State v. Rudolph

85 S.W. 584, 187 Mo. 67, 1905 Mo. LEXIS 248
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedMarch 10, 1905
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 85 S.W. 584 (State v. Rudolph) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Rudolph, 85 S.W. 584, 187 Mo. 67, 1905 Mo. LEXIS 248 (Mo. 1905).

Opinions

FOX, J. —

“On the sixteenth day of February, 1904, there was filed in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of Franklin county, Missouri, .the affidavit of O. L. Vedder, charging the defendant, William Rudolph, alias William Anderson, with having murdered Charles J. Schumacher on the twenty-fourth day of January, 1903. Afterwards, and on the same day, the prosecuting attorney filed his information, based on said affidavit, formally charging., the defendant with murder.”

Appellant, by motion to quash duly filed, challenged the validity of the information, which motion was by the court overruled. There is no necessity for reproducing here that motion; it will be given proper attention during the course of the opinion. Defendant was duly arraigned and the trial proceeded. Upon the trial the testimony on the part of the State tended to establish the following state of facts:

“That on the night of December 26, 1902, the Bank of Union, at Union, Missouri, was burglarized by two men, and a large amount of money and other property was stolen. It afterwards developed that the parties who burglarized the bank were the defendant and Fred Lewis, alias Fred Collins. Collins has been tried, found guilty of murder in the first degree, and hanged in accordance with the judgment of this and the trial court, for the murder of Charles J. Schumacher.
“The burglary was committed by the use of nitroglycerine, with which the robbers blew open the vault and safe. These men were observed in the act of burglarizing and robbing the bank; but they escaped with their booty, which consisted of a large amount of gold, silver and paper money, in the sum of about fourteen thousand dollars, together with eighty or ninety thousand dollars worth of bonds and bills receivable.
“The deceased, at the time of the burglary of the bank, was in the employ of the Pinkerton Detective [75]*75Agency, and was detailed to discover and apprehend the persons connected with the burglary of the bank. Accordingly he was sent to Franklin county to make such investigations as he deemed expedient. In making these investigations, he traveled over the greater portion of Franklin county, and reached Staunton on the twenty-first or twenty-second of January, and there discovered that the defendant, who had been from his home, which was situate near Staunton, for about four years, had recently returned and had brought with him another man known in the neighborhood as Collins, but whose real name was Fred Lewis.
“The deceased’s suspicions were leveled against these men and acting upon his suspicions, and from the circumstances and information obtained, he, in company with a young man of the neighborhood, left Staunton on the morning of the twenty-second of January, two days before the killing, ostensibly for the purpose of hunting rabbits, but in reality to make further investigation as to the truth of his suspicions that the defendant and Collins had burglarized the bank. During the course of the day, they reached the premises of Frank Rudolph, who is the stepfather of the defendant, and where the defendant was then staying. The deceased and his comrade knocked at the door of the Rudolph home, and asked for a drink of water. The door was opened just wide enough to permit one of Rudolph’s sisters to hand out a cup of water. The Avater was drunk and then deceased stated that he and his companion had been hunting, were hungry and asked if they could obtain dinner. Rudolph’s sister retired from the doorway, when defendant came up and inquired what it was that the deceased wished. He was advised, and thereupon he said, ‘Hand me your guns, gentlemen.’ The guns were handed to the defendant and by him placed in a corner of the room, while deceased and his companion ate dinner.
“The meal finished, the deceased and his associate [76]*76departed. "When they returned to Staunton, the deceased applied to a justice of the peace for a search warrant, in order that he might search the Rudolph home, and also a warrant for the arrest of William Rudolph. The warrants were obtained. At about the same time he requested the sheriff of the county to come to Staunton and assist in making the arrest. The sheriff sent his deputy, Louis Yedder, to Staunton to assist; but before leaving Union, Yedder obtained a warrant for the arrest of Rudolph upon the charge of burglary, after which he organized a posse of men at Staunton, composed of the deceased, Emanuel Cromer and B. F. Tichenor, which posse accompanied the deputy sheriff to the Rudolph home, which was located about four miles northwest of Staunton. The Rudolph house is about sixty feet long, forty feet wide, two stories high, with four doors on the west side, faces west, is situate on a slight elevation which slopes westward. It is located near the edge of a clearing, on which trees were standing at various places.
“The deceased, together with the posse, approached the Rudolph home from the west side. The Rudolph family, at this time, consisted of Frank Rudolph, stepfather to the defendant, Nancy Rudolph, defendant’s mother, and defendant’s two sisters. These persons, together with Collins and one Harmes, an uncle of the defendant, were in the house at the time of the approach of the posse. One of the defendant’s sisters, from a window of the house, observed the posse approaching. She advised the defendant of the observation, and the evidence on behalf of the State shows that defendant and Collins sprang to their feet, looked out of the window, and the defendant said: ‘It is them.’ Whereupon Collins inquired, ‘What shall we dol’ and the defendant said: ‘We will shoot our way out.’
“The evidence further shows that the deceased, the deputy sheriff and two other parties accompanying them, approached the house in the ordinary manner. [77]*77Tichenor had been told to go to the northwest corner of the house, in order to prevent escape from that quarter. The other three men, Schumacher, Cromer and Vedder, went to the second door and knocked. As soon as they knocked they heard some one running about in the house and they knocked again. The door at which they knocked was not opened; but the defendant and Collins came rushing out of another door of the house with weapons in their hands, the defendant having a Winchester aud a pistol and Collins a pistol in each hand. As soon as defendant and Collins emerged from the house, they commanded the parties outside to throw up their hands. The deceased and Cromer complied with the command; and defendant and Collins began firing their weapons at once. The deceased made no effort to fire his gun, and held the same in one of his uplifted hands and while in this position he received several wounds in his body, one of these striking him in the head.
“After the deceased had fallen, the defendant took his gun and cartridges. The body of the deceased remained where it fell from ten o ’clock in the morning until five in the afternoon, when a number of persons in company with the sheriff went to the premises and removed it to the undertaker’s establishment.
“Defendant and Collins immediately went to a neighbor’s, where they purchased some horses and rode away. Soon thereafter they met two men by the name of Nehsiser and Meyersieck, who had been advised of the killing and who were seeking to apprehend the defendant and Collins. The defendants ordered these to throw up their hands. Several shots were exchanged; but the defendant and Collins escaped.

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Bluebook (online)
85 S.W. 584, 187 Mo. 67, 1905 Mo. LEXIS 248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rudolph-mo-1905.