Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1903-02-18
Interest In the Case Growing
as the Trial at Winterset
Progresses
CLOTHING IN EVIDENCE
Coroner Who Conducted the Inquest
Testifies Regarding the Conversation
With Members of the Family the Day
After the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Give
Expert Testimony.
pecial to Times Republican.

! Special to Times Republlcan.
| Winterset, Feb. 1S.-The state has
| not yet finished the Introduction of evil
dence in the prosecution of Mrs. Mar
saret Hossack for the alleged murder
| of her husband 1t is thought that il
Twill require all of this week to COM
lrlete the states evidence. as there are
a large number of witnesses yet to be
Examined.
Today a number of witnesses We're
placed on the stand to testify to the
,unhappy domestic relations of the Hos
sack family. The star witness will be
Mr.. kellar, lifelong ueighbor of the
lHossaclSs, and the man who was first
to reach the Hossack home after the
murde:
Mrs. Hossack while she sits in court
each day is talked to by women and
girls, who shake hands With her, con-
soling her and expressing their sympa-
thy. AS the case develops more inter-
est is manifested and the court house
lis well filed with spectators, large
portion of whom are women.
Yesterday was taken UP largely with
expert testimony by physicians in at
tendance at the murdered mans home
after he died. The general trend of the
Testimony was the length of Tins it
would take Hossack to recover himself
so that he could talk after the blows
were struck, and how long it would
have taken for blood to coagulate in
the room.
To both these questions witnesses
placed the minimum time at thirty
minutes.
This is strong point for the state,
as by means of it they will seek to
show that defendant had time to strike
the blows, go out into The yard across
the porch where the trail of blood was
discovered, and place the axe under the
granary. The state will say in their
argument to the jury that this was the
course pursued by defendant, and that
after returning to the house and tax
ing a few moments for reflection she
Informed the household of what was
goins: on.
From the present line of testimony it
is presumed that the attorneys for the
defense will place on the stand a man
named Siras Bursom and his son,
farmer residing in the vicinity, who
will testify that horseman rode by
lis house at breakneck speed on the
morning of the murder. Defendants
plea. will be that Mrs. Hossack was not
proven guilty, and that this unknown
horseman was probably he guilty man.
Much interest is manifested as to
whether or not the defendant will be
placed on the stand. Senator Berry
was asked at the conclusion of the
trial yesterday If she would. and in re-
ply said:
I'VE have not determined y.t as to
whether we will place her on the
stand"
DR.. II. NJ. Dale, coroner of Warren
county at the time of the murder. was
the first witness on the stand Tuesday,
and with the examination and cross
examination occupied the chair thruo.
the entire morning and large part Of
the afternoon. Since the murder, he re-
moved from Warren county to Los An
geles, California, to reside, and 1t was
necessary for him to come that distance
to testify in the case.
DR.. Dale was an important witness,
giving testimony to the effect that the
coagulated blood found on the walls, us
testified to by numerous other Witness
es, was caused by the blood being spat-
tered from the massive wound. the first
one made, when the second blow was
struck with the butt of the AK. The idea
of the prosecution in bringing this out
was to show that there was a lapse of
time between the blows, during which
the person who welded the ak rested ii
on the floor.
The second important thing that h.
testified to was that in a wound such as
John Hossack received he would be so
stunned by the blow that he would be
unable to speak for thirty or forty min
utes afterward. A few moments after
Mrs. Hossack called the members of
the family, Mr. Hossack talked.
When first placed on the stand, DIR.
Dale gave history of his connection
with the case, describing first the scene
at the house on his arrival the noon of
the day of the murder, and then his du-
ties in his official capacity. One of the
first things that he did, he said, and this
was after supper that Sunday evening.
was to examine the clothing of Mrs.
Hossack, in company with Dr. Dean.
They were up stairs in room, and
Mrs. Hossack took off her clothing, on
nearly every garment of which blood
was found. The chemise was the OBJ
iect of interest, as Mrs. Hossack wore
this to bed with her when she retired
with Mr.. Hossack, and 1t was covered
with blood in the morning when she
called her children to tell of the acct
dent which happened to their father.
Witness said that the chemise had
blood on the right shoulder, both in
front and behind, and also down the
back. The garment was produced as
evidence.
Dr. Dale related the story of the ac-
cident as told him by Mrs. Hossack.
She said she heard noise In the house
like two boards clapping together and
got out of bed. AS she did so, light
flashed on the wall and she heard the
door of the sitting room close. She
told witness she summoned the chill
dren at once
Witness said that he found blood
stains on the handle of the door open
ing into the bed room. such as might
be made by hand on the door. He
described the postmortem examination,
and said that 1t was a big surprise to
him to know that John Hossack ever
spoke at all after the wounds, and he
felt sure that 1t was at least 10 minutes
before he uttered word because of the
shock received.
The cross -examination was conduct