roseburg Mews-
T?N .
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Over 20,000 PeopUR.ad
the News-Review. - It'i
V.
Z ifc- KosKitritn itEviKW.
In Which U Included Die Bveninc Newt and The Roteburs Review
ROSEBURQ, OREGON, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1921
W W a
great aJvertieing me
dium. .
1
onnn
a
ODD
I IIW
JUHSUMENTS OF STATE AND
DEFENSE CONCLUDED LATE
TODAY-JURY INSTRUCTED
Lecution Says Brumfield Is a Master Criminal Defense De
clares Man Is Insane and Not Responsible for Acts
Brumfield Listens Calmly to Argument. .
.....i M iiminfield will lrub-
LTbww hl ll"e "',i,,u
Li Uie today. "inKiiiu
Ctartruct the Jury and they wll
LL to delllierate. No forecast
rlv. u to when a verdict will be
P""1- . . ., ti.
At miwterllii amu -
... ud defense attorneys Uxhiy
Lied Urge crowds.
He murdered Dennis Russell. It
a cold-blooded, deliberate, ra
,31 murder, nothing else. There
a his makeup all of the elements
criminality. He possesses the
txlMl mind. His skillfully lam
is embodied crueiu. mro.
;wltr. and every element which
M Almighty has condemned. His
rritr knew n touch of human
in. H Is guilty of committing a
oU-Mooded. wanton murder anil
Stuld py the penalty with his life,
if lied on the witness Bland and he
unot decency enough in his make-
(p to resort to any truthruiiness.
Kichard Melvin Brumfield sat with
j ejw ilmost piercing the back of
purr District Attorney tiammers-
u the prosecutor lot fall those
':arfng words.
Some of the iurors let their Raze
kuder to the defendant to see how
tfitcused man was taking such an
imlrnment.
Brumfield sat erect. Ills jaws were
t light and his hnnds clenched. He
tu tot shivering, shuddering,
kinpering, or showing any symp-
Irai of weakness. His gaze was
'nij, defiant.
Tie tharge of murder with which
:i nan Is charged was explained in
lull. The grucsomeness of the
!.:il light of July 13th was de
rtbed vividly by the attorney, but
defendant was not moved. No
Iks of remorse passed across bis
Pintenanee as the bloody, mutll-
d, mangled and headless form of
Mil Russell was described to the
;rr.
Rumors of his weakening floated
ITOtd the lail this mornine before
f;i appearance, hut if Rrumfield
ftkened today then the whole unl
,fw li a total nervous wreck.
"1 Bnimfield, with her face a
tie whiter than usual, sat with her
p'k towards the prosecuting officer.
"railed now and then when men
wu made of "Doctor's mua-
'." or the "I.iiltA I nnlw cl.tim-
'nnald." or the charge that the
'jrder was "Hie result of a dlaboll
11 plan."
She continued to smile bravelv in
whvw of the hitter charges. Her
na am not look at her.
"ben the defense larlpit their
'tutaent In favor of rirumfield. the
'Mflaot moved ills chair up a lit
.Mra. Brumfleld turned and faced
"lorors. and the accused man and
Wife, clcnrheri lhf.li. hnnC-
pthtr. "
the d"fon Produced argu
.V"'1"! argument to the effect
Bnimfield d.d not kill Russell
mat the man was suffering from
L, ""ease, me defendant re
" Wirhtly an l smiled at his wife,
ootn the iri.n.n.. . l -
nL. w,r" 'f'llPnt. Many
"ne po.nts wore made by both
and the ficht was to the finish.
. ne ,i lleinmivtrntb
M i . -" 'n'"-!! were pre-
to the j,,.- Ju(lf,e Bingham
Mtl. ,p,r:''"r' 'hat any dem-
ttrieo . (il"''"r"val. would be re-tui.-Tv'??'""""
"f eourt. and
an flne or Imprla-
meniley Uuue, f1)r Stat.
W.,".","ri" Attorney Jos
orney Joseph
"nts i.. prw" r'",1 the state's ar-
before t .i. .
