from the house. She knew Raymer from his broken English and because he had previously sold her vegetables. Raymer's lawyers, John G. Friedmeyer and Stephen H. Cummins, who was threatened with disbarment by Judge Creighton for his treatment of witnesses, attacked Donnegan's credibility, based on her being in an interracial marriage. They said: The court instructed the jury to convict Raymer of murder if the evidence demonstrated that he was even a part of the lynch mob. But the all-male jury found Raymer "not guilty" on the first ballot. He was acquitted because the jury believed the defense claim of police brutality, saying that his confession was "sweated out" of him by police. After the verdict was read, Raymer shook the hand of each juror and made a speech thanking them. Raymer was then tried on lesser counts. During the new trial, one of the state's chief witnesses against Raymer, Rollin T. Sturgis, was found dead. A former employee of Harry Loper, he was left injured after the attacks and had filed a $5,000 claim against the city for his injuries. He allegedly shot and killed himself the day before he was to receive a subpoena to testify against Raymer. Sturgis was expected to testify that he had seen Raymer cut Donnegan's throat. It was reported that Sturgis took his own life rather than face questioning for reportedly forging a $31 check to get supplies to move his wife and 1-year-old son. The bullet that killed Sturgis had "entered the back portion" of his head. Eventually, Raymer was convicted of petty larceny for stealing a saber from the home of Major Otis Duncan, a black militiaman, when the home was looted and burned. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail and a $25 fine (about $650 in 2018). Raymer's acquittal of murder, despite the evidence and instruction by the court, was taken to mean that convictions would not be obtained in the remaining trials. Raymer was able to get his murder charge for the lynching of Burton, along with three malicious mischief indictments, stricken from the circuit docket by posting a $3,000 bond (about $75,000 in 2018). On February 11, 1909, a local junk dealer, Abraham Barker, put the money up on Raymer's behalf. Assistant State Attorney, William St. John Wines, said of Raymer's murder acquittals: Following his acquittals, Raymer moved to Boston to live near his sisters. He