Omaha daily bee., 1900-12-12
BEGIN TAKING TESTIMONY
Harry Floth on Trial for the Murder Of
Edward Fee.
COURT ROOM JAaMsD WITH SPECTATORS

COURT ROOM JAMMe0 WITH SPECTATORS
women Taking Great Interest in the
Cnpe and show FIoth
Many Little At
tentions.
Nearly all the preliminaries in the Floth
murder case before Judge Baker have been
disposed Of, leaving the way clear for the
testimony which the state asserts it is in
possession of indicating the identity OF the
person who dealt the blows that killed
Edward Fee on the night of August % and
the circumstances under which they were
struck. During the second morning or
the hearing there were few facts disclosed
additional to those brought to light on the
day preceding, nest OF the evidence being
only confrmatoty of what mad gone pe1ore.
The prosecution has shown that Fee was
seen on the night OF the murder lying on
the sidewalk in front CT the blacksmith
shop at 2505 Cunning street. That on the
following morning the electrician was found
dead in the rear OF the shop under circum-
stances indicating that he had been brutally
assaulted.
The construction the defense puts on the
the testimony is altogether different. The
attorneys contend that at the time Fee was
on the front sidewalk, in an apparent
stupor, the blow which caused his death
had already been received, presumably
from some. one other than Floth or his
friends, or as a result OF falling against a
hard substance. According to the physi-
clans Fee died from a ruptured blood ves-
sci adjacent to the spheroid bone. and this,
in their opinion, was due to severe blow
on the head.
Women Interested In Case.
The court room was jammed with spec
tators from the time court convened until
the customary recesses. Many of those fol-
lowing the proceedings are the people who
never miss a murder trial IL they can help
1t, but there Is no small number Of Floths
personal friends. Women are taking as
great an interest in the case as the men. II
not more, because, although there are fewer
Of them, they have shown Floth many little
personal attentions. Once, during brief
wait when the jury had been excused for a
few minutes, a woman OF striking appear
ance stepped to Floth's side as he sat be-
hind his attorneys. Taking his hand in one
Of hers and brushing his hair back from
his forehead with the other, she said: 'Be
Of good heart, Harry, It's going to come
out all right; we all know you are inno-
cent"
Floth is a youth apparently not more
than 20 years old. He Is stockily built and
has Jet black hair. Most Of his time is
spent watching the effect of the witnesses
statements on the jury or toying with a
small pocket knife.
Oficers Goodrich and Russell were the
A..
session. Their information related to the
finding OF Fees body. Ernest Wicke, who
lives In the house adjoining the blacksmith
shop referred to. described how on the
evening Of August 22, after returning from
down town, he had occasion to remove his
hay wagon from the street to the alley and
saw Fee en- the sidewalk This was about
$50 o'clock. He went to call Fee to ask
him to help haul the wagon but found that
the man was in a stupor, he supposed from
drink. Alexander Lillis. an assistant in the
office of the coroner, was called to tell
about the finding of Fees body in the rear
of the shop on the following morning.
Wnchtler on witness stand.
John Wachtler, the states chief witness
and one of Floth's companions on the night
Of the killing, went on the witness stand
when court convened in the afternoon and
told the story OF the assault. He said
that he, in company with Harry Floth and
Leo Coyne, and Michael Mollner, the last
two being co-defendants, was drinking beer
| in the enclosure behind the smithy. Along
about 10 o'clock, he said. Floth announced
| the intention Of going to a, neighboring sa-
| loon to get a sandwich and started out the
driveway leading to Cunning street.
Wachtler said he saw Floth returning
in few minutes bringing with him a
stranger. Floth had the sandwich in his
| hand. The witness said that he overheard
nothing said by either Of the men. The
| stranger Joined the group and drank some
Of the beer. The only conversation Wacht-
| lcr could remember having heard was the
strangers remark when he called Coyne q
vile name. He did not remember whether
Coyne answered or not. but he saw Coyne
strike the man several times in the face
with his fist. The stranger was then sit
ting with his back to the smithy Imme-
diately after the blows were struck Wacht-
Ter, Coyne. Floth and Mollner left the en-.
closure and went to the sidewalk on Burt
street, where they stopped for a few min
utes and held a conversation. Wachtler
said he was about five feet away from his
companions and did not hear any Of the
details. After parleying for a short time
| Floth, Coyne and Mollner returned to the
enclosure, followed by Wachtler. Wher
the smithy was reached. the witness said
Floth stepped up TO a man sitting bracet
against the shop wall and began to pun.
mel him. Wachtler was unable to sweaI
that the man was the stranger who hat
Joined the group in company with Flot,
earlier In the evening. He said all h,
could remember is that Floth, withou
words OF any kind that he could hear bea
the man over the head and shoulders.
DIR. Lnvander Tcstiacs.
The most interesting incident Of the en-
tire trial was when DR.. w. II. LavandeI
who conducted the autopsy on Fees body
took his place in the witness chair, and b
means Of human skull showed the cour
and the jury how there is scarcely doub
that the electricians death was due to
kick or heavy blow with the fst on tn
head, similar to those which Wschtler tn
previous witness, described as having bee
dealt by Floth. DR.. Lavsndcr had positiv
opinions as to how Fee came to die and tn
explanations made to the jury with tn
skull as a diagram were not shaken by tn
exhaustive discrimination that followed
The skull which the witress used durin
the proceedings had good deal OF curl
osity for the judge, the Jurors. the attor