The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-04-11
HARD WORK
To Secure a Jury in the Burnett
Perjury Case.
Because Everybody Read the
Testimony in Collins Case.
ELLA BUCHANAN GOES
On the Witness Stand and Tells
How Mrs. Burnett
Scared Her Into Testifying
About "The Man on the Roof.

The attorneys in the May Burnett
perjury case have had considerable
trouble in securing a jury. After Judge
Carver had overruled the motion OF the
defense yesterday afternoon to quasn
the information on the ground that II
did not state the date of the alleged
perjury, the work of securing jury
began and was not completed till the
middle of the forenoon today The reg
ular panel of Is men and the special
venire Of u were both exhausted yes
terday without securing the necessary
Il jurymen, and an additional venire
of six men was ordered by Judge Gar
Yer to be on hand today.
Every man examined knew more or
less about the case. All but one had
read about the Collins trial in the news
papers, and the one exception cOuldn
read but his friends had told him about
it. A cOnsidera Bile number said that
they had formed a fixed opinion con-
corning the guilt or innocence of Mrs
Burnett and could not give her far
trial But there were others. Ihere
was the man who had an opinion at the
time of the Collins trial, but had since
lost it There was another man who
read the reports in the papers, but ne
did not believe papers anyway, so ne
was competent to sit as a good jury
man. he said A third man said he read
all d bout the Collins trial and May Bur
nett's testimony and quarreled with his
wife over it, as he and his wife held
different opinions. All OF these were
dismissed. The fact that a man had
read the newspapers was not not con-
sidered a bar to his remaining on the
jury, unless he had a fixed opinion in
the case.
The jury as finally impaneled is COM
posed of James Manahan. L D. Ever
sol, n. D. Stark, Henry Reisner. Peter
Schoenfeld, PIERRE Olson, NJ Watdman,
7 -, J.S-, E-vaaa
lands. Thomas Sears. and w. J. Dixon.
I. S. Curtis, deputy clerk OF the dis
trict court. was placed on the stand to
identify certain records. but Ella Blu
chanan, the colored girl who created the
sensation in Collins case by retracting
from her testimony about seeing a man
escape from the Collins residence on
the morning of the murder, was the
principal witness on the stand today.
She said she was not in the employ
of Mrs. Burnett at all at the time of
the Collins murder. but was working
for c. H. Barry. of 203 Branner street.
Mrs. Burnett came to me-" said the
witness when requested to tell her
story, and said she wanted me to work
for her, but when We got up to her
house she said she wanted me to testify
in the Collins case. L told her I didn't
know anything about it, but she said,
oh, yes, you do I said I didn't want
to have anything to do with it. but she
said that she had already told Mr.
about it and that I would have to testi-
fy. Then she told me that she was go
ing to testify that she came up from
Scranton early on the morning of MAY
IS, and that she and I had gone past
the Collins house together, and had seen
a COlOred man crawl out of the house
over the back roof carrying a bundle. l
told her 1 did not even know where the
Collins house was, but she said she
would take me up there and point it
all out to me, and she did. Then we
went on up to Mr.. Godard's office and
told him what Mrs. Burnett wanted me
to do
When questioned by County Attorney
JetmOre the witness said that Mrs. Bur-
nett said she ought to get at least $25
out of it for testifying anyway.
On cross-examinatio by Mr.. Wilson.
the girl went over the story about
swearing falsely in the Collins trial and
then taking it back. She told how she
had been brought up to the sheriff's
office the evening after she gave in her
ney JetmOre all about il in the presence
of Sheriff Cook. She further said that
Mrs Burnett had frightened her into
testifying as she did.
She told me- said the witness, that
she had told Mr.. GODDARD I knew all
about it, and that if I refused to testify
I would be prosecuted. I believed what
Mrs Burnett told me and so testified
that way. Mr.. Jetmore did not agree
not TO prosecute me for perjury if I
would change my testimony"
The girl also testified that she told
Mr.. GODDARD that her first story was un-
true, and that she didn't know anything
about the case before she went on the
stand and testified.