Historical Note - Week of January 11th
Anaconda Standard, January 11, 1893
MALLOY IS A FREE MAN-Verdict of the Jury in the Cooke City Murder Case.-CHICK WAS A BAD BULLY-Self Defense Was the Successful Plea of the Defendant
Special Dispatch to the Standard
Livingston, Jan. 10,.-The trial of James Malloy for the murder of William Chick, at Cooke City on the 21st day of last September, was begun in the district court to-day. Four witnesses were put on the stand by the state, and they testified to hearing shots and finding Chick mortally wounded to his death. The state then rested. Day then moved to discharge the prisoner on the ground that the allegations in the information had not been proved, and the prosecution had not called witnesses whose names were endorsed on the information. The court ordered County Attorney Miller to call the rest of the witnesses, and B. Morgan took the stand. He testified that Chick and Malloy were standing in front of the store and Chick drew a large butcher knife and said to Malloy: “You --- ---, I’ll cut your liver out and feed it to the buzzards.” Malloy said: “I want you to leave me alone, as I don’t want any trouble.” Chick then shifted the knife to his left hand, reached under the left side of his coat with his right, and drew a revolver and started towards Malloy, again repeating his threat. Malloy grabbed a rifle that stood against an empty oil can, jumped off the porch and started to retreat backwards. Chick said: “You coward, you’re afraid to fight,” and jumped off the porch, took a step or two forwards and fired at Malloy, who then retreated about 30 feet. As soon as Chick fired, Malloy drew the rifle to a level with his hip and fired. Chick fell with the gun in his hand. Malloy then said: “Someone take his gun and I will give up.” Morgan went to take Chick’s gun and Chick pulled the trigger, but the bullet went into the air. This evidence was corroborated by R.R. Hollerd, the other eye-witness.
The state again rested, and the defense moved to instruct the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. The state acquiesced to the motion. A verdict was ordered returned and Malloy was discharged.
