The Hood River Glacier, Hood River, OR., March 29, 1901, page 2

TRAGEDY AT UNDERWOOD LANDING.

     A cowardly murder occurred at Underwood Landing, Wash., opposite the Hood River, Saturday night, March 23d.  Edson Benjamin of Hood River was shot and instantly killed by someone who fired through the window.  The tragedy took place at Wm. Wendorf’s house, 1½ miles from Underwood.  Benjamin was in the employ of Nikolai & Cameron as foreman of their logging camp.  The camp was preparing to move to a new location above the falls of the White Salmon, and a dance was given as a farewell party to the loggers by their friends in the neighborhood.  The dance was held in Wendorf’s barn and the supper was given in the residence.  At the third table was seated Edson Benjamin, L. W. Jones, Wm. Wendorf, Mrs. Harry Olsen and Mrs. Nellie Brown.  Mrs. Brown had been waiting upon the tables and had just sat down alongside Benjamin and was serving coffee when a shot was fired through the window, striking Benjamin in the head and passing through, a small part of the ball struck Mrs. Brown on the shoulder.  Benjamin fell to the floor and expired without a word.  Mrs. Brown's injury was slight, L. W. Jones immediately went to the barn, were dancing had been resumed, and informed the dancers of the shooting.  The men all turned out and hunted for the assassin but he could not be found.  Suspicion immediately rested upon a logger named Jim Green, who had had some trouble with Benjamin and threatened his life.  Green was in love with a woman who recently rejected his advances and it is supposed this caused him to become intensely jealous. Edson Benjamin moved from The Dalles to Hood River about two years ago, and about one year ago bought the Dan Smith place on the East Side.  He was a man well spoken of by all who knew him.  He leaves a widow.  His age was about 38, and he was a native of Illinois. The A.O.U.W. lodge of The Dalles, of which he was a member, took charge of the funeral and he was buried at The Dalles Tuesday.
     The coroner came up from Stevenson Sunday, and we understand the jury found the verdict in accordance with the above facts and charged Green as being the murderer.
     Sheriff Totten came up from Stevenson Sunday and with deputies commenced a search for Green.  Green was hid in the woods.  Tuesday, as the officers passed near his hiding place, he came out and gave himself up and confessed to the murder.  He was brought to Hood River Tuesday evening and taken to The Dalles, and on Wednesday morning was taken to Vancouver, where a special term of the court will convene for his trial. 

The Hood River Glacier, Hood River, OR., March 29, 1901, page 2

     It is said there are some very badly scared citizens of Underwood after it was learned that Jim Green had killed Benjamin. One young man turned gray in a night. Another, a young man who had loaned Green a gun, fearing arrest as an accomplice, swallowed a big dose of carbolic acid in a quart of cider with suicidal intent. The cider acted as an antidote and as an emetic, and the youth will live to get scared another day. The only person heard of showing any presence of mind during the excitement of the affair was Mrs. Brown, who, after the fatal shot was fired, blew out the lamp so that the assassin could not see into the room to shoot again.

The Hood River Glacier, Hood River, OR., April 19, 1901, page 2

MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE

     Stevenson, Wash., April 13. - James G. Green was found guilty of murdering E.V. Benjamin at Wendorf's near Underwood's landing, March 24. The jury returned a verdict of murder in the first degree after delivering 45 minutes. Although the verdict was received in stolid silence by the defendant, he had broken down during the trial and had made an open confession of his crime. A new trial will be asked for. It was the sight of the widow of the murdered Benjamin with her great sorrow, that unnerved Green and caused him to alter his mind as to fighting the cause to the end. After the session of the first day he called his counsel and Judge Miller, and declared that he wanted to trial over as soon as possible, as he was unable to bear the sight of Mrs. Benjamin's grief.
     "I killed Benjamin," said Green, "and should receive the punishment. I want to plead guilty and hang here in Stevenson. Benjamin is dead, but I can't stand the sight of Mrs. Benjamin in the court room."
     This being the desire of the confessed murderer to have the agony of the trial over, the prosecution cut short the testimony to be introduced, and this gave Green an opportunity to take the stand and tell his story. He began by stating that he was 31 years old, and then spoke of his visit to the Hayne's home and his departure from there at 11 o'clock at night for his logging camp.
     "When I came to Wendorf's I saw a light. I looked in through the window and noticed Benjamin sitting there with Nellie Brown, and I raised my gun and shot him. I didn't realize what I had done until I seen him fall back, then I went to Haynes' and told what Mrs. Haynes swore to yesterday. We had emptied a couple of bottles of whiskey. I had one bottle with me, about at drank in it, which I finished on the road. I didn't know there was a dance at Wendorf's place nor the whereabouts of Benjamin. I was told he had moved to a logging camp on the White Salmon, 18 miles away. I had no trouble with Benjamin, nothing serious. We had trouble one time and fixed it up, and shook hands over it, and was as good friends as ever. I have known Nellie Brown for three years. Three months after I first met her we were engaged. This lasted until New Year's of 1901
     Asked if Benjamin was the cause of the breaking of the engagement, Green declined to express himself, stating that he did not desire to make any exposures. When asked what his feelings were toward Nellie Brown, the defendant broke down and cried, replying that he loved the woman better than his life.
     Counsel for the defense argued for a verdict of murder in the second degree, as he said there was no testimony showing the deed to have been premeditated. The prosecution demanded conviction in the first degree or acquittal. It required the jury but 45 minutes to return a verdict of murder in the first degree.
     When he realized that his fate was sealed, Green's desire to be hanged immediately at Stevenson underwent a change, and he requested his attorneys to fight the case as hard as possible, and ask for a new trial. Green has been returned to Vancouver pending the decision on the motion and sentence.