State v. Peare

The defendant, L. W. Peare, was convicted of the crime of murder in the first degree, sentenced to be hanged, and now appeals to this court. He is charged with having shot and killed Jim Culver with a rifle on December 27, 1922. To have a proper conception of the questions before us for decision it is necessary to give a brief recital of the facts and circumstances surrounding the commission of this crime. Peare is a rancher about sixty-seven years of age, who for many years lived with his wife in an isolated and mountainous section of Coos County. Since boyhood he had been in the habit of…