Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-12-25
She Shed No Tears and Took 1t
Coolly.
LOOKED AT THE JURORS AND SMILED.
Jury Recommends That She Be I'm
prisoned in the Penitentiary for
Life at Hard Labor-Was Charged
With Murder of Her Husband.

sigourney, Dec %. Especial AT
3 o'clock yesterday afternoon the
Kuhn murder trial was given to the
jury At g o'clock this morning they
returned into court with the following
verdict:
We the jury find the defendant Sar-
ah. Kuhn, guilty of murder in the first
degree and fix her punishment at i'm
prisonment in the penitentiary the
rest of her natural life.
The defendant was seated in rock
ing chair and before the jury came in,
was talking to her attorneys and
smiling pleasantly. When the clerk
read the verdict she never ceased
rocking, 1t may be she turned shade
paler but that was the only sign of
emotion. She looked at the jury with
wide, bright eyes as they answered
the regular interrogatory of the judge.
The time for judgment to be passed
upon her was fixed for Jan S, 1901.
She Was Alone.
She was alone with her attorneys.
Her aged parents, brother or sister
were not present.
Her Statement.
She said in conversation this morn
ing that the jury must do as it
thought best. That she was inno-
cent. That she could not explain the
damning circumstances, but if the
jury returned verdict of guilty she
hoped it would be to hang her, rather
than the penitentiary for life.
The defense will file motion for a
new trial.
Preston's Argument.
Byron Preston, of Oskaloosa, made
the closing argument yesterday. He
spoke from $3.50 in the morning until
3 o'clock yesterday. He denounced
the theory of the defense as a fabri-
cation. The insanity and suicide of
Chas Kuhn as a myth. He pleaded
earnestly with them to remember
their oaths as jurors and not to let
their sympathy for young and pref
ty woman distort their judgment.
He said: 81 do not believe gentle
men, that Chas. Kuhn went into eter-
nifty with a lie upon his lips. When
he was dying when he knew he was
dying, when he knew that in few
short moments he would stand before
his God, he said: She poisoned me.
Snider, she did, Do you think he lied?
if man ever tells the truth, he tells
it when he is dying. Chas. Kuhn said
She poisoned me- and then passed ov-
,eri the dark river. And she did poison
him gentlemen. He loved that wom-
an. Do you think that between his
dying gasps he would lie and accuse
her of the crime?
There is not word Of evidence
that he was insane or that he commit
ted suicide. We have shown he was
not insane. He wanted to live. He
tried to live. He wanted to get to a
doctor. Chas. Kuhn's mouth is closed.
He is under the sod forever. He can
not tell his side of the story. Remem-
her the law. If you find her guilty
under the evidence and under the law,
have the nerve to convict her. The
law does not say young and pretty
woman can poison her husband and
go free. 1t makes no difference that
she is a woman. The law says: ANY
person who shall administer poison to
another person is guilty of murder in
the first degree? She had a motive
for killing him. She did kill him."
She Listened Closely.
The defendant listened to his i'm
FASHIONED appeal for a ''life for life''
with strained attention, She seemed
relieved when he had finished. 1t has
been hard fight with talent on both
sides. 1t has resulted in a conviction.
The haggard, worn faces of the jurors
this morning told how well they had
considered and deliberated. Tears
came to the eyes Of several of them as
they answered the judge to affirm the
verdict.