Chapman, James

A murder charge was filed today by Perry Porter, county attorney, against James Chapman, Treece Kansas, police chief, in connection with the fatal shooting shortly before midnight Saturday of John Brewer, 20 year old Picher Oklahoma hard rock lead and zinc miner. Porter said that the Cherokee county Kansas attorney's office had advised him that Chapman would waive extradition when served with the warrant for his arrest, which is expected to take place late this afternoon. An inquest into the death of Brewer, held at the Todd undertaking company at Picher Sunday night by Porter before Justice Frank Newman, developed that Brewer and three companions had been drinking in Treece. Chapman and John Dozier and Harry Gold, constables, attempted to arrest the men and Chapman had run, crossing the line into Oklahoma. Ed Powers, an eye witness to the shooting, testified that Brewer was shot as he was climbing over the back fence of John Rainey's property, which is 200 yards into Oklahoma. Chapman also was believed to have been in Oklahoma when he fired the shot. According to testimony and indications of the blood tracks on the ground, Brewer was dragged back into Kansas after he was shot and taken to the Treece, jail, where he bled profusely from the bullet wound in his leg. The shot had entered his left hip from behind and ranged downward, severing a large artery. As near as can be ascertained, no first aid treatment was given Brewer for nearly an hour after he was taken to jail. Then the Todd ambulance was called from Picher and the ambulance driver attempted to stop the flow of blood. Attendants at the American hospital in Picher testified at the inquest that Brewer had died early Sunday morning from loss of blood. Porter indicated this morning that he would attempt to have Chapman arraigned and have a preliminary hearing on the case sometime this week. Young Brewer lived at the Hammond hotel in Picher and worked at the Northern Mine, near Treece. He is survived by his parents, four brothers and four sisters, of Monarch Kansas, just across the line from Oklahoma. Funeral services will be held at the Monarch home at 11 o'clock Tuesday morning and again at Granby Missouri, at 2 o'clock Tuesday afternoon. Burial will be at Granby under the direction of the Todd undertaking company.

Obituary.

At the conclusion of five and one-half hours of testimony Saturday afternoon in a crowded courtroom, James Chapman, chief of police at Treece, was bound over by County Judge Cuddie Davidson for trial in district court on a charge of murder in connection with the shooting of John Brewer, 20 year old Picher miner. The shooting occurred Feb 2 near Treece and Brewer died the next day. Judge Davidson ordered the defendant held without bail, but it is understood that defense counsel will make special application Monday to District Judge J. J. Smith for release of the accused officer under bond. At the conclusion of the state testimony, the defense attorney entered a demurrer on the ground that the state had not proved the alleged crime was committed in Oklahoma. When Judge Davidson over-ruled this contention, the defense rested without calling a single witness. Witnesses called by the state testified Brewer was arrested at a dance at Treece and started on the way to the Treece jail in the company of officers. The scene was then shifted to the back yard of the home of J. L. Rainey in Treece Oklahoma, across the state line, where according to several witnesses, Chapman chased Brewer, fired a shot from his revolver, and later dragged Brewer back across the state line. Two other officers were with Chapman, the witnesses said. Three persons heard Brewer say, "Oh, my God, Jim, you've shot me," after he had fallen, they testified. Testimony showed that Brewer was taken to the Treece city hall after being shot and laid on the floor. Later he was laid on a table. Blood from his wound in the left leg saturated his clothing and half filled a wash pan, according to witnesses. Chapman called Dr. B. F. Lazenby of Treece, the Columbus Kansas ambulance and later the Todd ambulance of Picher, testimony showed, although the state proved that no medical attention was given Brewer until the Todd ambulance arrived more than an hour after the shooting, and shortly after it was called. Cross-examination failed to show that Brewer's death was due to anything other than the wound in his leg and indicated that the defense might try to free the police officer from the charge on the ground that the young man was shot in Kansas and ran into this state pursued by Chapman. The defense counsel mentioned the state boundary in questioning each witness as to where the man was shot. John Speer, county surveyor, testified that a hedge row, referred to by almost every state witness as being the Kansas-Oklahoma boundary, was within six feet of the actual line, qualifying previous testimony to the effect that the Rainey home was in Oklahoma, although all witnesses concurred that it was several hundred feet south of the hedge row, which they had been told was the boundary. Dr. B. F. Lazenby testified he heard Chapman tell his wife, "I shot a man and want Dr. Lazenby to come down and look at him." The doctor said he went to examine Brewer and found him extremely low, but that by the time he had returned home for his first aid equipment the ambulance had arrived. Testimony of several persons was that blood spurted from the wound in Brewer's thigh in a stream five inches high. Ed Powers, Bill Garroute and Floyd Garroute and J. L. Rainey were eye witnesses to the fatal shooting or saw the chase just before the shot was fired. The first three men were in the house next door to Rainey's. All testified that the next morning a large pool of blood was found where Brewer fell, immediately after the shooting, at the rear of Rainey's place, and that a trail of blood showed in the snow where he had been dragged back to the Kansas side of the state line. Other witnesses used were Hubert Johnson, who saw Brewer arrested and started on his way to jail; Grover Todd, Dr. Loughn of the American hospital in Picher, Dorothy Moore, a nurse, and Mr. Speer. Frank Nesbitt represented Chapman while Perry Porter, county attorney, and W. M. Thomas, special prosecutor, were attorneys for the state.