The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-10-14

ordeals the woman betrayed by no sign
that she had any appreciation Of what was
going on. Her manner at the trial was
consistent. 1t apparen tly showed simply
sublime, stoiid indifference. She even
testified on her own behalf as calmly
as though she were uncoDcerned in the re-
suit.
or cour Sc. the insanity plea was set uD
1t always is. But 10 this case there seemed
some greater reason for tue plea than in
the ordinary murder trial, where plea Of
insanity is very often asubterfuge to cover
a weak defense. The woman's strange,
almost unea rthly look and manner caused
desire both on the part of the prosecu-
ton and the defense to hold the fullest in-
vestigaiion into Ada Werner's mental con-
dition. And for this purpose the testimony
of medical experts vas introduced at the
w0man's trial.
Subpenas to attend were served on Drs.
ID. ID. Lustig and Theodore Rethers, thu
Commissioners of Insanity. DR.. Lastig
answered bis subpoena and duly testified
that. taking the circumstances OF the case
into consideration and after an examiua-
ton of the woman herself, in his opinion
she was now and always had been sane.
DIR. Rethers for some reason or other was
not called. and now ne is walking about
the streets shaking hands with himself.
Altogether, there was very little evil
dence Of tangible nature intro
duced to show that there was anything
| wrong with Ada Werner's men tai facul-
ties. Still for all that there may have
beer some lingering suspicion in the minds
of the jury that ali was not right. as in the
face OF testimony going to prove the COM
| mission of crime of the most diabolical
nature in the most deliberate manner the
| verdict returned was one of murder in the
pfod h.
| recommendation to the extreme mercy of
| the court.
This recommendation Judge Wallace
| saw tit to disregard in passing sentence.
| de spoke very much to the point, and
while acknowledging the right OF juries to
| convey their wishes to the court in such
| cases and the usefulness thereof he said
that he had no doubt that Ada Werner
| calmly, deliberately and of malice afore-
| thought killed her husband. aud that her
crime was undoubtedly one of murder In
the first degree. Under the circumstances
| his Honor felt compelled TO disregard the
| ADVICE of the jury and sentenced Ada +.
| Werner to Imprisonment for life in the
| States prison for the term OF her natural
| life.
| Ada Werner took her sentence with her
| accustomed stolidity. She had that fixed,
| trate itself upon nothing, and that was
| all. She sat perfectly still, and when the
| time came for her to depart she calmly fol-
lowed the Deputy Sheriff out of the court
| room to the Sheriff's office, whence she
was removed for the night to the Branch
County Jail.
| Ada was escorted to. the branch Jail by
Assistant Superintendent WeinholZ, who
drove her out In q wagon. 1t is long
distance out of the city, but Ada showed
no sign of nervousness or despair on the
way out, and when at last the parties
nf k,4s,s
out of the wagon quite briskly and entered
the institution.
But this stole calm was not going to last
long. Ada Werner was handed over to
the women warders, who confessed them
selves little frightened at the strange,
unnatural Bearing Of the new guest. They
spoke TO her and endeavored to make her
realize her awful position so as to pre-
pare for her long weary punishment, and
they succeeded. All of q sudden the
| woman's features relaxed, she uttered
succession of piercing screams and went
off I'M to what was at first thought to be a
/ FL Of hyse rics.
twas soon discovered, however. that
something worse than kysteria was the
matter with Ada Werner She raved.
shrieked, tore and bit at her attendants
until 1t took the united strength If SUI
perintendent T. j. Lowney and Deputy
Sheriff's Patrick McDonolgh and w. E.
Murdoch. guards of the jail, to hold the
now demented woman. Hold her they
did, eventually. and with the assistance of
the female warders the unhappy wretch
was securely pinioned in strait jacket,
| In which she passed the night.
The Whale night Ada Werner slept not,
but lay in an apparent state of coma,
broken only occasionally by shrieks that
woke up all the inmates and made the
blood curdle in their veins. She was in
| the same condition when morning came.