The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-08-06
He Must Wrestle With AsbeIl
Pardon Case.
Aged Father of Prisoner Pur-
sues His Quest.
HIS ONE AIM IN LIFE.
1t Is to Secure His Sons Free
dom.
History Of This Sensational
Murder Case.

Governor Bailey will have to wrestle
with the Asben pardon case in the near
future. His predecessors since the days
of Governor Morrill, have had to do so
before him. and now it is his turn. He
has received a letter from B. F. Asbell,
the father of the man who is seeking
pardon, stating that he will be in Tope-
ka on September IL to present his sons
case to him.
The elder Asbel is an old man, bent
with years. He was once a wealthy
Labette county farmer, but he has been
spending a great deal of money in at
tempting to secure a pardon for his son
from the penitentiary. That il the one
great object of his life, and for seven
years he has been making pilgrimages
to Topeka to accomplish this end. The
crime for which Marion AsbeH is in
the penitentiary under the death SEN
tence was alleged to have been COM
milted during Governor Morrills admin
| istration. The case was fought through
the supreme court, but that tribunal af-
| firmed the decision of the lower court
and Asbeu went to the penitentiary.
| Then an application for pardon was filed
with Governor Leedy's board OF par
| doEs. The county commissioners of La
bette county ordered the county attor-
ney, F. M. Brady, to fight the pardon,
/
\ Governor Stanley had to take two trials
at the case, reviewing 1t entire during
one of them, and now it is Governor
BaileyS turn.
The AsbelI case is considerable of a
puzzle. On January Is, 1896, the wife Of
| Marion Asbell was found dead in the
cellar of their home. seven miles south
of Oswego, Labette county, with bull
| let hole in her brain and a revolver ly-
ing near by. Asbell was convicted of
wife-murder and sentenced to be hang
ed. The conviction was on purely cir
cumstantial evidence, but the entire
community was thoroughly aroused
against Asbell. There are on file in the
governors office a big bunch of pa
pers in connection with the case, but
there are probably more protests against
the pardon than there are petitions for
1t. In fact, the feeling against Asbell
was so strong that one of the conten-
tions of his friends is that the jury
which convicted him was influenced by
public sentiment.
The theory of the defense was, of
course, that Mrs. Asbell committed sui
eide. The prosecution combatted that
theory by introducing evidence to show
, that there were no powder burns around
the wound and that the revolver was
therefore held at distance when the
shot was fired. "A number of witnesses
testified that they had heard her threat
en- her own life.
The woman's marriage to Marion As
bell was her third matrimonial venture.
She had two children by former mar
riage, one of whom was daughter,
Maggie Whitehouse who was IL years
old at the time of the tragedy. The
prosecution alleged that improper rela-
tions between Asbell and his step
daughter furnished the motive for the
crime, resulting in quarrel between
AsbeI and his wife.
The girl was arrested at the time and
signed confession that Asbell had had
improper relations with her and had
quarreled with her mother about 1t on
the morning of the alleged murder; that
he had sent her away later. saying that
, he would "hx her mother. She has
t since repudiated the confession. There
is on file in the governors office an
| affidavit made by her stating that her
uncle a brother of her mother. who was
the prosecuting witness in the murder
! case had come to her while she was
alone in jail and had told her IL she
did not testify the way he told her to
I that Asbell had committed the murder,
i he would send her to the penitentiary
{ for life She protested that she knew
: nothing against Asbell, but as she had
/ no friends and as 40 one but her uncle
j was allowed to see her, she finally
through fear consented to make the
statement he desired; that some writing
r was brought to her by her uncle, who
! told her to sign it, and she did so with
, , out reading it or having it read to her;
; that she did not know she had signed a
confession until she read it in a news
e paper; that she was repeatedly threat
4 ened by her uncle unless she testified
: on the stand to the same allegations as
were in the confession The affidavit
states that the confession was false,
and that she knows of nothing against
Asbell.
This is the case that the governor
has to wrestle with. The people OF
Labette county seem to think Asbel
is guilty, although the elder Asbel
writes that ne will bring delegation
of influential citizens with him to ASK
for his sons pardon at the hands OF
Governor Bailey. Judge Skidmore who
presided at the trial of Asbell, refuses
either to recommend a pardon or tc
protest against it.