The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1901-11-22
POLICEMAN
ON The BEAT.
Man Who Was on Duty Near the
Kenmore Hotel
Testifies in the Trial of Mrs.
B0nine For Murder.
DESCRIBES THE ROOM
Occupied by the Dead Man as 1t
Appeared
At the Time That He and the
Proprietor Broke it Open.
Found a Pistol and a Shotgun
on the Trunk.

washington, Nov zZ.-Ihe trial Oh
Mrs. Lola Ida Bonine for the murder of
James S. Ayres, Jr, was resumed today
in Justice Anderson's court.
Mrs. Bonine's party was augmented
today by the addition of her brother,
u. S. Grant Henry, who had come from
his home in Missouri, in order to be
present with his sister during the trial.
Mrs. Bonine's two sons, also were pres
ent, as were her husband and her sister,
Mrs. Meacham- The prisoner came in
in advance of her attorneys and when
they arrived she cordially shook hands
with them.
The first witness in the case was
Harry A. Wise, photographer who
had made photographs of Ayers room
on the day after the tragedy occurred.
Mr.. Douglass objected to their accept
ance as evidence on the ground that
they did not present the exact condition
of the room when Ayers body was dis
covered. He thought their presentation
should be delayed Until testimony
should be taken showing that it was
the same when the body was found and
when the picture was taken. The pho
tographer was accepted by the court
for the purpose of showing the perma-
nent physical condition of the room
when they were taken.
Julius Hack, another photographer
more hotel and of Ayers room, identi-
fed the pictures made by him and they
were admitted as evidence. The first
witness who testified about the events
directly connected with the death of
Ayers was Daniel Woodhouse, the coll
ored waiter in the Kenmore hotel who
discovered the body of the young man.
He said that at $50 on the morning of
May Is, he was asked by Miss MinaS
who occupied room next to Ayers, to
go to the !atter's room, she saying that
the night before she had heard
strange noises in the room He first
discovered the body by looking through
the key hole and afterward saw it
through the transom. He also told of
giving the alarm and of the subse-
quent investigation into the tragedy.
He said that Ayers body lay upon the
floor and was doubled up.
POLICEMAN CALLED.
Policeman Walter S. Brady was call
ed He was on duty near the Kenmore
hotel on the morning that tCers body
was discovered and he was summoned
to the hotel a. about S:20 O'Clock by the
proprietor Mr. w. W. Warfield, who
told him that he thought he had a sui
eide up stairs. The witness was then
escorted to Ayers room in company
with three or four other persons. Find
ing the door fastened, he had, under
Mr.. Warfields Instructions forced it
open. Upon subsequent investigation
he had found that the door was bolted
and not locked. The body of the dead
man was, he said, lying on the floor
near the window, in a bent position
and with the arms drawn up in front of
the face. The head lay across one of
the rounds of a rocking chair, and the
only clothing on the body was a light
undershirt. The shirt was open at the
neck and the upper portion of it was
covered with blood There also was
1af C1 of hn
garment. The hands and feet also were
bloody the latter looking as if he had
stepped in the blood, which was on the
floor in considerable quantity. Three
wounds were found upon the body, one
being in the breast, another in the arm
and the third in the thigh.
The bed looked, he said, as if some one
had m lain ra in it ard had ggottea ten up throw
was no other disorder about it, and there
was only one indentation in the pillow
Ayres' coat and vest had been carefully
laid over the back of a chair. He said
that pistol and single-barreI shotgun
covered with blood The pistol was ex-
him. He handled it freely as he described
the condition of the weapon; Mrs. Bonine
with close scrutiny, but gave no evidence
of any emotion.
room, as he found it, Mr.. Brady said that
the young mans trousers We're carefully
d
collar. cuffs and necktie had been laid
upon the bureau No blood stains were
found on the bed, or in the immediate vi
cinity, the first bloodStain being near the
spot where Ayres had lay. The pool of
blood the body was larger than the
pool near the window. There also were
bloodstainS on the window sills. the wash
board and the rocker. On table in the
room there were nine cartridges lying
loose. The gas was burning when he en-
tered the room. but was turned low. The
lower sash of the window in the room
was up as far as it would CO. The string
on the window shade was covered with
blood. if it had been drawn through
bloody fingers He did not think there
was room enough between the bed and the
man to stand there. In concluding his ex-
animation in chief of the Witness District
Gould put in evidence the un-
dershirt found on the body of Ayres. 1t
was well stained with blood. The sight
of the garment apparently affected the
dent in the course of the trial.
CROSS S-EXAMINATION.
On croSs-examination Officer Brady
said a boy had first notified him of the
ira gedy. Mrs. Bonine's oldest son was
told to stand up and Lawyer Douglass
ger. The witness failed to identify him.
He had not noticed any finger prints on
the pistol he found in the room The
blood on the handle was unappreciable in
quantity He had. however, discovered
what he. believed to be, finger prints on
the window sill was exhibited and identi-
fed by the witness. who said the blood
stains were more distinct on the morning
of MAJ 15 than now
Officer Brady said in reply to questions
by Mr.. Douglass that the loose pistol