The age-herald., 1901-11-26
Evidence in Mrs, Lola Bo- nines Trial That She
 Visited Other Rooms
MISS MINAS WAS FRIGHTENED
Tells of Hearing Shots and That Mrs. 5onIne Was Uneasy Over Tes-
 timony She Gave Before
 the coroner's Inquest.

Washington, November 25.-The trial of Mrs. Lola Ida Bonine. for the murder of James Seymour Ayers Jr, at the
 Kenmore Hotel last May, began in real earnest today.
 The preliminary details as to the fnd- ing of the body the location of the l furniture, bloodstains, etc., were all brought in with the conclusion of the testimony of J. F. Drew, the capitol | policeman, who was on the stand when | the court adjourned last Friday Baker, the man who saw Mrs. Bonine descend the fire escape; Hopkins who roomed over Ayers. and raised the first | outcry; Miss Wollumns, who roomed un- | der Ayers, and Miss Lawless and Miss 1 Minas who roomed on either side of him. testified today. Drew testified that there | was room enough behind the door of | Ayers room for a man to have been | there while the door was opened to ad- init another person, contention which | the prosecution deny and also that there were empty cartridges in the slop jar in Ayers room before the pistol with which the shooting was done was emp | tied by Officer Brady after the tragedy, This would tend to establish the theory of the defense that the pistol belonged to Ayers.
 J. Frank Drew, the capitol policeman, who was on the stand Friday when court adjourned, was the first witness. He swore that he had several times seen the defendant come out of Ayers room. The last occasion was about week before the tragedy. It was at night about 9 | o'clock. On cross-examination he testi- l fled that he looked over the transom into
 the room on the morning when Ayers l body was discovered. He was closely |sQuestioned as to the location of the
 furniture. clothing and tke position of | the body to which he has testified upon.
 direct examination. He testified that there was space enough behind the door | for person to have stood there while l the door was opened to admit another | person.
 Came Out of Other Rooms. He testified that he had seen Mrs. Bo- l nine come out of the rooms of others in the hotel, among them those of several single men, and her demeanor was in no wise different from that when he saw her emerge from Ayers room. She dis played TO evidence of excitement Her bearing was natural. She had a habit of visiting the sick.
 Thomas M. Baker, an employe of the Fish Commission Company, who resided in the building adjoining the Kenmore, was then called, and testified that on the night of the tragedy he was awakened by | the report of a pistol shot. He jumped | out of bed, went to the window and heard voice from above inquiring what was wrong below. He replied that he had heard pistol shots, and then while stand ing at his window he saw a figure on the fire escape just outside of Ayers win dow. The figure walked the length of the fire escape in his direction and then ] descended two flights to the floor of the veranda, where 1t disappeared into a win dow. It was the figure of a small woman, clad in dark tight-fitting clothing. The woman wore no hat and as he did not hear the fall of her footsteps, he judged she was in her stocking feet. He described | the manner of her descent, which he | said was very deliberate and without | emotion.
 | He did not know the defendant at the time of the tragedy, but saw her about | clock of the afternoon of that day. She | was at that tune being questioned by Detective Horne. She was smiling and he heard her say she knew nothing about l the cause of Ayers death. The shots he heard sounded untitled He could not tell | exactly, but judged they were about ten | or fifteen seconds apart.
 Shots Heard by Hopkins. | Robert P. Hopkins, a clerk in the War | Department who lived at the Kenmore Hotel, where the tragedy occurred, testi- | fled that he lived on the fifth floor over the room of Miss Lawless. who occupied the room adjoining that in which Ayers Wa kt.e night of the tragedy. He had been att tending her, and just as he was return ing to bed he heard three loud reports He went to the window and looked down. He saw something that looked like a skull lying on the fire escape just out side the window which he afterwards ascertained was the window of Ayers room The shots were fired in quick suc- cession, about four seconds, he judged. between the first and last.
 At the conclusion of Mir. Hopkins testi- mony there was stir in the court as Emma Lawless. who occupied the room adjoining that in which the tragedy oc- cured. was called. Miss Lawless showed considerable nervousness as she took the stand. She testified that she was en- ployed in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing On the night of the tragedy, at about s:30 she testified that Ayers knocked at her door and asked if she
 
 ing away and wanted to make some CO., coa She gave him the sugar. In about ten minutes he knocked again and asked her if she did not want cup. She re- piled that she did not care for 1t. About 10 o'clock she retired. She was slightly aroused during the night but was not awakened. She formed no idea as to what aroused her or what time it was.
 The district attorney then turned the witness over to the defendants counsel but he asked but a single question. which brought out nothing additional At 12:is clock the court took a recess until O o'clock.
 Miss Minas Frightened.
 After the recess Miss Mary Mlnas de- scribed what she knew of the tragedy. She had been awakened by three pistol shots. followed by cries of help and a gurgling sound, then fall and all was