Page 196

J A C O B   B O L E M A,  having been produced for and in behalf of the people, and having first been duly sworn, testified as follows:

DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. COBURN

Q

Where do you live?

A

I live three miles and a half north from Sullivan

Q

Three miles and a half north from Sullivan?

A

Yes, sir - - south of Sullivan.

Q

You mis spoke yourself?

a

Yes sir.

Q

How far is Nunica from your place?

A

Five miles and a half.

Q

Which way?

A

South.

Q

Directly south?

A

No it is one mile west and four miles south.

Q

One mile west and four miles south?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

That would then be five miles?

A

Yes sir.

Q

How far from Denison if you know?

A

I guess about six or seven miles, something like that.

Q

In which direction is Denison from the place where you live?

Page 197

A

Southeast.

Q

Do you know how many miles south?

A

No, sir, I couldn’t tell exactly.

Q

How far do you live from the Dutch church there?

A

Forty rods.

Q

Peter Bolema is your father?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

Do you remember the time of the Golden murder?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

Were you at home at that time?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

I will ask you whether or not your father drove to town that day?

A

Yes, sir, he did.

Q

Which place did he go to?

A

First he went to Nunica and then he went to Coopersville.

Q

What day was that he drove to Nunica?

A

That was the day of the murder.

Q

And what time of the day did he start?

A

About eight o’clock I guess, just about that time.

Q

I will ask you whether or not you assisted him in hitching up the horses?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

And which road did your father take?

A

He went one mile west and four miles south.

Q

Did you see anybody?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

On that road?

A

Yes, sir.

Page 198

Q

At what time?

A

Just about ten minutes after he left.

Q

About how far had your father gone on that road west?

A

He went about 60 rods I think.

Q

And just tell us what you saw then?

A

My father was just about up that knoll there, there was a hill there and he was just about there and the man come through the brush there, he was about fifteen rods ahead of him and he come through the brush there.

Q

From which direction did this man come?

A

He come from the south.

Q

Came out of the brush onto the road?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

And in which direction did he go?

A

He went west.

Q

And how far was your father ahead of him at that time?

A

About fifteen rods.

Q

This brush then was about 15 rods east from the knoll?

A

Yes, sir, where he come out.

Q

Now how about the other side of the road, is there brush there?

A

No.

Q

That was cleared?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

Is there much brush in that country?

A

Yes, sir, there is a good deal of brush there.

Q

There is lots of brush there?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

Could you tell how this man was dressed?

Page 199

A

No, sir, I couldn’t tell exactly.

Q

Could you tell about the size of the man?

A

Why he was about middling height I guess.

Q

And could you tell about the heft of the man?

A

Why I couldn’t tell exactly.

Q

How far was this man from you?

A

About 60 rods I think.

Q

Now was this man walking fast on the road trying to catch up with your father?

A

First he seemed to walk kind of slow and after my father got over the knoll it seems as if he got in a hurry and I thought he wanted to catch a ride.

Q

Did you see him catch up with your father?

A

No, sir, I didn’t

Q

You couldn’t see after he got over the knoll?

A

No, sir.

Q

What time did your father come back that day?

A

I think it was about twelve o’clock, about noon.

Q

And what time did you have dinner?

A

About the regular time I think.

Q

About what time do you have dinner regularly?

A

Twelve o’clock.

Q

And then what did you do?

A

Why I think we got some potatoes out of the pits.

Q

I will ask you whether or not you saw Mr. Adkin the rag peddler that afternoon?

A

Yes, sir, I did.

Q

About what time?

Page 200

A

It was about two o’clock.

Q

Where was he?

A

By the church there.

Q

I will ask you whether or not you heard your father tell him about the Golden murder?

A

Yes, sir, I did.

Q

And whether or not you heard your father tell him about this strange man that you saw?

A

Well I could not say that for sure.

Q

I will ask you whether or not you spoke of seeing this strange man at that time?

A

No, sir, I don’t think I did.

Q

You could not exactly tell the height of the man?

A

No, sir.  I think he was about five feet and a half, something like that, or six feet, he wasn’t rather tall and he wasn’t rather small.

Q

Was there any peculiarity in his build that you noticed?

A

No, sir, I could not tell exactly, I was quite a ways away.

Q

You were standing near the house?

A

Yes, sir.

Q

And in respect to the lay of the land there, is the house located on a sort of a little knoll or hill?

A

A little bit of a knoll, yes, sir.

Q

And you had to look down to where this man was crossing the road?

A

Not very much.

Q

Not very much, just slightly?

A

Yes sir.