MOUNTAIN MEADOW.
Fixing the Murder on John D. Lee -Shocking Testimony.
SALT LAKE, Sept. 16—The following special dispatches have been received concerning the Lee trial, now in progress at Beaver, Utah:
BEAVER, UTAH, Sept. 15.—Seven wit-nesses testified for the prosecution to-day, all new except Joel W. White, fixing the murder on Lee. The case will probably go to the jury to-morrow evening, and conviction is a dead certainty.
The first witness in the Lee case was D. V. Wells, who testified that Lee, in 1857, occupied the position of farmer to the Indians in Southern Utah, and per-haps some place in the militia.
Tabon Morrill testified as to a council held at Cedar City, which had under ad-visement the destruction of the train. It was understood that before it should be done Brigham Young should be consult-ed. A messenger was sent to Salt Lake for that purpose, and another to Pinto creek to draw off the Indians and allow the train to pass on, till word from Brig-ham Young to the contrary. Fortyeight hours before the messenger returned from Salt Lake, he heard the massacre had taken place. Haight, Higbee and Klin-genamith were in the council, and Lee was not there.
James Haslum testified he was the mes-messenger sent to Brigham Young by Haight, to whom he explained the ob-ject of the message. Lee could hold the emigrants corralled, waiting his return. He rode night and day, stayed two hours in Salt Lake and returned. Brigham's message was: "Go; don't spare horseflesh. Those men must be spared. Let them go in peace."
Got back to Cedar on the Sunday fol-lowing and learned the deed was done.
Joel W. White testified almost exactly as at the former trial, relative to taking the message to Pinto Creek, and taking part in the massacre.
Samuel Knight's testimony went to show that he was driving one of the wag-ons of the train. He heard the first guns fired after the emigrants had been decoy-ed out; saw Lee blow a woman's brains out and beat a man to death with a gun, and murder several others, and, at the same time, the Indians made a rush on women and children, whom they slew.
Samuel McMurty testified that he drove the other wagon. After the emigrants had been decoyed out by a flag of truce, and the whole column commenced mov-ing up the meadows, he ordered the com-mand to halt, and, looking around, saw Lee put his gun to a woman's head and fire. She fell. He heard him beating a man's brains out with a gun. Lee then came to the witness's wagon and shot all the wounded men with his pistol, and dragged the bodies to the ground. Only the children in the wagons were saved. This witness refused to tell whether he took part in the killing, but on the form-er trial it came out he was the man who, while in the act of firing on one of the wounded emigrants, said:
"O Lord, receive their spirits, for it is for their sakes we do these things."
Nephi Johnson, who went to the mead-ows as Indian interpreter, testified that he saw Lee shoot the woman referred to, and cut a man's throat as he dragged him from the wagon. This witness was ex-tremely careful to tell nothing implica-ting any one except Lee, the witness being most constant in the forgetfulness of names and incidents not relating wholly to the defendant. His cross-examination, which was searching, showed that he could tell sufficient to hang every man who took part in the massacre. All he said dam-aged Lee materially.
Jacob Hamlin testified as to a conversa-tion between himself and Lee a few nights after the butchery, in which the defend-ant justified himself, by claiming that it was necessary as a military massacre.
The testimony of all the new witnesses thus far plainly indicate that they are in conspiracy to sacrifice Lee for the good of the Church.
In the Beaver Court, this morning, Ja-cob Hamblin was recalled, and stated that Lee further told him that an Indian chief, who lived at Cedar, brought two girls who had been hiding in the brush to him (Lee), and asked what he should do with them; that they were too pretty to kill. Lee replied that he must shoot them; that they were too big. The Indian then shot one, and Lee threw the other down and cut her throat. That when Hamblin re-turned to his ranch he went over the ground, and found the bodies of two girls about the age described, from thirteen to fifteen, lying near together with their throats cut, as described to him by Lee; that one of the children, who was about eight years old, was at his house, who claimed the two bodies as his sisters, and that their name was Dunlap.
The prosecution rested their case here. To the surprise of all present in the Court room, Lee's attorneys also an-nounced that they also rested their case, and would not introduce any witnesses, but give the case to the jury on the evi-dence already adduced by the prosecu-tion, and asked for a continuance of the case until Monday, the 18th, to give time to prepare arguments and instructions to the jury.
The Court adjourned till Monday at 10 o'clock, and instructed the witnesses to remain, as other cases pertaining to the massacre were to be disposed of.
