Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-11-01
HOLMES WEAKENS.
Weeps at the Sight of Miss
Yoke on the Stand.
Damaging Testimony Of Geyer, to
Whom Holmes Talked"
A Fighting Show Tor Life Given HoIres by II Q
Judges Ruling.

Philadelphia, Oct 3l.-In the Holmes
murder trial, today, Holmes for the first
time since the trial gave way, and so
| acute was his emotion that he wept.
A fair, blonde haired girl was led
toward the witness stand. When Holmts
saw her he started and his pallid face
flushed and then grew CHASTITY pale. He
beckoned eagerly to his attorneys and
| with tears raining down his cheeks,
| talked with great earnestness to them.
The witness gave her name as Georgiapa
Yoke. Then the reason for Holmes
eagerness was apparent. 1t was the girl
whom he married under the name of
II. NJ. Howard. Holmes urged his law
yers to use every means in their power to
prevent the witness from testifying, but
| their efforts were useless, as the court
ovcrruled all their exceptions and ordered
the examination to go on.
| Miss YokG's testimony was as to her &C
quaihtance and relations with Holmes
and her knowledge of Pietzel and the in
surance fraud.
Mr. Rolan then stated to the court that
| Holmes insisted upon cross xamining the
| witness himself Judge Arnold gave
| his permission, and Holmes arose quickly
to his feet. His voice was steady and
strong As he began to question the wit
ness. His manner was courteous to her
and his questions We're intended to bring
out the suicide theory.
Mrs. Pietzel, Bessie Pietzel, Dr. Henry
| Sidebotham, the coroner's physician, and
DR.. Mattern identified the clothing taken
from the body of Pietzel. Bessie Pietzel
was recalled and identified the pictures of
her dead sisters and brother. Mr. Rolan
protested on the ground that it had no
| bearing on the case and was only for effect
upon the jury. ascuNxH
Detective Frank f. Geyer identified let
| tiers taken from two tin boxes in the pos
session OF the prisoner The letters were
those identified by Mrs. PietzcI as written
by her, which Holmes suppressed. Mr.
Graham proposed to read the letters to the
jury.
The defence made d stubborn fight
| against the introduction, but Judge
| Arnold could not see that the letters were
irrelevant, as they would be corrobora-
tive of Mrs. Pietzel's story, but he refused
to allow Graham to read them at this time
and said he would later render decision.
The refusal OF Judge Arnold to allow
the introduction of the letters seemed to
upset the commonwealth's plan, and Ora
ham, Barlow and Detective Geyer held an
earnest consultation. The result of the
conference was the placing of Gcyer on the
stand.
Goyer said that he had an interview
with Holmes in this city after the later
was brought from Boston. Geyer said to
Holmes that he understood that the body
fonnd NJ 1ntk
stituted body. Holmes told him, Sunday,
Sept. 3, that he went to New York, got a
body from a medical student whom he
knew, and brought it to this city in a
trunk, the same afternoon. lie met Pict-
eel at the Western Union office and gave
him the check for the trunk. He went to
boarding house on 18th street, that
night. and left for the West Holmes told
him that the next time he met Pitzcel was
in the post office at Detroit
Holmes said he had given PietzeI in
structions how to prepare the body for the
swindle. He was to place it on the back
one hand upon the breast, one by the side
and place some liquid in the mouth and
cause an explosion. This liquid was a
wash for cleaning clothes that they were
making. He told him to burn the breast
and arm. He instructed Pietzel how, by
working the arms Of the corpse, he could
inject chloroform into the stomach At a
subsequent interview Holmes retracted the
above statement and told Geycr that the
body was Pietzel
On hearing this, Gcyor said: Holmes
il that was Pietzel's body, you murdered
him and killed the three children
mo, l didn't Mr. Geyer,' replied
Holmes. II will tell you about it,"
Holmes then told Geyer that Pietzel com
mitted suicide, and of his finding him
dead, Sunday morning HOLMES went to
the house, found that Pietzel had killed
himself by laying cloth across his face.
allowing the chloroform to drip from a
bottle upon the towel
Pietzel left a note for Holmes telling
him that he intended to kill himself and
advising him to make such use of his body
as they had intended with the bogus
corpses. After some reflection. Holmes
said that he did this and fixed the BODY as
it was found
In explanation of the whereabouts of
the children, Holmes said that they had
gone to London with Minnie Williams.
When asked where their trunks were.
Holmes said that he left them in a hotel
on West Madison avenue. Detroit. In an
other interview Holmes contradicted him
self by stating that he had given the boy
Howard in charge of man named Hatch
at Indianapolis, and had never seen any of
them since he sent the girls from Toronto |
Mr.. Graham proposed now to have Geycr |
tell of the finding of the children 8 bodies. |
The defence objected strenuously and the !
jury was taken from the room while
the argument upon the question was
made.
The matter before the court was the most |
important that has yet come up. The
commonwealth undoubtedly based much |
of its case upon the evidence of killing
OF the children by Holmes, not alone for I
the effect itwould produce, but to show
that the murder of Pietzel was but one
link In the chain of deaths he plotted.
If the evidence of the murder of the
children was barred out. the common
wealth's case would lose much OF its
strength, as the evidence of the killing of |