6 Mar 1914 - Seattle Star (Seattle, Washington)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/146531128/?match=1&terms=Werner
Page 1, Column 6
8-YEAR-OLD BOY WITNESS STICKS TO HIS STORY THAT STRANGERS SLEW FATHER Young Wife of Murdered Man Cries Out Against Men Who Question Her; Will Make Arrest at Close of Inquest Today
ISSAQUAH, Wash. - March 7 - A sensational arrest is expected in the Werner murder case before midnight. Deputy Sheriffs Beebe and Roberts say they know the identity of the murderers and their motive. Three persons are under suveillance. The inquest began this afternoon. The chief witnesses will be little tow-headed Wilhelm, the 8-year-old son of the murdered rancher, and the widow, who vehemently denies that she quarreled with her husband and threatened to kill him.
This is the story the boy told the day of the murder, and has stuck to since, and which the state will try to break down at the inquest: "I was standing on the porch about 7 o'clock, and heard papa yell at some men who were inside the barn. I wanted to go down and see who they were. Mother told me I'd better not, and that she guessed papa was yelling at a cow. Pretty soon I heard some more noise and it sounded like a fight, so I told mamma again, and she ran down to see what the trouble was"
The deputies are puzzled. They doubt that the boy, on the porch, could have heard voices at the barn, because of the distance. On the other hand, Wilhelm tells the same story whenever questioned. Mrs. Werner says she saw a large man run out of the barn and disappear. She was found daze dand hysterical beside the mutilated body of her husband. Later, she attempted suicide.
Today Mrs. Werner still suffers from shock. "Whey should I want to live, now that Henry is gone, and everything looks wrong?" she asked. "All our plans amount to nothing. There is no more joy in life for me. And my poor little children! What is to become of them, now that they have no father?" There was a look of nervous dread in her eyes.
Three little tots crowded around the mother and looked on wonderingly. It was an unhappy scene in the kitchen of the gloomy littel home of the woods. "It seems to me everybody is trying to make it jsut as hard as they can," said the woman. "Every day some one comes out here to ask me all sorts of questions. It's bad enough as it is, without making me feel worse. It ain't safe to live around here any more. So many thieves and scoundrels running around loose in the country. I'm scared all the time. Since Mr. Werner was killed everything seems so terrible. You cna't tell what minute some one is going to take a shot at you. I don't knwo what I am going to do now. It's just awful the way I feel."
Mrs. Werner attempted, but failed, to attend her husband's funeral service, held yesterday afternoon at Issaquah. She was too weak to dress and was forced to remain at home. Neighbors from the hill lands went into the little town, where every one is talking of the murder and the possibility of a startling arrest as soon as officials finish their investigations. The inquest began at noon today, at the undertaking rooms of H. Fisher, deputy coroner. Early this morning ranchers came into town eager to hear the latest developments.
More than 15 witnesses who have been questioned by Deputy Sheriff Roberts and Deputy Prosecutor Edgar T. Wright were in attendance when the formal questioning began. It was the intention of officials to get the various stories of threats against Werner in sworn testimony before acting further. Although still suffering from hysteria, Mrs. Werner was requested to appear as a witness. Her attempt at suicide, following her husband's death, has added to her weakened condition. Officials not only asked about threats said to have been made against Werner by his neighbors, but questioned as well the distressed wife as to reports that she and Werner quarreled bitterly about two weeks ago.
The reports that she left him twice and came to Seattle to work were also gone into in detail. The Werner farm is hidden in the woods, nine miles out of Issaquah, snad shows the result of years of hard work and thrift on the part of the murdered owner, who was several years older than his wife. As one drives through dense woodland and into the cleared-off area of the Werner place, a pleasant surprise greets him.
Henry Smith, 21, an Italian, was arrested this morning by Issaquah officials, and is held for an investigation in connection with the Werner murder. Smith, who lives in Issaquah, has been out of town for three days. He returned last night.