State v. Kotlarek

Knutson, Chief Justice.

This is an appeal from a judgment entered pursuant to defendant’s plea of guilty to the crime of first-degree manslaughter.

So far as an incomplete record indicates, the facts do not seem to be seriously in dispute. On April 25, 1965, defendant, Thomas Kotlarek, was visiting at the home of Robert Kaiser and the woman who was supposed to be his wife. All three had been drinking heavily. Exactly what happened is not to be found in the record, but Kaiser was shot four times by a single-shot rifle that was so dilapidated that the empty cartridge had to be removed from the…