, n1 'he Pthos
eU ,TS,0"rn broneht the women
?.. lr' Whn bringing
i.."r p"lnt i'i "n
UfflM lll'h 1 j ' u 1,,nr bT
W. iSl":out hl ddr- He
' theT"1 by "nK" the
i : "ursi attention to
courtesy, and the court for its fair
and impartial rulings. The indict
ment was then read, in order to give
the jury their bearings.
Given Jury ItrsponxihUity.
"It is not the duty of the state of
Oregon to convict this defendant. It
is not the ditty of the defense to ac
quit him. It Is our duty to produce
the evidence. Aftar that the respon
sibility is shifted from our shoulders
to the shoulder of you twelve men,"
be said.
Had I're-concelved Plan.
"It is not necessary to go back
further than the 26th day of June,
1921. That date has atruck me as
being important. It strikes me that
from the evidence in this case the
26th day of June was when this de
fendant conceived in his mind the
purpose to take a human life. This
defendant and his family visited the
home of the Merediths on the 2fth
day of June. Dennis Russell, was
there. Now you men know from the
evidence In this case that the differ
ence in the social position of the de
ceased and this defendant was such
that this defendant would not care
to fraternize with Dennis Russell.
The evidence shows that this was the
first time the defendant had an oc
casion to visit the Meredith home
and Dennis Russell was present upon
that first visit; and then and there
and on the 26th day of June, it was
agreed that Dennis Russell should
return to the home of the Merediths
on the 10th day of July and this de
fendant would be there and they
were going out upon a hunting trip.
The defondant was again a visitor at
the Meredith home on the 10th day
of July, but Dennis Russell for some
reason was not there. But it strikes
me, gentlemen of the Jury, that on
the 26th day of June and when the
defendant observed In so far as Ihe
evidence shows, for the first time
the form and physique of Dennis
Russell rleht then and there the
Idea of making away with him of
substituting Dennis Russell for him
self first occurred to him.
Motive KMtnhltHhed.
Now while the court will Instruct
you that it Is not incumbent upon the
state in this case to show a motive,
the motive is ao apparent that I don't
think we could conceal it If we
wanted to do so. Now bear In mind,
gentlemen of the Jury, that this de
fendant had Insurance to the amount
of $20,000. We have a right to in
fer from the testimony that tne
financial affairs of this defendant
were not In a satisfactory condition.
When he went to the two banks on
tho 11th dav of July it was neces
sary for him to state why he wanted
the money. His needs were so great
on this occasion that this man who
had lived here in the city of Uose
burg and who had transacted busi
ness with the banks and other peo
ple, who had a good reputation, who
was a civic leader in the life and af
fairs of this city it was necessary
for him to tell the Douglas National
bank that he needed this money to
pay on men who were working ror
him on the farm, and then to tell an
other bank exactly the same story.
That Is Just a part, in my opinion, of
the diabolical plan which he con
ceived when he visited the Meredith
home and for the first time met ien
nla Russell.
Hail Systematic Man.
"There was a well-conceived and
systematic plan In the mind of this
defendant. He began to arrange his
affairs, and If you gentlemen will In
spect tho office calendar you will see
that fltitwiinimetiis were made right
nlnn hut not hevond the 13th of
Inlv ercent In one or two Instances.
Tho wrliin of the letter to the
steamshln company the defendant
has admitted that It was his hand
writing, but when confronted, and
not knowing at the time that the
handcuffs were slipped upon him, and
before he had time to formulate
some fabrication that the Jury might
believe, he remembered nothing
prior to July 10. He bad forgotten
ih. loiior Ha did not know that
thla letter was In the possession of
JURORS WHO HOLD FATE OF DR. BRUMFIELD
Here are the 12 men who are sitting In Judgment at the trial of Dr. It. M. ltrumflcld for the murder of
Iennui Russell. The photo wastaken at tbe noon hour while they were eating lunch at (he I mpqua Ho
tel. The picture shows, left to right: George C. Scwell, Myrtle Creek; Josepii Winllord, l'uiua;
. M, Hartshorn, Kutherlln, all seated; Deputy Sheriff "Two Gun" Hopkins, standing; Frank I'rlnule,
Klkhead, scaled; Kay Clark, l uipqua hotel steward, KoMburg; Dick liana.,, Yoncalla, and M. U Conn.
