Arson case dismissed in time for lunch after drunken testimony
Bob Hansen for The Hawk Eye It certainly did not merit the courtroom gymnastics of that fictional lawyer, Perry Mason, and regardless of whatever intoxicant Sherlock Holmes may have consumed that day, the famous detective would not deem to consider it. But in September 1894, the mystery of Nyhart’s oats was just about the most exciting crime on Burlington’s court dockets. The basics of the case were relatively straightforward. A.J. Nyhart farmed in the northern reaches of Des Moines County. That summer he had produced a bumper crop of grain. After an early harvest, he had seven stacks ...
Source: thehawkeye.com