The Red Cloud chief., 1898-12-23
COLLINS Defense CLOSES.
The State Commences on Its Re-
buttaI Evidence.
WILL GO TO JURY NEXT WEEK.
John Collins Takes The stand to swear
That ne Did Not Tamper with
Lock to his h Room. ~ Jordan
sworo Collins Told Him HI Had.

in the Collins murder trial rested its
this afternoon Of 1918 o'clock.
Tho hearing of evidence introduced by
the state in rebuttal, began at once.
Following this will be the sub-rebut-
tai on the part of the defense. 1t is
thought by the lawyers in the case
that all the evidence will be in this
week and that the arguments to the
Jury will be made next Monday and
Tuesday. Judge Hazen will not limit
the time Of arguments, but the defense
and the prosecution will probably
agree to take n day each In argument.
The Judge is preparing his instructions
to the jury and the lawyers are work
ing nights in tho preparation Of their
argumen 3.
Letters are coming in from all over
this state and from other states, most-
ly from country lawyers, to the coun-
Gil In this case, offering suggestions.
One Of these was to Attorney Clarence
Spellman OF the defense. 1t wa from
n woman in Kansas City and advised
Mr.. Spcllmau to recitc to the jury the
verses "Curfcw Shall Not Ring To-
night, and to point out to the jury
how unlike was Frances Babcock to
tho curfew heroine. While the girl in
the story had riskei her life clinging
TO the clapper Of the bell to save her
sweetheart, the other, Frances Bah
cock, had gone on the witness stand to
help convict him.
John Collins, brother Of the MUIR
dered man and the uncle of John
Henry Collins, who Is on trial, was
put upon the witness stand this morn
ing by the defense. Mr.. Collins Is q
dealer in agricultural implements at
Westmoreland. He has attended every
session Of the trial and has told his
nearest friends here that he firmly
believes that John is innocent.
Mr.. Collins testified that John was a
good boy and affectionate and that the
father and son thought much OF each
other. But Mr.. Collins said he had
seen John only oncc since he entered
the university three years ago. Mr..
Collins was at the Collins home soon
after the murder and vas present at
the funeral. lie said he noticed Johns
grief.
"Do you yet believe Johns grief was
sincere?- he was asked.
Il do" hc answered.
Tho defense introduced testimony
this morning about the lock OF the
folding doors between the front parlor
of the Collins home and the parlor bed
room, where Mr.. Collins was sleeping
when he was killed. Those folding
doors pushed together and locked au'
tomatically by a spring catch and then
it required a key to open them. II
was the habit Of Mr.. Collins to always
lock these folding doors before he
went to bed. The morning OF the
murder these doors were found pushed
open about two feet, and the murderer
had entered and left the room through
them.
Sheriff Cook and others testified thai
they examined the lock Of these doors
the day of the murder and found tina
it had been tempered with 80 tina
after the doors were pushed togethe'
tho catch would click as II it woulS
lock, but a gentle push would slide th'
doors apart. johnson Jordan testified
that John told him that no had hxet
this lock so that 1t would not catcl
and the doors could be pushed apar
: easily.
The theory Of the prosecution Is tina
John tempered with this look, an
! that the night before the murder MI
! Collins pushed these doors together q
! usual, surprising they were looked
Then John had no difficulty In pushing
: them apart noiselessly when he en-
tered to kill his father.
John Henry Collins, the young ma
on trial, was put on the stand thi
morning aud asked by his lawyer IL h
had tempered with that lock at an
Q time.
= He said he had not. The prosecutio
8 then asked John:
"If you had tempered with tina
y lock, YOU wouldn't tell it, would you.
II don't know whether l would to
II or not"
e ..Would you tell the truth about 1t
y you thought tho truth would help col
5 Wet your"
% II don't know what I would q
under those circumstances, and l hay
not been In O position where thei
was any danger Of my conviction"
n Garrett Barnes. q GOLDSMITH, test
"a fed that he had examined that Loo
a to-day and saw no file marks on 1t
other evidences that II had been tar
pered with.
John Collins, uncle of tho boy
trial, told about the sheriff. himse
and others examining the lock Il
.. morning of the murder and fndir
:, that the doors would not lock VIII
- pushed together.
" A number of witnesses testified
y the GOOD character of John Collins.