It seems the Trautvetter/Troutfetter family is involved in more than their fair share of shenanigans. We've written before about Philip Troutfetter whose exploits in the late 1890s covered two continents. His brother also was partially involved in a Colorado shooting a few years later. Fortunately the brother was not the victim or the shooter.
Election Day can bring out the worst in people and that's what happened in Goldfield, Colorado, on Election Day of 1908--November 8th. A man was shot and killed and W. L. Troutfetter was hanging around nearby and assisted the victim after he was shot.
The case came to trial a few weeks later and Troutfetter is mentioned in a newspaper account of one of the day's events at the trial.
"The most important testimony introduced by the state today was that of Paul North, an attorney formerly at Goldfield, Colo., but now of Rocky Ford; that of Mrs. Linder and that of W. L. Troutfetter, cashier of the allied railroad lines...Troutfetter said that Leibo did not have a gun in his hand when picked up after being shot."
Taken from the Denver Rocky Mountain News, 23 November 1909, page 7.
I'm not certain how much I will research this trial as Troutfetter's involvement seems minimal, but it is possible that the transcript of Troutfetter's testimony may provide some brief biographical information about him. There's a good chance the testimony contains at least his age and his residence at the time of the trial. In some situations those details may be clues--and the newspaper provided the name of his employer.
Searches of newspaper sites, such as Genealogybank.com may turn up unexpected items, that if you think about them, may in turn lead to additional information..
