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P E T E R   B O L E M A,  having been produced as a witness for and in behalf of the people, and having been first duly sworn, testified as follows:

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. COBURN

Q

Where do you live?

A

I live four miles north and a mile east of Nunica.

Q

How far is it from Denison?

A

I think about seven miles.

Q

How far north is if from Denison

A

About five miles I guess.

Q

Was it any west at all?

A

Yes, sir, and two miles west.

Q

How far is it from Sullivan?

A

Three miles and a half.

Q

What direction is Sullivan from your place?

A

North?

Q

Directly north?

A

Yes, sir, just about straight north.

Q

Is there an angle in the road?

A

Yes, sir, about a half or three quarters of a mile from Sullivan it works to the west a little.

Q

A little north and a little west?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

Do you remember the time of the Golden murder?

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A

Yes, sir.

Q

Where were you on the 24^th day of April 1906, the day right after the murder?

A

I was to home, I was in Nunica and I was in Coopersville, sir.

Q

Did you go to Nunica first?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

What time did you leave home?

A

In my judgment it would be about, well I couldn’t state exactly, I guess it was about between seen and eight o’clock in the morning.

Q

And which way or how did you go?

A

I went a mile west first and four miles south.

Q

Well I mean, did you go afoot or with a team?

A

No, I took my team, horse and buggy.

Q

You went west first?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

While you were going west did you see anybody?

A

Yes, sir, when I come about eighty rods or a little more from the corner of my place somebody come across the field.

Q

From which way?

A

From the southeast.

Q

You say he came from the fields?

A

Through the fields, yes, sir.

Q

And you were about eighty rods ahead of him?

A

No.

Q

How far were you from him?

A

I guess about fifteen or twenty rods, about that.

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Q

And what did you do when you saw this man?

A

First I think I looked back two or three times kind of, kind of showing him that I was willing to give him a ride.

Q

And how fast did your horses go?

A

Oh I guess they went rather slow, I didn’t start them very fast at first, at the first start.

Q

You walked your horses then so that this man could catch up?

A

I guess I walked them quite a ways, yes, sir.

Q

Do you remember the way this man was clothed?

A

No. Well I know about some of it, I know.

Q

Well just what kind of a hat did he wear?

A

I think he had a slouch hat, that is I am pretty sure of it.

Q

Could you tell the color?

A

No, sir.

Q

What kind of a coat did he wear?

A

Well it was a coat, I could not say much about it, I could not make that plain, it looked to me as if he had a kind of a wide short coat.

Q

Wide and short?

A

Wide and opened, it looked as if it was too big.

Q

By a short coat what do you mean?

A

Not an overcoat.

Q

How far did it extend down towards his knees?

A

Well I could not state that very well.

Q

Did it go down below his knees?

A

No.

Q

By an overcoat then you would mean a coat that would go down below the knees?

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A

It didn’t look to me like a short overcoat either.

Q

Did you notice the color of his pants?

A

I think that person wore overalls, blue overalls.

Q

About how tall was this man if you remember?

A

He was a middling tall fellow, about five foot and a half or a little more.

Q

Which direction was he traveling?

A

He went west.

Q

You were also going west?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

It is up hill somewhat?

A

Oh there is a little knoll about thirty rods.

Q

You were traveling towards the knoll?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

And looking down at the man?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

About how heavy was this man?

A

Oh he was a middling sized man I guess.

Q

How heavy about?

A

Oh about 160 pounds something like that I think.

Q

Would you know this man if you should see him again?

A

No, I guess not.

Q

Now after you drove over this hill or this knoll did you see him again?

A

No, sir.

Q

Couldn’t you see him on account of the knoll?

A

Yes, sir, but I wasn’t interested because I see strange persons before and I went right on, I didn’t take no pains at all.

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Q

The reason you went on was because he did not appear to want to ride with you?

A

No, that is what I thought.

Q

When you went slow he slacked up?

A

Yes, sir, he went slow.  I don’t know if he slacked up on account of seeing me but he went slow, that is all I can say about that.

Q

Did he go slower when he slacked up than what he did when you saw him coming through that field?

A

I didn’t slack up sir, I just went right on and I looked back to show him that I was willing to give him a ride, and that is all I know about it.

Q

After you reached the top of that knoll did you drive faster?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

You didn’t see anything more of him?

A

No, sir.

Q

Now you then went to Nunica

A

Yes, sir.

Q

How long did you stay there?

A

That I cannot say, I took the next car or the car to Coopersville pretty soon.

Q

Did you meet anybody on the way to Nunica?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

Who did you meet there?

A

A fellow by the name of Taylor.

Q

Did you have any conversation with him?

A

Yes, sir, he stopped me while I was going to Nunica and commenced to talk with me, if I seen a strange person.