HUDSON WAS GUILTY / The Case of the Would-Be Daylight Bank Robber. / HIS NAME IS TIM MURPHY / He Was Not Put on the Stand and the Jury Was Out About an Hour and a Half—Did Not Surprise Him.

# Transcription — The Anaconda Standard, 1895-09-17, p.5 **Source**: The Anaconda Standard (Anaconda, Montana), Tuesday 17 September 1895, p.5, cols. 2-3 (Butte news). **Status**: Complete. **Method**: Read against the page scan (`archive/pages/1895-09-17_anaconda-standard_p05/fullpage.jpg`) at 2.5x, names and the true-name paragraph at 4-6x, starting from the tile-by-tile page reading of 20 Oct 2026. --- ## Page layout The Hudson trial article occupies columns 2-3 of the 7-column p.5 (headline over column 2; the body runs the length of column 2 and ends near the top of column 3). Column 1 holds the Siegel Clothing and Hight & Fairfield advertisements; column 4 "HORRIBLE ACCIDENT", "A LARGER ENROLLMENT" and "BACK TO THE CORN FIELDS"; the **D. J. Hennessy Merc. Co. "Blanket Sale Extraordinary"** (Sept. 16, 17, 18) spans columns 5-7 across the top; "Teeth! Teeth! Teeth!" (W. H. Wix, D. D. S.) and the Kennedy Furniture Company advertisement are in columns 6-7; the McDermott Hotel, Gates Iron Works and other small advertisements are at the foot. --- *THE ANACONDA STANDARD, TUESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 17, 1895.* # HUDSON WAS GUILTY ## *The Case of the Would-Be Daylight Bank Robber.* # HIS NAME IS TIM MURPHY ## *He Was Not Put on the Stand and the Jury Was Out About an Hour and a Half—Did Not Surprise Him.* Butte, Sept. 16.—Tom Hudson, the man who made a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to rob the Silver Bow National bank at noon on June 11, was on trial before a jury in Judge Speer's court to-day on the charge of assault with intent to commit robbery, the complaining witness being Will Thomas, the assistant cashier of the bank. John W. Cotter appeared as Hudson's counsel and his questions in the examination of jurors indicated that the defense would be insanity. "If the evidence should show that at the time of the alleged occurrence the defendant's mind was afflicted would you give to that the same consideration as to other evidence?" was a question asked of each juror, and each said he would. Jerry J. Leahy was the only man called into the box who had never heard of the attempted bank robbery before although, he said, he was in town on the day of the occurrence. John Eddy, one of the veniremen, when asked if he had an opinion, said he did not, because crime was so common in Butte he usually paid little attention to reports of new crimes. The jury finally selected was composed of John Chatham, John F. Pascoe, Richard Trembath, William Page, Martin Pishkur, Daniel Gross, Charles Bausman, Oscar Kruse, C. P. Tobin, Richard Kent, O. H. Baum and Jenry [sic] J. Leahy. Officer W. J. Ingraham was the first witness and testified that he was on duty on Main street on the day of the attempted robbery, and the first he saw of it was when the defendant ran from the bank. Before the testimony could proceed further Mr. Cotter made an objection to the introduction of any testimony on the ground that the information failed to charge an offense in that it nowhere alleged that the Silver Bow bank, a corporation whose money the defendant was alleged to have attempted to steal, had been incorporated by virtue of any law. He said it was a well established rule of law that in either civil or criminal action wherein a corporation figured it must be alleged that it has a legal existence. Mr. Booth, who represented the prosecution, was not ready to reply to the point raised by Mr, [sic] Cotter, so he secured an adjournment until 2 o'clock, at which time he cited authorities which he claimed combatted the ground taken by Mr. Cotter, and argued that it made no difference whether the bank was duly incorporated or not. After Mr. Cotter made an additional argument on his objection the court overruled it, holding that the allegations of the information were sufficient. Officer Ingraham resumed his testimony and said that when he saw Hudson running he gave chase and caught up very close to him on West Granite street opposite the Bee Hive. Hudson turned around and exclaimed: "Throw up your face," and at the same time took a shot at the witness, but missed him, and again took to his heels. Ingraham fired a shot and also missed Hudson. They ran south on Hamilton street and turned west into an alley where Hudson again turned and took several shots at the policeman, one shot going through his coat and the other missing him altogether. The officer's gun wouldn't work, so he threw it at Hudson, hitting him on the left breast and knocking him down. Under Sheriff Young and several policemen then appeared on the scene and Hudson was captured and taken to jail. W. O. Thomas, the bookkeeper, was the next witness and testified he first saw Hudson on the tenth of June on which day he called at the bank and asked for a dollar bill in exchange for a silver dollar, which was given him. The next day, between 12:30 and 1 o'clock he called again and asked for another dollar bill, but there were none on hand and Hudson went out. Thomas became suspicious of him and watched him. He walked up and down the sidewalk a while and then entered the bank and approached the cashier's window, where Thomas was standing. "Young man, I am broke—must have some money," said Hudson, and at the same time leveled