Melrose, all staniUug; Ainos B. Crlpp, Kiddle, seated In background; Fred Parker, Sr., Canyonville,
seated In foreground; Vincent Applegate, Yoncalla, seated in rear; ltalllff 11. C. Powell, standing; J. F.
McTlanalian, Oakland; George F.dds, Yoncalla, and W. K. CHngeniwel, Looking Glass, all seated.
HARDINC HOLDS WEAPONS
WITHiWHICHjTO PREVENT
COMPLETE RAILROAD TIE-DP
3Ttwe ji,-
..r. - . . .
President Assured That He Can Bring Sufficient Pressure to
Bear to Keep Mails and Foodstuffs Moving Crim
inal Proceedings to be Last Resort.
Courtesy of The Portland Telegram.
"ot. the counsel for their the officers of the county. But when
confronted with It in this court of
Justice, although admitting and
recognizing the handwriting as oeing
that of himself, he tells you. gentle
men of the Jury, that he has no
recollection of having written It. If
he had had decency enough In his
makeup to have said that ho wrote
that letter and then attempted to ex
plain it, at least we might have given
him credit for having some truthful
ness In his makeup. But no he re
sorted to his first expedient that of
'I dou't remember.'
Accounts for Change In Dentist.
"There has been some testimony
as to a change In the demeanor of
this gentleman Just before this hor
ror was committed. I am not sur
prised. He was too busy. Hia evil
mind was too much occupied with
formulating a plan so that he could
murder this man who had never
harmed him in any way, and then
escape the consequences of it. He
was planning when he wrote the let-
tnr he was planning when he went
to these two banks he lied to those
two banks for the purpose of getting
money that he might have some to
pay his expenses while a fugitive
from Justice.
Hard to Kstablish Identity.
"You realize what difficulties the
state had in even establishing the
identity of the victim. It may occur
to you that the state of Oregon re
sorted to unusual measures in order
to establish the guilt of this defend
ant. It may occur to you as being
peculiar that the state had an ex
pert on blood make a test of the
blood found near the Russell cabin.
If that had not been done the coun
sel would have stood In front of you
men and argued that It was a rabbit
or a skunk that was killed. But that
was human blood. That testimony
. . nt..H And that human
blood was found immediately subse
quent to the disappearance oi ueniua
Russell. No blood was upon that
pavement before the evening of July
''"For a long time preceding that
evening, people who were In the
t MMinr that wav before that
little humble cabin were In the habit
of seeing Dennis kusscii sunns
.i in.ni nl his r.-ihln. smoking
his Pipe, with his faithful dog by his
side greeting those who passed in a
'j. ...annnr li was otilv after
rii-ii'ii .
his disappearance that the human
., a .... f..unt KB the hlrhway a
hnri distance from his habitation
So gentlemen, there is rurely no
doubt in your minds that It was the
blood of Ilennl Rusll.
i,inniifiil llr SUter.
iiiii..kl m ihe mutilated hodv of
Dennis Russell was a part nf his
scalp. If 'here Is any doubt In the
jl r vnn veniremen as to the
IIIUMI" -
identity of the body, you P'irHy were
lA trhnn I.IIPV 111 1 1 II.
...i- ..nin.rv aiatpr of Ttrnnld Ru
pin mi, vi.n""'.-t - - .
sell exsmlned the scalp of her d'-ad
brother and when she pressed the
i. tn her Una and
I broke into tears could you gentle-
.men longer Believe wis. ini .
I i- h.r iir in tha sea Id of
BS yiwwi's '-
a stranger That woman moves and
has her being In a different atmos
phere In which this defendant has
moved she is Just one of God's
plain, common people. She belongs j
lit UIUI UlaBS uiu buiiii: no uiuo. u u-.
