Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-05

told her lots of times not to use so
+ much. Busse showed them the work
he had been doing that afternoon, and
told them he was about his work all the
time. Conrad Jakel testified generally
and substantially the same as Miller,
but in addition stated Il conversation
that took place just as they We're leav-
ing, in which the defendant said he did
not know what to do. Also stated that
Busse suggested the best thing he could
do was to commit suicide, but they pro-
tested that If he was not to blame he
should not do SO. Busse also at the
same time said he had told Henry
Schneider the same thing, and that
Henry had told him he should do no
such thing.
Dick Vahlsing, another neighbor, tes-
titled at length to a conversation he
bad with Busse on the day following
the death of his wife, in which BuSse
stated he didn't know how it had hap
pened; that he was right at home out
in the COW yard at the time that ne
had not been in the house since dinner.
and had seen her last about o'clock
in the afternoon. That upon talking
that evening Busse had complained to
him that all the hard luck seemed to
strike him, and that this left him in an
awful hard boat. To which Vahlsing
replied that he would feel better If he
could see any daylight In these happen
ings, upon which Busse changed the
subject, saying he must see man in
regard to his insurance.
One of the interesting witnesses of
II Toh hn
one of the coroner's jury. This witness
!, testified at considerable length, de-
scribing the condition of the body, the
room and also to what Busse stated to
| the jurors. In general his statements
as to the jurors was about the same as
to his neighbors. The jury asked him II
he had knife and he said he had and
showed 1T to them. The blade was
quite sharp. The jury examined 1t and
returned it to him. He told the jurors
that they had had no quarrel; that they
had lived peaceably and that he some
times got the worse for liquor. This
difference appeared in his statement to
the neighbors and to the jury, namely,
that he told the jury In answer to ques-
tons that he thought that his wife was
not exactly right mentally, and also
stated in regard to her physical condi
ton that the blood apparently would
run to her face and neck and head, and
he conveyed the idea that she was a
I little off mentally, and said she got
drunk once.
DR.. H. E. Day, of Allison. one of the
testified substantially to the same effect
all a
except that he claimed that the sutures
Of the temporal bone were not loosened
rs the other doctors testified. He tes-
tilted that in his professional Judgment
the injuries to the head must have been
made by great force and with some
heavy instrument.
Carl Weidke, another neighbor of
Busse, testified to having the key to the
house on the night of the death of Lena
Busse and kept things intact.
The important witness to the state on
the question of motive was Charles
Topper of Dumont. who testified that
in February, 1901, Busse came to him
and introduced himself as the husband
Of Lena Cassman who had worked for
Topper on q former occasion. He stated
crazy spells when she worked for him.
Topper responded in the negative.
Busse said she was not as good a wom-
an as he expected he was getting, and
he didn't think he could live with her.
He asked Tuppers advice, and Topper
told him he would have to see an at
torney. Busse said he had nice prop
erty, he had worked hard for it, and he
hated to lose any of it, During the
course of the conversation the money
matters of Lena Busse were also re-
ferred to. The cross examination Of
this witness was somewhat effective to
the defense especially, as saying that
Lena Busse had violent temper The
witness claimed that this was mani
tested only by throwing chairs and
other furniture out of her way when
she was angry, but that she was rather
inclined to be silent and morose at such
times than talkative, and that he re-
garded her as sane. That he told Busse
during the conversation in question
that he would not want her to have
charge of his children in the absence of
q mother. Upon direct examination he
testified that she had never offered any
violence to any of the witness children.