a revolver at Thomas, who dropped behind the counter and began shooting. He fired six shots into the ceiling and Hudson ran out. At the conclusion of Thomas' testimony it was discovered that he had not been sworn as a witness and the whole testimony had to be gone over again. Mr. Cotter was willing to waive the technicality but the judge said men could be tried in his court only on sworn testimony. "What effect did the defendant's action have on you?" the witness was asked. "It scared me nearly to death." Officer Barnaman, the next witness, testified that he heard the shots and ran into Hamilton street from Broadway, and when Hudson saw him he ran into the alley where other officers caught him. Under Sheriff Young saw Hudson run from Granite street to the alley and then start back again across a vacant lot. Mr. Young went up to him and ordered him to surrender. He said he would give himself up and handed his revolver to the officer. Mr. Young asked him why he was such a fool as to try to rob a bank in broad daylight, and he replied that he was sick and broke and had no employment. He trembled very much and looked as if he was badly scared. Ex-City Detective Rhodes testified that he saw Hudson in jail and J. H. Lynch, one of the bank directors, also called on the defendant after his arrest and asked him why he made such a bad break as to try to rob the bank in broad daylight. Hudson replied that he did not consider that, for he was broke and had to have money. Fayette Harrington, cashier of the bank, testified as to the bank's incorporation. The state rested its case and Mr. Cotter for the defense told the jury that he would show that the defendant had never been in trouble before; that he had for years held positions of trust both in this state and Colorado, but that while in the latter state he suffered from a loathsome disease which effected his mind and he became insane and has never been right since. S. E. Deitrich, a colored man, said he had known Hudson in Denver and Leadville, and had waited on him. Hudson was dealing faro and was often attacked by fits. He had these fits five and six times a night and had to be tied down on his bed. Hudson said he had at one time received an injury to his head and that the strong medicine he was taking affected him. George Hopkins, a gambler, testified that Hudson had been in his employ at different times as faro dealer and had usually from $1,000 to $5,000 in his charge. He was taking medicine and it had an effect on his mind. Last winter for six or seven consecutive days he got the witness and a man named Kennedy to walk up to Hennessy'sButte: companies, unions & placesHennessy’sfounded 1886The D. J. Hennessy Mercantile Company, Butte’s leading department store. Its 1898 building at Granite and Main also housed the Anaconda company’s offices on the top floor.More in Key terms → to see a pair of shoes in the show window. He acted crazy. Mr. Cotter wanted to show by the witness that Hudson had a lot of friends in Butte who would have been glad to loan him money, and that it was not necessary to rob a bank, but the court sustained an objection to the questions. County Physician McCr[i]mmon testified that he had treated the defendant since his arrest and thought his disease might have weakened his mind and body, though he always talked rationally. From the conversations he had with Hudson he would not consider him insane. Three witnesses named Bray, McDonald and Lavelle and Officer McLeod testified about their acquaintance with Hudson and some of his alleged queer actions. They also testified that his reputation prior to his arrest had always been good. The defendant was not put on the stand and an evening session of court was held to complete the arguments of the attorneys. The case was given to the jury at 8:30 o'clock and they were out half an hour and returned with a verdict of guilty as charged, leaving the sentence to be fixed by the court. The defendant did not look a bit surprised when the verdict was read. Mr. Booth announced that he would tomorrow morning dismiss the other case against Hudson, in which he is charged with assault with intent to commit murder. Sentence will be passed on Saturday. Hudson's right name, it appears, is Tim Murphy, and was raised in De Pere, Brown county, Wisconsin. His people at present live at Menosha, 25 miles south of De Pere. It is stated that he has a sister who has been insane and that he had twice been examined at De Pere on the same charge, but was each time released. When he came West he changed his name. --- ## Identification note **"His name is Tim Murphy"** — a Murphy-named bank-robbery defendant tried in Judge Speer's court at Butte on 16 Sept 1895. This paper prints his "right name" as **Tim Murphy**, raised in De Pere, Brown county, Wisconsin. The Butte Miner of the same morning disagrees: its deck prints "Alias Mur-ray", its first paragraph says his true name "is said to be Murphy", and its last paragraph says a man who knows him gives it as "Tim Murray" (see `1895-09-17_butte-miner_hudson-bank-robber-guilty`). Held in `mentioned:` only — namesake-relevant for the multi-Murphy 1890s Butte record but not family-tier per user scope. Note the deck says the jury was out "about an hour and a half"; the body says "half an hour" (both as printed). *[Text checked against the page scan at 2.5x (names at 4-6x), 21 Oct 2026, starting from the tile-by-tile page reading of 20-21 Oct 2026.]*