Don't Know How He Died.
"It is not necessary for the state
of Oregon to establish how this man
came to his death. The indictment
Bays that he came to his death In a
manner unknown. Hence it is not
incumbent upon tho state to say
whether he was first struck In the
head or whether he was killed by the
two murderous bullets fired Into his
back, or whether ho was killed by
having his head severed from his
body. All that Is incumbent upon
the state Is to convince you that Den
nis Russell is dead.
Necessary to Prove Killer.
"But It is necessary for us to prove
who killed Dennis Russell. We find
at the scene of the wreck tho car
the admitted property of the defend
ant. We find at the scene of Ihe
wreck the, ' 30-30 automatic rifle
which Is the undisputed properly or
the defendant. In that pool of blood
on the highway was found a 30-30
automatic cartridge. We find the
knlra which was presented to this
defendant by a friend of the family,
at the scene of the wreck. We find
the ring of this defendant upon tne
burned finger of Dennis Russell.
How did it get there? Aren't you men
satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt
that this defendant Is responsinie tor
the death of Dennis Russell?
Flight Proven Ills Guilt.
"Then immediately following the
discovery of the burning car. and
from that time on until tne iztn any
of August, 1921. this defendant was
in hiding. Why did he nee irom me
scene of his dastardly crime? It Is
sn old saying that the wicked flee
when no man pursueth but the right
eous are bold as a lion. And you see
no more of this murderer until Ser
geant Watigh of the Royal North
west Mounted Police, slipped the
handcuffs on his wrlsis near Calgary
aliout the middle of August.
Can't F.ipluiii ')tery llox.
"The shipping of the box and the
other matters In this case are of nt
concern. Just what part they played
In this drama I am unable to say. I
am not sufficiently Interested In It to
rive It any particular consideration.
The ewldence Is so plain in this case
that we don't have to resort to
psychology and ' schemes of that
kind for Ihe purpose of working out
to our entire satisfaction Just how
this was done and why. The evidence
shows conclusively that it was a coin
blooded, deliberate, rational murder
and nothing more .'ust plain, cold
blooded, deliberate, rational murder
that's all.
Hays lefenilnl Xot Insane.
"The defendant is the same as any
other man with this difference he
has In his mske-up the elements of
criminality, and when awakened they
were sufficiently strong to pass Into
an overt sot. That Is the difference
between the msko up of this defend
ant and other men that you aee, so
you men are not going to be able to
reason as this man reasons, because
he has the criminal mind. It will he t
impossible without accusing you or
being criminals to say that your,
minds could reason the same as this
man's and so understand why he
committed the various acts.
"When this defondant removed
his ring from his own guilty finger
and placed It upon the finger of the
man he so cruelly murderer, are you
going to say that act was without
guidance of thought or direction?
Ills counsel are going to say that
when he did that he was suffering
from primary dementia, mixed Insan
ity, or compound Insanity. Are you
men going to say that he was walk
ing In his sleep when he did that?
No. I have got too much respect for
your Intelligence to believe that.
Give Thanks to Providence.
"If It had not been for Divine
Providence, there would have been a
bodv resting In a grave, and at the
head of that grave would have been
a stone engraven with the name of
Richard M. Ilrunnleld. Died July 13.
1921, aged 38 years' and with that
body In that grave and with that
tombstone at the head, this defend
ant would have been In Australia or
some other place, posing as the
farmer by proxy.
Would Disgrace Kuniell I nniUy.
