Nakamaru

The defendant was convicted of murder of the first degree and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was charged with administering strychnine to his associate, Hanjiro Onishi. The case is based largely on circumstantial evidence. It is contended the verdict is not supported by the evidence and that the court erred in admitting certain declarations which were made by Onishi just before his death occurred.

The defendant and Onishi were Japanese. They had been acquainted for several years. For about six months they had been employed to work in the orchard on the farm of Louis Threlkel near Newcastle. They lived together in a one-room cabin situated a short distance from the dwelling-house of their employer. For two or three months they had been quarreling about a debt of $170 which was due from Onishi to the defendant. Half a dozen witnesses testified to frequent quarrels on the ranch and elsewhere. In conversations with other persons the defendant frequently criticised and cursed Onishi, complaining of his failure to pay the debt, of his eating more than a fair share of the provisions, of his manner of spraying the orchard and of various other faults. They had agreed upon the terms of…