Kansas City journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1897-1928, 1897-06-09
ONE WOMAN HEARD SCREAMS AT
THE FOLEY BUTCHERY.
STATE BEGINS ITS TESTIMONY.
1T WILL ALL BE CIRCUMsTANTIAL IN
CHARACTER.
Jury Is Quickly Selected at Liberty
and the Work of Solving Clay
COunty's Great Murder MYs-
terry BeEins-Yester-
days Testimony.

The trial of William S. Foley for the mur-
| der Of his mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Foley, on
the night of November Il, 1896, was not re-
| suuIed in the circuit court at Liberty until
| o'clock yesterday afternoon. The court
| met al o'clock a. m, according TO ad-
| journment. but the attorneys for the de-
| Tense wanted more time in which to make
| their challenges and another adjournment
was taken until p. m. At that time the
| following jury was selected:
Darius cambridge, John J. E2ston.
| William T. Oman, Thomas Holt;
| O. T. Tickle, James Mccullough.
Frank White, J. o. Shouse,
| Joseph NJ. Borgmire, Shelby Yates.
| j. J. Williams then made the opening
| statement for the state. He began by
reading the Indictment charging Foley with
| killing his mother Mrs Elizabeth Foley,
| wilfully and premeditatedly, by shooting
| her, upon the night of November Il. 1895.
| Mr.. Williams then detailed the manner in
which the crime was committed, relating
| the story of the killing of Mrs. Foley and
| her daughter, mother and sister of the de-
| fendant. substantially as given in The Jour
nal yesterday. He prefaced this with de-
| scripton of the Foley home and farm and
neighboring farms, and the roads leading
| to the same. He said the state would prove
| approximately the time when the two wom-
en- were murdered. There were three to FIVE
shots fired, and some of these were heard
| by persons residing as far away as one and
a half miles from the Foley farm.
BY the evidence of eight or nine witnesses
it would be shown that the murder of Mrs.
| Foley was committed a few moments after
9 o'clock. 1t would also be shown that who
| ever killed the two women was familiar
with the premises and knew where they
slept, and where William S. Foley, the de-
| fendant, kept his shotgun and pistol. These
the murderer obtained in the dark.
The cartridges with which he loaded
| these weapons were in a box under the bed.
| The murderer reached down and took them
from the box. Finding one that was de-
fective. he put it back in the box. The IA
| miliarity of the man who did the killing
| with all the surroundings was further
| shown by the fact that he also obtained
| in the dark a knife belonging to Foley with
| which to cut the screen door in order to
| get at the lock of the door leading into the
| room in which the women were sleeping.
| A large knife was found on the premises
| the next day, which, when subjected to
microscopic examination. showed blood
| upon its blade. This knife Foley admitted
| belonged to him.
| Strong Evidence Promised.
I'VE expect to show further said Mr..
/ Williams, that on November the de-
| fendant, William S. Foley, borrowed pls-
tOl OF Robert NllllamS IN WnlCn IneTe
were five cartridges. After the killing the
| revolver contained only three cartridges.
Foley, when questioned before his arrest,
said he had fired two shots from this re-
volver at a rabbit on Saturday night, No
Vember IA. He subsequently said he fired
these shots on Monday, the day before the
double tragedy. One of the bullets taken
| from the body of Mrs. Foley, the one that
caused her death, was fired from this re-
volver, but it was not one of the cart
| ridges that were in it when Foley borrowed
| the revolver from Bob Williams. That bull
| let was one of number belonging to Foley.
These cartridges were of a peculiar make
| and you could not at that time and cannot
now buy such cartridges in this Western
I'VE expect to show by the evidence of
| several reliable witnesses that there was
! trouble in the Foley family. We expect 10
| prove by these witnesses that Foley had
| frequently and loudly cursed his mother
| and sister, Fannie. These curses were often
so loud as TO be heard by neighbors living
| half a mile away.
I'VE expect to show by the testimony of
| one of the witnesses that Foley said two
| months before the killing of Mrs. Foley
| that his mother and Fannie had been run
ming the place ever since his father had
| died. in 1880; that he was the only man on
| the place and that if there was not a
| change within a year a hearse would be
| needed in the Foley family.
| Mr.. Williams said that about the time
! Foley borrowed the pistol from Robert
Williams he began telling that he had
| seen Earl Hoover, who had served term
| in the penitentiary for stealing horse
| belonging TO the Foleys. On the night of
| the killing Foley told some of the peo-
| ple who assembled at his home that the
| women were killed by Hoover. Next morn
| ing he asked if anyone wQs suspected. In
| conversation with others, Foley called at
| tention to murders and burglaries in Lib
erty and Clay county and vicinity, the per-
| petrators of which had never been arrest
! ed, and followed these statements with
| this assertion:
They will never catch the man who did
it, referring 10 the murder of his mother
| and sister.
| were taken by the murderer from between
| the mattress of the bed upon which the
| women were sleeping. The next morning
| Foley was seen stirring the water in a
pond near the house and to a man who
was with him he said: II wonder IL
| drained next day and two of the pocket
| books were found at the bottom at the
place where Foley had stirred the water.
| The First Witness.
| Dr. r. f. Sewer, coroner of Clay county,
| was the first witness called for the state.
| He testified as to viewing the bodies, the
| post mortem examination and impaneling
| of a jury. The inquest was begun We'd
| nesday November Is, and was finished on
| The foIiowinr Saturday The iurv returned
| a verdict recommending that Foley be held
for the murder. bullet wound in the
| left breast caused Mrs. Foley's death.
| There were four other wounds in her
| body. head and limbs The bullet that en-
| tered the left breast and the heart was
| 3S-caliber, pointed, and had five creases
| around it. Foley told him he believed Earl
Hoover, whom he had seen recently, COM
| mitted the double crime.
/ Foley'S revolver, the revolver he bOr-
| rowed from Bob Williams, and his
| mothers bloody nightdress were brought
| in and exhibited to the jury.
| John Burke a middle aged farmer, was
| the next witness. He testified that he lived
| three-quarters of a mile from the Foley
| farm.
| Did you hear gun shots on the night
| Mrs. Foley and her daughter were kiiled?"
! asked Prosecuting Attorney WoOdson.
! Il heard shots little after o'clock that
| night" replied the witness.
How did you know IL was that time?'
| Il gave a dose of medt,ine to my wife,
! who was sick. at o'clock.
! WAS your time cOrrect?'
| 1T was three minutes slower than Liberty
| time"
| How many shots did you hear?"
| Il heard three shots"
What time, if any, was there between
| the shots?'
There was a little interval between the
| first and second shots"
Where were you at the timer"