In Sandpoint 100 years ago: Sensational testimony given in miner’s murder trial

From our archives,

100 years ago

Miner Dennis O’Leary’s murder trial in Sandpoint included some sensational testimony about “the alleged relations existing between Hossler and Mrs. O’Leary.” Hossler was shot in O’Leary’s bed, after O’Leary arrived home unannounced from Wallace.

Mrs. O’Leary also testified that, after her husband stormed up to the bedroom and shot Hossler, she found a revolver belonging to Hossler on the floor. She said she hid it and removed the cartridges.

O’Leary was claiming self-defense and said he opened fire after Hossler made a move to extract a gun from under a pillow.

A correspondent reported that Mrs. O’Leary withstood a “grilling cross-examination” in good shape, but was “visibly affected” and later had to be “assisted from the courtroom at the conclusion of her testimony.”

From the Halloween beat: A total of 22 high school students in Colville were arraigned on charges of delinquency for “alleged Halloween depredations.”

They were released by the judge, but only after “bitter talks were made” by the judge and their parents. The parents were particularly bitter, apparently, since they had to hire “a number of lawyers.”

The exact nature of their depredations was not specified.