"Ills cruelty did not attain lis per
fection when he conceived the sub
stitution of a body of a man mutil
ated In a horrible manner, but he
wanted to cant Ihe stlcma upon the
Russell family that Dennis Russell
had murdered Dr. Ilrnmfleld, and
then while the people of the com
munity were still discussing the ter
rible tragedy, Dennis Russell would
be regarded as a fugitive from Jus
tice. Talk about a skillfully laid
plan tnlk about cruelty, vlclous
nets and depravity, and every ele
ment that (lod Almighty has con
demned! "I feel safe In saying that the
counsel will picture In terms even
more terrible than I have used the
horrlbleness of the act, and then say
that no sane nian or a nian who was
mentally responsible would commit
such a cruel murder. Hut bear In
mind, gentlemen of the Jury, that If
the merciless killing of another I'
ascribed to Insanity, then the very
feroclly of a crime will furnish Im
munity. If that werq law, then all the mur
erer would have to do. would be to
do It in such a horrllile manner,
that he very rhasfllnesa of the art
would oause the Jury to ronrliide
that he was Insane at the time and
so he would client Jiisllce.
Don't Want Prejudiced Verdict.
"I don't want a verdict at the
hands of a Jury that Is the result
of prejudice or passion. Hut It Is
difficult for me when I draw a men
tal pletiire of this horrible crime, to
restrsln myself. The terrlbleness of
It. the taking of the life of a fel-low-belug
who had never harmed
him or any other person and doing
It for a purely mercenary purpose
And thu manner In which he dH It
(Bv United Press).
WASMINUTOX. Oct. IS. I'resl
dnt Harding has been assured that
if It comes to an actual show-down
in tho railroad rike situation, he
has weapons powerful enough to pre
vent the nation-wide paralysis of the
nation's transportation system. The
following weapons would pro! ably
be made ivallahlo for the president's
use. The tying up of tho brother
hoods strike fluid, as was done In
the coal strike; Criminal proceed
ings on the grounds of luterft.rei.ee
with the Interstate copin.erce, a last
resort which would land tho bro
therhood heads in juil. The taking
over of the railroads under the na
tional defense act to keep mails and
food moving. I'nder this latter au
thority the government might even
draft strikers Into service to run the
trains. It was stated.
Ynrdiuastei-s Will Not Strike.
COIA'MIIUS, Ohio, Oct. 19. Tho
national headquarters of the yard
musters with a-membership of eight
thousand throughout tho country,
announced that its members will re
main at work In Ihe event of a rail
road strike.
Government Darks Hoard.
city tJnlttcl Hrem.)
CHICAGO. Oct. 19. Tho Vnlted
States railroad labor board today
took steps to avert the threatened
nation-wide railroad strike. The gov-
why, gentlemen, his cruelty knew
no touch of human pity. They say
he was Insane because he butchered
up his victim. They say ho was in
sane because his grandfather walk
ed In his sleep. They say he was In
sane because he whistled occasion
ally In his office. Hut ho says him
self Hint he had a 'lapse of memory.'
His mind was blank until the Immi
gration official stopped him at the
border line near Hlalne. Washington,
and told him that he could go no
further because he was a laborer.
Then, in his dazed and confused con
dition, when ho was suffering from
primary dementia and mixed lusnnlty
and compound Insanity, ho went to
a hotel and got a room and shaved
himself, until next morning ho was a
well-dressed, polished. Intelligent
looking Individual and had no diffi
culty In getting Into Canada.
Was Pnrngon of PerfiN'tlon.
"Then we find hfm In I.sko I-oulse
enjoying the society of the chamber
maid telling her not about himself.
He never told her ho was a cold
blooded murdr-rer. Me Imposed him
self upon that Innocent woman and
lei her to believe that Instead of be
ing a cold-blooded murderer, he was
the paraxon of perfection.
Has Characteristic of Kgolsm.
"Then we find him under Ihe
name of Mrs. Norman M. Whltnev
this man who can't rememtiei lhat
man that sees things under the bed
that walks In his sleep that hears
bells ringing that whistles In his
office this man who says he h:.s nc
recollection since July 10. lie re
collects that he had a box In Seat
tie. This man that now attempts
to cheat Justice and escape the re
sponsibility by claiming that he was
not himself, and fiat he had no
memory of that hloodv n1i:li t of July
1.1 he had Intelligence enough to
see that It would be well for his fu
ture safety to remove the box bear
ing upon Its cover the nddress of
Mrs. Norman M. Whitney. Seattle
Washington. -"t
"If It wasn't s fabricated defense
upon the part of Ibis defend;1,, he
would plead something else, liul
that Is characteristic of the real ty
plcal criminal. It Is what is known
as egoism."
