Kansas Charley Tried for Murder
Defense Overpowered by Prosecution
Sep 19, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion
Newspaperman Swears Unlikely Words
Newspaper reporter Albert Stewart was called to the witness stand in the double murder trial of Kansas Charley. Stewart was the gentleman who, back on October 16, 1890, in Kansas, had taken down Charlie's confession. Now Charlie's attorney thought they might have a chance since newspaper reporters of the time were notorious for flowering-up their copy to make a better story for their readers. Also, the fact still remained that at the time of that interview Charlie had neither been assigned an attorney to advise him what he should or should not say. Neither had the boy been told that he did not have to say anything at all. On the witness stand reporter Stewart took out a notebook he swore was the same he'd used to take down his interview with Charley Miller and began to read aloud for the court. The notes stated that: "Charley said when he sat in the boxcar and thought they [the two murdered boys] were asleep he conceived of the idea of killing them for their money." His notes also stated that Charley had had "a conception of the killing." It is, and was, doubted that the boy had or would ever use the words Conceived and Conception in any circumstances. But both of these words were allowed to stand no matter how hard Taggart protested. The court allowed the reporter to read from his notes and took his scribbled words as if they were gospel its self.
Hunger as a Motive for Murder
Taggart's next line of defense was to gain the sympathy of the jury by showing that Charlie had killed out of ravenous hunger. Both the prosecution and the court overruled this concept. There was only one last desperate step to take if Kansas Charley was going to escape the hangman's rope.
Kansas Charley Takes the Stand
It was now time for Kansas Charley to give the performance of his life, a performance much greater than any Dime Novel hero had ever made. Charley Miller must now take the witness stand in his own defense.
Frank Taggart, Charlie's attorney, began his questioning of his client by bringing out the sad facts of the boy's past life, asking Charley questions as he went along. However, Taggart failed in his attempt to draw sympathy from the court by never revealing that Charley had repeatedly, over time, been whipped for wetting the bed. Nor did Taggart show Charley as a serious, hardworking boy. Instead, he queried him as to why he repeatedly moved from one location to another.
When Taggart asked Charley what had happened in Sidney on the way to Cheyenne, Charley answered that he had met these "two young fellows." "The ones that I killed."
Taggart asked if there had been any bad words between Charley and the two boys. Charley answered that there hadn't been; thus ruling out a plea of self-defense. As Charlie's attorney presented questions to the boy, Charley answered them in his usual unemotional manner. What may have seemed cold and uncaring to judge and jury may have been a case of one small, impoverished youth having had considerable feeling belittled and beaten out of him. Besides, Dime Novel heroes don't cry.
The Prosecution Takes its Turn
Prosecutor Walter Stoll showed that many children were poor and orphaned but did not become murderers and that many children are whipped for bed-wetting. He made it clear that Charlie's life had been no worse than thousands of other children in similar situations. He attempted to show that Charley Miller had taken on the nickname of "Kansas Charley" only after he had committed the murders. Stoll stressed that this was done as a way for Charley to brag about his "bloodthirsty deed." Charley corrected the prosecutor but the damage was done.
Kansas Charley Tried for Murder, continues with Kansas Charley Admits Murder.
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