State v. Smith

— The defendant was convicted of the crime of assaulting Henry Goebel with the intent to murder him. The defendant was about 59 years old, and had spent most of his life in and about the town of What Cheer. He appears to have been a “jack-of-all-trades,” doing common labor of all kinds for whoever might call him.

The prosecuting witness, Goebel, was 63 years old, and his occupation at the time in question and for several years past- was farming. He lost his wife the preceding April.

For eight or nine years previous, Smith had been living with a woman whose maiden name was Jessy Surber. She was…