prisoner hidden from public view as much as possible. Asst.-Supt. Cusack and Geary and Solomon, the detectives who have been most closely associated with the investigation of the prisoner's movements, took the prisoner from the Penitentiary in the Black Maria and drove rapidly to the Jail. For the purpose of avoiding attracting attention they entered the Jail through the back door, and for the purpose of avoiding attracting a crowd in the streets about the City Hall, they took him through the underground passage.

Unknown to the watchers, a squad of policemen from the First Precinct, under the command of Capt. Regan, had been marshaled in the Jail earlier in the day. Capt. Regan was seen hurrying across Delaware Avenue from The Terrace just after 5.30 o'clock. He was going to join his forces in the escort of the prisoner through the tunnel and in his protection while in the courtroom. For reasons best known to Asst.-Supt. Cusack and Capt. Regan the patrolmen in uniform were kept out of sight in the basement of City Hall until the prisoner had reached the
courtroom.

Assassin's Head bowed.

It was 5.86 o'clock when Czolgosz was led up the stairs from the basement at the end of the hall. He was between Detectives Geary and Solomon, handcuffed to the latter, Chief Cusack bringing up the rear.

The prisoner had not been told of the President's death, it was said, and curious ones were watching to see what he would do when he noticed the drapings of mourning profusely arranged within the City Hall. As he stepped upon the landing of the ground floor he was confronted by a huge pillar wound with great strips of black and white crepe. One would think he could hardly have failed to see them. But to all appearance he did not. He shuffled along over the tiled floor with his head bent slightly and seemed to see only the floor or, the black space in his path.

They led him hurriedly eastward to the foot of the north staircase ascending to the second floor. He passed within fifteen feet of the spot where less than twelve hours before the casket containing the body of his victim bad laid in state.

The detectives spurned the elevators. They desired to get to the courtroom as obscurely as possible. They hurried the man with the hangdog expression on his face, hatless, mussy-haired and somewhat slovenly in his gait, up the stairs to the next floor, then turned to the left and forced him ahead of them into the courtroom. A rush of people followed the entrance into court. It was then that Capt. Regan and his hidden patrolmen made their appearance and formed a barricade that prevented others than those present from entering.

Camera fiend in Court.

Not violently, but none too gently, the officers hustled the assassin to the center of the courtroom, within the railing, and faced him toward Judge Emery. He was instantly half surrounded by those in the courtroom, whose curiosity led them to forget for the time being the dignity of the court. One man, a lawyer at that, so far forgot that dignity as to attempt to take a camera snapshot at him. Dist.-Atty. Penney stepped between him and the prisoner and chided him for the indiscrete action.

In the meantime, Czolgosz stood with bent bead and sullen face, seeming not to notice the hard time the officers were having to undo the handcuff on Solomon's wrist. He paid no attention to the gazes at him, some conservatively curious, others bold, some even threatening. The half-decline of his head might have been mistaken for an evidence of shame had it not been for the expression on his face. It was cold, impassive, stolid, stubborn.

His face, his figure, his clothes, every detail of his presence was studied by the crowd in the next few minutes. The gazes were not those of admiration, but rather, of menace.

The prisoner is five feet eight inches tall, of medium build, slightly stoop-shouldered, his right shoulder a little higher than the left. His face is thinner than is indicated by the photograph of him taken by the police the day after his arrest. That picture was published twice in The Express. So, too, the scraggly and scattered beard that has grown since he was confined hides the dimple in his chin which the picture shows. The beard is very dark, in strong contrast to his shock of curly, light sandy hair, which appeared in bad disorder. His cheeks are pallid, almost sallow. His eyes are of a cold gray, inclined to be bluish. His brow is low and carried a suggestion of a scowl which contributed to his generally stubborn expression. His nose is neither sharp nor blunt. It appears to be his best-looking feature. His lips are thin and were compressed as if with determination.

He wore a blueish coat of a fine striped pattern and trousers of a similar color, but of different pattern. He wore a laydown linen collar, but no tie. He had on a white shirt with a linen bosom that looked fairly clean, though somewhat crumpled. Detective Geary carried for him a light brown soft hat that had fallen off his head while he was being taken through the tunnel. His trousers were not entirely buttoned and his shoes were not fully laced, the tongue of one of them lopped over on the instep. His general appearance was that of a man who had been obliged to dress hastily. The clothes he had on were not those he wore at the time he did his dastardly business. His own coat and shirt had been badly torn in the violent handling he received just after the shooting.

He would not answer.

It took five minutes to undo the troublesome handcuff. When that was done Dist.-Atty. Penney addressed the prisoner. He raised his eyes for a moment as Mr. Penney asked:

"Czolgosz, have you got a lawyer?"

