Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1901-04-20

! George Hess. sr., father of the muir
dered man. said that his son ON his
death bed had told him TO look after
his place after he was dead and that
he wanted his wife to be guardian for
his two children.
| The question of submitting the
murdered mans dying statement to
the jury was then brought up. The
jury was taken ont of the court room
while the statement was read and ar
gued.
Court withheld decision on the
question for further consideration aud
recess was taken until Wednesday
morning at $50 o'clock. The jury
was taken in charge by the Sheriff.
"wednesday Morning
| Court convened this morning at
80 O'Clock. Court decided not to
admit the dying declaration of Hess
as evidence in the case on the ground
that all hope of recovery was not
abandoned when the statement was
made.
| The state here rested and the ex-
animation of witnesses for the defense
was begun G. q. Cutler, J. N. Thatch-
er, John Brown, Jas. B. Thatcher,
g. M. Noll. Thomas ID. Barney,
Sheriff Charles L. Stucky, Postmaster
| Alex Clohan, Jno W. Dodd, VIM. s.
Miller, j. w. Il. Fisher, E. O. Will
liams, William Thatcher, A. M. Gil
bert, Henry Butts, @. Wellinger,
Jerry O'Neal, Constable M. w. Rior-
don, ex-Sheriff Chas. H. Miller, all
testified as to the good character and
peaceable conduct of the prisoner.
| Mrs. Lord, wife of the pisoner aud
whose relations with the murdered
man was the cause of the shooting,
then took the stand. In reply to
questions asked by ex-senator Faux
ner she testified as follows:
81 was Is the last of October.
married Harry Lord August "a, 1899
Prior to my marriage | lived with
my father about a mile from the
goose neck on the other side of the
mountain, about quarter Of mile
from the home of Joseph S. Hess.
have known Joseph Hess all my life.
! do not know how old he was. did
not at any time have any written
communication with Hess. / received
letters from him, however. / received
some before my marriage and after
my marriage received two as far al
| can remember One threw in tht
stove and one my husband got. HI
saw me throw the first one in the
stove. He saw me get the second let
ter and at his request 1 handed it tt
him. l got it in December, 1899. AT
ter the receipt of that letter received
four other notes or letters. j have
seen Hess write and l know his hand
writing. These letters or notes
(shown to her bv Mr. Faulkner) were
sent to me by Hess. / gave them te
my husband after the fuss. | received
others but they were burned. ! re-
ceived letter from Hess week after
the fuss--the Saturday morning after
the shooting took place (witness shown
letter and she identified it. , gave it
to my husband. | signed that paper
(another paper shown heron the Mon.
day night after the trouble
Mrs. Lord is rather pre- tty young
woman. She appeared in the court
room well dressed in green tailor
made suit and wore blue felt hat
and white gloves.
Attorney Woods read the letters to
the jury. All of them contained SEN
fences repremanding Mrs. Lord for
not being true to the writer. (Hess)
and continually asking her 70 meet
him at different places.
Mrs. Lord then continued to testify
II had conversation with my
husband at our home on the Monday
after the fuss. Mr.. Hess told me
while in the yard not to go mp to the
house, when l told him l had to go
and tend to the meat shop, he said
No don't go. If your husband comes
down here il wont be good for him.
If see Harry Lord | am going to kill
him. | have two revolvers in my
pocket. 1 told Mr.. Lord that in the
conversation with him on the Mon
day morning after it occurred. also
told him about some poison that Hess
wanted me to put in his Hord's)
medicine during his sickness. NY
husband was taken sick with typhoid
fever about the last OF October and it
made him very weak. He mad been
out of bed about week previous to
the diffieulty..in the stable. He re-
turned on the day of the difficulty at
the stable about 10 80 O'Clock from a
trip to his fathers house. He was so
weak he could hardly walk.
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