10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL October 14, 2015
O FFBEAT
Continued from page 8A
The court had not only granted
her a divorce, but had given her
sole custody of little Pearl.
They’d been separated for
a little over a year when they
reconciled and remarried. This
time, though, Dickerson got his
wife to sign a pre-nuptial agree-
ment to the effect that if the
marriage failed again, he would
get custody of Pearl.
The new marriage lasted just
a few months before Martha
was once again suing for di-
vorce. But this time, she needed
more than just her freedom. She
needed to make a strong enough
case to the judge for her pre-
nuptial custody contract to be
set aside. It was clear that this
detail was where Garrett came
in. As one of Dickerson’s more
trusted employees, he’d seen
and heard a lot — and Dicker-
son mentioned in his testimony
that he had asked Garrett for ad-
vice on the case. Clearly Garrett
knew, and was preparing to re-
veal on the witness stand, some-
thing that might very well take
Pearl away from him in spite of
the contract.
This didn’t prove anything,
of course. But it did establish
another possible motive for
Dickerson’s shooting him. And
it also created some problems
with the story Dickerson tried to
tell in court.
“She begged me to take her
back,” he testifi ed. “I told her I
would take her back if she had
learned her lesson, and would
treat me right, as I had always
treated her.”
Dickerson then tried to paint
a picture of the happily remar-
ried couple before the arrival
of the interloper Garrett, appar-
ently keen to make sure the jury
knew a contented, happy home
had been wrecked by his preda-
tions.
It was clearly a tough sell
— especially considering that
the couple’s plans for re-divorce
had been covered prominently
in the Oregonian less than a
month before. As every newspa-
per reader knew, the divorce had
been precipitated by Dickerson
coming home drunk, accus-
ing his wife of infi delity, fi ring
a rifl e shot through the roof of
the house and threatening to kill
her. All of this was a matter of
public record, along with the
testimony of drunkenness and
abuse that had resulted in the
couple’s fi rst divorce.
On the other hand, there were
some letters that had been found
in Garrett’s trunk, which Martha
had written to him, which made
it very clear that she was quite
fond of him. There was nothing
to support Dickerson’s claim
that they’d had an affair, but
plenty to suggest that Garrett
planned to woo Martha after the
divorce was fi nalized. It wasn’t
much – but for Dickerson’s de-
fense team, it was all they had
to go on.
In closing arguments, Deputy
District Attorney Fitzgerald un-
leashed a rhetorical broadside
that clearly resonated: “When a
man goes out in broad daylight
and shoots his victim down like
a dog he has to get his lawyer
to concoct some sort of a de-
fense for him,” he said. “If there
ever were any criminal relations
between Mrs. Dickerson and
this poor devil Garrett, Dicker-
son never knew anything about
them except by idle rumors.
Dickerson never saw those let-
ters written to Garrett by Mrs.
Dickerson until after the murder
was committed.”
Against this, defense attor-
ney Seneca Fouts, had little to
offer besides the usual Unwrit-
ten Law exhortation: that, in the
Oregonian’s words, “the verdict
of this jury (would) be watched
by all the libertines in the coun-
try” and “the verdict ought to be
such that it would be a warning
to such men.”
Dickerson’s other defense at-
torney was even less subtle: “I
do not think you men will de-
clare by your verdict that the
seducer of women and smasher
of homes can ply his wicked vo-
cation unrebuked right here in
Portland.”
It wasn’t looking good for
Dickerson as the jury retired to
think on his fate. Seven of the
12 were for throwing the book
at him with a conviction of fi rst-
degree murder — which would
have meant a hanging — against
fi ve who favored acquittal. But
over the subsequent 11 ballots,
compromises were suggested
— fi rst second-degree murder,
and then manslaughter — and
the jury fi nally decided to con-
vict him of manslaughter.
When the verdict was read,
Dickerson was visibly shocked.
“He evidently expected acquit-
tal,” the reporter wrote. “He
paled a little as he stood while
the verdict was read.”
He was sentenced to three
years in the penitentiary — a
sentence which, although not as
stiff as it could have been, sent
the fi rst clear message out that
The Unwritten Law could no
longer be relied upon to justify
murder.
(Sources: Portland Morning
Oregonian: 26 May; 22 and
23 June; 10, 15 and 16 Sept.,
1909)
Finn J.D. John teaches at
Oregon State University and
writes about odd tidbits of Or-
egon history. For details, see
http://fi nnjohn.com. To contact
him or suggest a topic: fi nn2@
offbeatoregon.com or 541-357-
2222.
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