The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-07
When Arrafgned He Pleaded Not
Guilty, and the Defense VIII Claim
h Assassin Is insane.
OF MENTAL DECAY
ROLE THE PRISONER WILL ESSAY
DURING DAYS OF TRIAL.
Copenhaver's Crime One of the Most
Ffendfsh in the Criminal Annals
Of Marion County.

The trial of Ora z. Copenhaver on a
charge of murder in the first degree was
begun In the Criminal Court yesterday
morning before Judge Afford. Copcnhaver,
who killed his wife at noon the 7th Of Sep
TENDER by shooting her, pleaded not guilty
when arraigned. and his attorneys, Charles
McGroarty, pauper attorney, and Henry
Marshal and Henry Seyfried, appointed by
the court to defend him, offered q special
plea of insanity.
When Coperhaver was arraigned with a
number Of other prisoners, against whom
the grand Jury had returned indictments,
ne was dressed in a neat black suit of
clothes. which. with a black tie, gave him
a somber appearance that was increased
by the pallor of his face, due to i'm
p~risonment in the county jail. When his
name was called and he was asked to plead
he answered in an unfaltering tone. mot
guilty. The cases OF the other prisoners
were disposed of and the trial of Copen-
haver began with the calling of the fifty
talesmen of the venire to be examined as to
their qualifications as jurors.
THE DEATH PENALTY.
In selecting the jurors Prosecutor Ruck-
elhaus, assisted by his deputy. Charles Ben
edict, and L. E. Ritchey, of Franklin, who
was employed by the father of Copenha-
vers wife to assist in his prosecution, ex-
amined the men called upon 10 act as
Jurors as to their sentiment with reference
to the infiction of the death penalty. Jur-
ors whose scruples. religious or otherwise.
opposed the death sentence. for persons con-
vfcted or murder in the degree charged
against Copenhaver, were challenged, as
were also those who had read enough about
the case to have formed opinions as 10 the
accused's innocence or guilt, and the de-
tense challenged all jurors who had ever
had domestic troubles in their own family
or those of their children. The defense, act
ing on the special plea of insanity, exam
ined each juror closely as to whether or
not he could justly try the accused end
consider his sanity from AN impartial
standpoint.
The venire of fifty men first called was
exhausted late in the afternoon and fifteen
additional men were summoned. The TRY
was not selected, but it is expected by
Judge Afford that a jury will be secured
TINS morning and evidence and the opening
argument will be heard during the day.
During the examination of The Jurors who
were to try him Copenhaver sat back of
his attorneys, surrounded by his family
and evinced no interest in the trial. His
stolid indifference, most of the time living
back In his chair. his eyes closed and ap-
was remarked by every one
and furnished a peculiarly different pic
ture from that across the room back Of
the tables OF the attorneys for the prosecu-
tion. here Isaac Ferguson and his wife.
the parents of the murdered woman. the old
lady dressed in black and wearing a mourn
Ing veil. sat and during the examination
of the jurors frequently the sobs of Mrs
tergason could be heard above the noise of
the courtroom. The crowd that gathered
70 near the case was composed of about
loo men, some of them colored, and but
three or four women.
COPENHAVER'S CRIME.
ihe murder of his wife by Copenhaver
occurred at noon on Sept. Z at their home.
sos North Davidson street. Shortly before
their dinner time ~Copenhaver called his
wife to the door and without a warning or
giving her any linking of his intent, drew a
revolver from his pocket and fired
four shots at her, three of which took eff
The screams of the woman and the
report of the shots attracted the other in
of the house and shortly afterward
he woman was taken to the City Hospital,
she died without regaining conscious
hess. C~openhaver, after shooting his wife,
calmly walked to a neighboring store and
.elephoned to the police station, Informing
he desk sergeant that a murder had been
He then awaited the coming
II the police and surrendered himself.
since his arrest he has preserved silence
n the jail and has seemed at all times to
DC entirely Indifferent to his fate.
The frequency of wife murders and the
old blood In which this murder was COM
nitted. has aroused so much Indignation
nd created such a feeling against the muir
lerer that 1t is thought probable that
ihould a conviction be secured and the de-
enSe not succeed in establishing Ire In
anity plea. that a sentence of death will
,e the result.