The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-10-09

i'm Murder Cases than in Liquor Prose
cutions.
When court adjourned last might
twelve jurymen were. in the box all OF
which were accepted by the state and
by the defense.
All day long when men filed into the
jury box the fifth special venire having
been exhausted before the jury had
been secured, John Keefe sat inside the
railing behind his attorneys apparently
40 more interested than other specta-
tors.
John Keefe is not vicious looking
man and he is the last man in the
crowd that one would pick out for a
murderer. He has an open counter
ance and when he talks he looks one
square in the eyes. He just simply
looks like welI-to-do farmer that any
nerchant would trust on slight ac-
auaintance.
Inside the railing and three or four
chairs from Keefe sits Mrs. Ashley, the
. wife of the man killed by Keefe with
her three little children. Last evening
by her side and finally persuaded her
DO tell what she knew of the killing.
My name is Mary Ashley she said
My fathers name is r. Birdsell and he
now lives over on the West Side in
this city
George Ashley and / were married
near Hunewell nearly twelve years ago.
l now have four children aged respec-
lively ten, eight, five and three years.
My oldest is a boy and I left him at
home.
AT the time of the death of my hus-
band we owned eighty acres Of pasture
a little distance from New Murdoch
and / rent farm land and hire a man
TO do the work and in that way I man.
age 10 live and keep my little family
together.
My husband used 10 live here in
Wichita and traded in horses and near
ly everybody here knew him as George
Brown
Some people imagine that he was a
bad character because he changed his
name but there is nothing Of that sort.
There are people here who have known
him all his life who will testify that he
has always been honorable. The reas-
on that he went by the name of Brown
here was that he used to work for a
German who could not say Ashley and
he said it was no.. a good name and
he called him Brown but when he wrote
his name he always wrote it George
Ashley.
AT the time of my husbands death
we We're on a farm and he farmed and
traded in stock. He went to New Muir
dock that day to try and sell horse.
George and Keefe were good friends so
far as / know and never had any
trouble.
People who were in New Murdoch
when my husband was killed said he
was sober but / think they had been
drinking some and Keefe would have
never killed George if he had not been
drinking. He ought to be punished be-
cause he is liable TO drink again and
kill somebody else.
Il do not understand this court bus
mess and il seems to me that they are
not trying to get a jury. / don't think
that tall man over there-yes, Mr.. Am
tdon, that is his name; well, 1 don't
think he is a very good principled man.
He abuses the jurymen and drives them
away / want Keefe convicted because
he had no business to kill my hus-
band
There was a good deal of interest
created by the examination of James
Allison who was brought into the jury
box on a special venire. The defense
seemed anxious to get clear of him
and Mr.. Amidon fired questions hot and
fast Mr.. Amidon, like a good many
others seemed to think that a man
should not be ignorant and never read
a newspaper in order to make a good
juror.
He said ne had read of the case and
- clio al
that John Keefe killed George Ashley
but he insisted that he could render
verdict according to the law and evil
dence in spite of that fact.
The lawyers and the court questioned
MIR. Allison but he held his ground and
Mr.. Amidon was compelled 10 exhaust
a preemptory challenge in order to get
rid Of him. The crowd were with Mr..
Allison and the court overruled all
challenges against him. The fact Of the
matter is that the average citizen be-
lieves that a. man might see am offense
committed and then act as juror and
decide the case on the law and evidence.
but the lawyers do not look at it that
way.
1t was noticed that none of the bus
mess men wanted to sit on the jury.
They usually emphasized the fact that
they had read an account of the case
in the papers. When enc juror had
been disposed of because his name did
not appear on the tax rolls another that
had been past got up and told Judge
Reed that his name was net on the
AJAX roll either but Judge Reed told
him that no objection had been raised
fn his case and il made no difference
whether his name was on the tax rolls
or not. And then the good and true
man sat down with a tired expression
on his face.
SAVES HE-PEoPLE's MONEY.
County Attorney Davis has Been Taking
Care OF Odds and Ends.