The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1900-11-30
THE VAN LEW CASE.
The Mystery Seems to be as Deep and
ClOuded as Ever.
Eazag

Cl0u0e0 as Ever.
The following from the Chicago
Inter Ocean correspondent at Van
Vert, Ohio, regarding the Van Lew
Hammen case, may be of interest to
those who have followed it more or
less from accounts they have been able
to pick up here and there. The cor
respondent says:
"The news that the crime was at
tributed to Mrs. Van LEW caused the
greatest surprise, and when Miss
Hammell died there was the most I'M
usual excitement in the town. Mrs.
Van Liew manifested no special con-
Germ and went about as usual, so that
there was hardly a resident inVan Vert
that did not feel the suspicious con-
Meeting her with the murder were
most unjust The funeral services
over Miss Hammell's body were held
Oct 10, and on Oct 30 the grand jury
returned an Indictment against Mrs.
Van Liew, charging her with the
murder. Mrs. Van Liew was taken
from her handsome home and lodged in
Jail, bail being refused. She went
through the ordeal with the greatest
calmness, and there was general
feeling of sympathy for the prisoner.
At the preliminary hearing Mrs. Van
Liew waived examination, and there
fore no hint was given of the line of
the defense. All along it had been
Mrs. Van Liew's policy to scorn even
denial of the crime, and her man
ner won her a strong support among
many outside of her own social circle.
Mr.. Van Liew from the first has
shown more feeling than the prisoner,
and his mistaken faith in her inno-
cence has been shown by the fact that
he will, if necessary, spend his entire
fortune in her defense
'Since her incarceration Mrs. Van
Liew has spent much of her time read
ing. All the latest books and maya
zines are sent to her. She has had
rugs and easy chairs put into her cell,
and her table is always laden with
fresh flowers, sent to her by members
of her family and by sympathi zing
friends.
Zone of the witnesses for the state
will be Miss Rosa Hester After Mr..
Van Liew's four years term of Office
as recorder of Van Vert county had
expired JAN 1, 1900, Miss Alice Ham
nell accepted the position of secretary
of the Home Guards, a local insurance
company. Miss Hester is also en-
ployed by the company. Shortly be-
fore the murder, it is alleged that
Mrs Van Lew called at the Office of
the Home Guards and asked for Miss
Hammell, who was out. 1t is said
that Mrs. Van Liew was greatly ex-
cited and that she spoke of Miss Ham
nell in the bitterest terms, although
she made no charges against the steno-
grapher Miss Hester was frightened
by the vehemence of the bankers wife
and made no reply. Later it is said
Miss Hester received letter from
Mrs. Van Liew, asking her to call at
the residence of the bankers wife,
The girl did not go in response to
the request, as she says that she was
afraid of getting into trouble, and that
she thought Mrs. Van Liew showed
a mysterious resentment that was al
most insanity. With friend named
Joseph Dunlap, Miss Hester later went
to see Mrs. Van Liew, who told her
not to repeat the remarks made about
Miss Hammel. Professor Trippy, a
friend of Miss Hammell, has been
quoted as saying that Mrs. Van Lew
tried to start some kind of a story
about the dead woman. .
The correspondent also says that
before Miss Hammell died, Oct. II,
it was rumored that she had told her
relatives that Mrs. Van Liew was the
person who had attacked her, and that
she saw the face of her former friend