Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-18
MRS. LILLE GAINS POINT
Judge Rules Out Testimony Given BY Her
Be ore 0oro1ers Jury
SHUTS OUT SEVERAL STATE WITNESSES
Ex-sheria on the stand and Tells of
Events on Morning of Murder and
Conversation with De-
PENDANT

When court convened this morning Judge
Good sustained the objections OF counsel
for the defendant as to Coroner Sample
testlfyipg TO the statements made by Mrs.
Lille before the coroner's jury the first
time she testified at the inquest. In pass
ing upon the question Judge Good gave a
clear and concise statement Of the law so
far IS he had been able to investigate the
authorities on this question.
This u.s., it is claimed, an important point
in this case, and will shut out several wit
nesses for the state whose names are in
dorsed on the information. Counsel for the
state ella = that they can and will show by
other witnesses that Mrs. Lille made those
on other occasions.
DR.. Sample was called and the examina-
tion continued. Witness described the bull
let hole in the window and curtain. the
powder burns and the range of the bullet
plainly, the same substantially as he did
at the preliminary hearing. Witness iden-
tilted the lace curtain and the window
through which the bullet passed. The pow
der burn on both OF those is stAll quite
plain. but not as plain as they appeared
at the preliminary hearing. Witness said
that the distance from the head OF the bed
TO the east wall was ten inches. and from
the foot Of the bed to the wall was TWEEN
ty-two inches. Witness gave a description
Of the furniture and its location in the
room; that the range of the bullet through
the window would be in range within two
feet Of the head Of the bed. This was de-
termined at the inquest by taking a long
stick and laying on the bed in range with
the bullet hole in the window and screen.
The cross-examination Of the coroner ellie
tied nothing new.
Augustus NJ. Walling, ex-county attorney.
was the next witness. He said. part: 81
was at the Lille residence with the cor
oner's jury on October p. I made an ex-
animation OF the east window and lace
curtain in the Lille bedroom"
Witness here identified the window, lace
curtain and window screen as the ones that
the bullet went through. After the cor
oner's jury had concluded its work Mr..
Heath and myself removed all of those. and
/ took charge of them until they we're used
at the preliminary hearing. This was on
or about October 30, 1902"
The cross-examination Of this witness
ELECTED nothing more. Counsel for the
state announced they would recall this wit
ness on other matters.
what Mrs. Lille said.
Lewis Cren, ex-sherin. was the first wit
ness this afternoon. He said:
81 was at the Lille residence about $40
on the morning of the murder and was
there about thirty minutes. Mrs. Clara
Warren and others were there. This was
after Mr.. Lille was removed to the hos
pital. The covers on the bed we're turned
down and there was blood on the pillow
that was on the west side OF the bed. The
blood was toward the east end OF the
pillow. The blood was rather on the east
side Of the dent in the pillow I noticed
a bullet hole in the curtain, window and
screen. I did not examine these partic-
ularly at hat time
Witness tere described the furniture
and It's location in the room:
"I was at the Lille home again about
10 O'Clock, saw Mrs. Lille at this time
and had some conversation with her. 1
asked her how this thing happened and she
said she was awakened by a pistol shot
and saw a man standing there and she
threw herself out Of the bed. She said
that $500 were gone. / asked her II she
usually kept this amount OF money in the
house and she said she usually had from
800 to $3.50 in the house, that she was
uneasy about It the day before because
the dogs had been poisoned and she had
seen a strange man in the alley"
Witness said he assisted in organizing
: n pGEEt u u II " ~
see II any strangers could be found in
hiding. Also all strangers were carefully
looked after TO learn their location that
morning. Men were sent in every dir ection
and all the cornhelds were thoroughly
searched.
THE second time I went into the bed
room l took the range of the bullet by
laying a pencil in the holes in the curtain.
glass and screen and they were In direct
t range. They were about on a level. l
went out to look for the bullet. Amos
smith and Mr.. Finley won't with me. We
found what we supposed was the bullet
4; lodged in Mr.. Roy's barn 300 feet east
of the Lille home. This was in range wi h
= the bullet holes in the curtain. glass and
. screen" The bullet was identified by the
7 winners.
'T measured from the west side OF the
! bed and range with the bullet holes. and
II was five feet, one and one-half inches.
From the northwest corner OF the bed to
J the bullet holes II was six feet and ten
inches. and from the southwest corner OF
D the bed Il was FIVE feet, six inches to the
bullet hole in the curtain. had a CONVEX
sation with Mrs. Lille at this time. She
D showed me the west kitchen door. and said
that was where the burglar came into the
house. She said the key was lying on the
floor about ten inches from the door. She
, said the door was locked securely the night
before, and she supposed the burglar had
I pushed the key out and unlocked the door.
About one week after this I had another
; conversation with Mrs. Lille. l said "a
6 her that l had understood that most OF the
life insurance was made 10 the little girl
= and she said no. that $3.50 Of the $1,000 was
I to Edna and the balance was coming to her
We talked about the crime and who would
2 have committed it, who could have had any
: motive for committing the crime. In ons
i Of tho conversations I asked her how nigh.
h It was. and. she said 1t was not light enough
. for her to discern who the man was,
: asked her how It was that a man could
see to shoot Mr.. Lille in a vita
spot like that and she said the moon wa'
shining in on Mr.. lilies head. and It wa'
; plain to be seen; that she heard a nois'
tina woke her up. and she saw a maj
! standing by the bed pointing a gun at her
and she Immediately threw herself on tn
bed She said he was a man. as near al
she could tell. about as tall as Harvey an,
had no beard. wore a cap OF mufhed hat
and at this time she Indicated how h
stood by leaning over the bed"
The other testimony was Rubgfantialiy tn