The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-25
WOOD TESTIFTES FOR MAY.
slRS HE'S SANE, and DENIES W.
NC HER HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS.

ING HER HUNDREDs OF USI NDs.
mis- vather Left n,u, sssO,0 900 nnd Hs Gave
Mia Wife y Third OF II to Keep Peace. ne
Deeiares-naay Keiiard. the I,erendnnt. Also
Gales tn the stand-The Testimony All In.
May Kcllard, who ia on trial In Part l., Gen.
eral Sessions. on q charge Of utterinR forged
checks, wore a now bat yesterday when she was
brought into the courtroom. William Il.
Wood, who was sent to an insane a%sylum'aftcr
a~commission brought out the fact that he had
souandered thousands OF dollars on MissK cllard,
was also in court, having been brought there to
tegtify In the woman's behalf. Woods wife
was unable to appear, Al she was confined TO
her home with nervous prostration.
Mrs. Mary ID. Spencer. who discounted the
notes for Miss Kellard, was in court with her
counsel. Sho had testified on the previous day
that she told May Kellard that Mrs. Wood had
declined TO take mp any more of the notes to
which her nnme had been forged. Mrs. Wood
having tired of protecting her husband from
going to Jail after she had paid $2O.0 900 to take
up tho forged notes.
Abncr w. Thomas, counsel for Mrs. Wood,
resumed testifying yesterday. He had been
directed by the court to produce a copy of n let
tor which. he had written to another lawyer
saying that Mrs. Wood had become tired OF
taking up forged notes, and adding that she
was willing to spend 80, 800 tc put a stop to the
~forRcries and have May Kellard prosecuted.
'"You feel very bitter toward this defend.
anti" asked Mr.; Hare. counsel for Miss Kel-
lard.
II do not" answered the witness.
Then" said Mr.. Haire, you don't care
whether she is convicted or notf"
Well" replied tho witness. II don't think
that IL makes much difference. Mr.. Wood is
in an insane asylum. n wreck and ruin. A con.
viction wouldn't do much.good now"
Tho sum referred to:as.having been offered'as
n reward for May Richards conviction, Mr..
Thomas explained, was not offered as a reward,
but for legitimate expenses, including counsel
fees. The reason Mrs. Wood wanted May KEEL
lard convicted was to stop her husband and
May from issuing and passing notes bearing the
forged SIGNATURE of Mrs; Wood.
Wood was then called to. the stand, but be-
fore he was sworn Assistant District Attorney
Lloyd objected to him as a witness on the
ground that he had been adindged q %lunatic.
under indictment and that a commission had
simply decided. that he was not competent to
jury; Judge MsMahon decided that Wood
ness chair and stroEed his gray inustacho as
he waited for counsel to question him.
.s aSw one y Sre ySoV WOOD ss .realie ahwyeF HARE
.Q.--Are you the husband OF Virginia Woodl
Q.-When did you last reside at $50 Lenox
avenuei Al think 1t was Oct. ., 1896.
Q.-Why did you leave your homei Al
couldn't remain there anv longer-they cleared
,,Q.,;Who cleared you out, Any wife
That's ALL" said the defendants counsel.
and then the Assistant District Attorney began
'o.NWhere do you sIi reside at the he present time'
Alt Middlotown, y. y, in the asylum for
Q.-How did you come to get there, Al
was sent there by a commission.
Glow long agoi A.-About. nine months.
Q.-Sou are now under restraint Ayes, |
i am in the custody Of a keeper.
Q..,How did you happen to be brought into
n writ Of habeas corpus.
els your understanding good or badi A
g; you consider yourself insanei A.
Positively no.
Q.-How much Of a fortune did he leave to
Eoui A;-Between six and seven hundred
o.--what did you do with the money! A.
Spent some Of it and gave between two and
three hundred thousand dollars to my wife. This
,, 9v,pid ysH deed over this property volun.
Q;IDo you mean to say that you signed the
deeds under compulsionf Ayes. sir.
your head to compel You to sign these deedsI
A.,,,,Eo. hut for the sake of peace in my house.
hold l signed the deeds.
Q.-,Isn't it a fact that the property you trans
ferred to your wife was equal to her doweri
.o.-When did you first meet May Kellardi
Ain 1887, at 102 East 10th street.
2.Wha: sort of a place was that' A.-Real
sn S.1 isaa,y you meet s h6er'frequently between 1887
When was it that you introduced Miss Kel-
lard to your wifei' asked Mr.. Lloyd.
Miss kellard ut this point took out her hand
had been smiling at the Witness. Woe % s shlas eeds
az her when she commenced to cry, and then
he declined to answer. II think an answer to
that might degrade and incriminate me- said
.-Wer you with her when abe had a 81. 600
note discounted at Mrs. Spencer's oficef A.
Q.-How many hundreds of thousands of dol
dreds of thousands.
Was it 81 sc. 0OOl' asked MI. Lloyd.
Wood declined to answer the question and
was allowed 10 step down. He bowed to the
defendant. as no passed her, but she pretended
moi MAY "a Hi Reiia I'd to the stand" said Mr.. Bair..
and as tho defendant walked toward the wit
ness chair the crowd of women in the court.
room stood up and Grained their necks in an ef-
fort TO get a good view of her. Remove your
gloves, and step to this table-write your name
-FOUR times on n sheet Of paper"
OF the jury, box and proceeded to write her
name. She had been writing it several times
earlier in the day while seated beside her coun-
sel. when she had completed the task she was
After doing this the slips containing the names
were placed in evidence.
Mr.. Lloyd asked the witness II Wood had
given her q 5rownstone house in this city.
NO, he didn't exclaimed the witness.
We're you ever his mistressi"
ing forward.
This closed the case as far as the taking of
up tomorrow.