The Retrial
After Marco was sent to Stillwater life in the area returned to normal. That is until word surfaced in the summer of 1883 that Marco was diagnosed with consumption (tuberculosis) and was near death. Marco's father had received word from the warden that he was near death. He began a campaign in the area to get his son pardoned so that he could die at home. He went to some of the leading citizens of the area and since they were under the pretense that he was about to die took mercy on him. They signed a petition that he should be pardoned. One of those who signed was the County attorney James OBrien who originally tried the case. Thus was brought before the Governor of the state of Minnesota a case for the pardon of Marco. The records of the pardon included letters from the warden and the doctor at Stillwater saying he was in the final stages of consumption and it was a matter of days until his death. Governor Hubbard was a Republican reform candidate. Politics in those days differed immensely, as it was a very passionate thing among the people. As a case in point in just about this time there was a political parade in LaCrosse which was the fashion of the day which ended in tragedy. Groups of Republicans and Democrats held parades through town and finished them with speakers and candidates speeches. One particular parade ended when shots rang out and one man lay dead. The assembled crowd taking justice in their own hands promptly took the man most of whom had seen him commit the deed and hung him in the courthouse square. The papers of the day were either Republican or Democrat and reading the articles you could tell whom they favored. On September 10th 1883 Governor Hubbard pardoned Marco and he left Prison carried to LaCrosse thinking he would soon be dead. Not long after there appeared in the local papers accounts of the fact that Marco was still alive and was feeling much better. He was seen working on the farm and on lumber rafts on the Black River.
Need less to say this was a crime in which politics did not matter. The Local Republican paper began to blast the Republican Governor and the citizens of southern Minnesota were incensed that a murderer was at large. Former sheriff Hargreaves now the Justice of Peace of Hokah and a Republican shot telegrams to the Governor's office of the local mood. The St. Paul Democratic papers began quoting the LaCrosse Leader-Republican on how Governor Hubbard had done such an injustice to the people by releasing a murderer. Local leaders who had signed Marco's Father's petition now claimed to be duped into signing. All hell was breaking loose and this was close to an election year. Desperate for something to do someone in the governor's office asked if Marco had ever been tried for both murders. Since he had been pardoned they could not try him again but they could retry him for Olive's murder since he had only been originally tried for Joe's murder.
In Early February 1884 they petitioned the Governor of Wisconsin to extradite Marco to Minnesota for trial on the death of Olive Enos. On February 5th 1884 Sheriff Hatch delivered Marco to Minnesota authorities for retrial. Sheriff Hatch had said, in a November interview with the Leader-Republican, that if he had known how this would have turned out he would have let Marco be taken by the mob and hung.
This time Marco had a better lawyer or had more legal savvy as he said that he had killed Joseph Marco but he did not kill Olive. He said he had an accomplice now dead who had killed Olive. He also wanted a change of venue for the trial since the local citizens were again talking about lynching him. Samuel Enos son of Joseph and Olive was called to testify, as was Mark Hargreaves. With this testimony he was bound over for trial which was called on May 8th 1884. By this time his attorneys also said his consumption would cause him not to be able to attend as since he was put in jail his health had suffered. The case was then postponed until the next term of court in October. They appeared to think that if they kept him in jail he might just die and save everyone further embarrassment.
But the best-laid plans do not often work. Along came the next term of court in October and early November and he was still alive. The papers were having a field day and the defense lawyers obtained a change of venue to Fillmore County on November 10th because the defendant could not obtain a fair and impartial trial in Houston County. The present Judge not the original one seemed to want to get rid of this mess.
The story ended with a simple notation in the records that the change of venue never took place as the defendant had died.
Joseph Marco committed suicide by eating lye soap not long after the change of venue was granted.
Thus ended a rather unusual example of early Minnesota justice and the story of the Enos Murders.