Heeks fVinrenhiieiit,
Attorney llamniersly then told Ihe
Jury that Ilrnmfleld made no effort
to locate the Portland rsiaurat!
where he had his first "flash of mem
cry" following his f 1 1 b H t from this
rlty, or the Immigration officer who
nut him off the train at tttnlne, Wah
Inrton or the hotelmsn. or the op'l
cinn In Vancouver. "If the defend
enl was suffering from In "snitv at
lhat time he would have those men
here now to testify and thst would
eminent announced that It would
back the railroad board to the limit
and would tlnd means to enforce lta
mediation decrees. As a further
club over the railroad executives and
union heads, oue of the board'a mem
bers stated that the administration
could rush through legislation put
ting teeth into the transportation act
which now depends only upon publlo
opinion to enforce its decision.
KusicnNloii Demanded.
A demand that the unions Imme
diately suspend the strike order will
be made by the board, which will re
quest the railway department of the
American Federation of Labor which
la meeting today, to withhold lta de
cision on the atrlke. The board will
also demand that the railroad com- .
panics Immediately reflect wage re
ductions of July 1st in substantial ;
freight reductions and withdraw the
plan to further reduce the wage of
the employes another 10 per cent, al
though tho absolute abandonment of
tho reduction plan will not be asked.
The board will probably hold sep
arate conferences with each side.
The biggest club which the board
holds over the heads of the railroad
executives is the withholding of the
half billion government funds which
the railroads need badly. The board
will probably threaten to hold up
this money unless the railroad heada
bow to the edicts of the board.
Troops Are Listed.
(Rv Associated Press.)
SAN ANTONIO. Texas. Oct. 19.
Orders for a canvass of all mili
tary commands In the 8th army corpa
area, comprising five states, for sol
diers experienced in the operation of
railway trains and maintenance of
ways, have been Issued at area head
quarters, Kort Sam Houston, It was
learned today.
The report. It was said, would
show the number of officers and en
listed men of each command who
have had railroad experience In 26
lines of work. The men are to be
classified under five heads: Officials,
train employes, yard and station em
ployes, shopmen and maintenance of
way and construction. Personnel
officers have been Instructed to com
pile Ihe Information from records of
each soldier and submit tho report to
headquarters.
AGKF.K OX It.iTK REDUCTIONS,
tny tTnlted PrM't.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 19. The In
terstate commerce commission todsy .
virtually agreed to reduce freight
rates on grain, lumber, coal, vege
tatliles, hay, and citrus fruits. Since
the Railroad ljibor Hoard, may de
mand that the railroads make such
or similar reductions, this virtual
aureement is regarded as Important..
The railroad board may cite this to
union leaders In an effort to have
the strike order reclnded.
IIAXDIO ll(l,DS IP TRAIN.
MOOS K.I A.M. Bask.. Oct. 1. A
lone bandit, today held up the Dom
inion K'ipress messenger on the Vancouver-Toronto
express lietween
Swift-Current and Moose-Jaw. He
rifled ihe safe and dropped from the
moving cars. Railway official are
checking up on the loot. '
he convincing proof of his abnormal
conduct," said the attorney.
"Next we find i.im on the ranch
sixteen miles south Calgary
where he was arrested," lip attor
ney continued. "Thst was Aie very
place to go for concealment awaiting
tho boat to sail for Australlla. You
will remeinlM'r he told tbe Lake
Louise chambermaid that he ws In
tending to sail.
"When he was raptured by the
mounted police his mind was coor
dinating perfectly. Naturally the
it. an had a high temperature when
he was rsught. When the polios)
plsred tho handcuff on him and said.
"I arrest you for a murder committ
ed In Roseburg.' he turned pale.
Naturally he did. It was then that
the defendant saw the handwriting
on the wall and then that well train
ed mind of his bgan to work ant
(Continued on page six.)