The prisoner stared at him momentarily and shook his head at if to say no. The shake was almost imperceptible. His lips parted as if to speak, but he made no utterance. He turned his eyes away from the District Attorney's face and dropped them again. That was the closest approach to a response the prisoner made.

"Have you got a lawyer?" repeated the District Attorney, a little louder and more sharply.

This time the culprit did not even move his eyes. All was silence and expectancy in the courtroom.

"I say, Czolgosz, have you got a lawyer?" said Mr. Penney again, louder and sharper than before.

The prisoner rolled his eyes a trifle, stared impudently in his questioner's face, but did not respond.

"Czolgosz, you have been indicted for murder in the first degree. Do you want counsel to defend you?" persisted the prosecutor.

The silence was almost painful, The eyes of the prisoner began to take on a vacant stare, as if the prisoner were deaf, or thinking, or insane.

"Czolgosz, look at me and answer," demanded Mr. Penney, stepping close to him and almost thrusting his face before the prisoner's.

The assassin might as well have been a [sic] statute. He not only did not speak nor move his head, but did not move his body.

"Your Honor," said Mr. Penney, turning to the court, "the defendant declines to answer and I respectfully suggest that counsel be assigned to defend this man and to ascertain what he had better do on his plea to the indictment before arraignment."

The judge then addresed [sic] the prisoner. "Czolgosz, have you counsel?" he asked. The prisoner looked up at the man on the bench and stared cooly into his sharp eyes, but made no answer. The judge told him commandingly, but the brute seemed fearless. In the meantime, Chief Cusack was shaking the prisoner by the sleeve and urging him in undertones to answer.

"Do the officers know whether or not this defendant has any counsel?" asked the court.

"No, sir," said Chief Cusack, and Detectives Geary and Solomon shook their heads.

Counsel named.

Judge Emery then said to the prisoner:

"Czolgosz, you have appeared for arraignment in the court without counsel. The law makes it the duty of the court to assign counsel for you. The Bar Association of our county has considered the matter and has suggested the names of certain men of high, character for such assignment. The court has seriously considered the question and after such consideration has concluded to follow the suggestions made by the association. The court, therefore, assigns the Hon. Loran L. Lewis and the Hon. Robert C. Titus as your counsel."

The assassin remained as immobile as ever during this speech, staring at the floor or at the lawyers' table between him and the judge's bench.

Judge Emery said to the men next to the prisoner:

"The officers will notify Judge Lewis and Judge Titus of their assignment."

"I'll do that, Your Honor, or have it done," said Mr. Penney.

Taken to the Jail.

Czolgosz stood, still staring blankly ahead of him, with his lips closed and his brow firmly set. At a signal from the District Attorney, the officers put on the handcuffs again, and then the murderer was hustled out of the court. There was a rush of spectators to follow them, but Capt. Regan's squad of patrolmen suddenly loomed up before them, just after the prisoner and his custodians had passed out, and refused to open the passage until they were safely in the tunnel on the way back to the Jail.

The prisoner was in court a trifle over [page torn here] minutes. He was taken to a cell on [page torn here] third floor, which is well fortified by intervening barriers of iron in the form of gates and doors and which in itself is a strong prison. He is under the immediate guard of Patrolman James Mahoney of the First Precinct, and a couple of deputy sheriffs, and protected by an outer guard of some strength.

Bar Association Letter.

After the Court session was over Judge Emery's statement as to his choice of counsel for the prisoner was explained by the presentation of the following letter:

Stubborn, not Insane.

"What was the matter, with Czolgosz in court?" Chief-of-Detectives Cusack was asked after the prisoner had been returned to the Jail.

"Just pure stubborness, possibly, but more likely a play to create the impression he is insane," was the reply. "I'll bet insanity will be his defense," added the officer positively. "Just before we started through the tunnel with him he was talking very freely to us. The moment he entered the court he became a clam. No, he is not insane. He is shrewder than some persons give him credit for."

Dist.-Atty. Penney scoffed at the idea that the prisoner had been "doped" to extract a further confession from him. "Nothing of that sort has been done," said Mr. Penney. "It seems to be purely a case of stubbornness. He has had several stubborn fits before during his confinement while under examination."

Asst.-Dist.-Atty. Hailer said: "His attitude is in perfect conformance to anarchist teachings. Anarchists are said to counsel their fellows under imprisonment for murder to preserve a stolid silence until it becomes apparent that there is no hope of avoiding the death penalty, then to get up in court when asked what they have to say before sentence is imposed and say,: 'Long live anarchy!' and rant about the principles of that doctrine."

[Source: Buffalo Express, September 17, 1901. The text of the original article is reproduced here in full.]

Return to top
Return to Leon Czolgosz and the Trial