Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-02-19
TRIAL PROGRESSING SLOWLY.
Woman on Stand Tells Her Story
Amid Sobs and Tears,


Centerville, Feb. 1S.-(Special.)-
After many hours upon the witness
stand, during which she broke down
completely when asked if she
shot her husband, Mrs. Krebbs was
called to the stand this morning when
court convened, and her testimony
completed. During the greater part
of the day yesterday Mrs. krebbs, on
trial for the murder of her husband
at Jerome on October %, 1902, was
kept on the stand and in the presence
of the throngs of people who mad
crowded the court room between her
sobs and tears told her story.
Mrs. krebbs' Story.
Mrs. Krebbs stated that she had
been married to John Krebbs in 1891
and that during their married life he
had at various times made threats up.
on her life. According to the ruling
of the court testimony as to all spe.
cific acts of cruelty We're excluded
from the evidence. However, in her
story she told of the threats made by
her husband against her life.
Cause of the Tragedy.
During the first part of the testi-
mony Mrs. Krebbs told of the acts and
events that led up to the shooting.
She said that her husband made a
criminal assault upon her daughter
Lena two days before the shooting and
that she decided that she would have
to leave him She claimed that the
day before the shooting she came to
Centerville to consult a lawyer about
getting a divorce. After talking with
the lawyer about the divorce she de-
cided that she would give it up and try
to live with him longer. She went
home and her daughter told her that
her husband had been home while she
was gone and asked where she was.
The daughter said that she had told
terville to get divorce" and that the
father replied indeed" and left the
house.
Threatened Wife.
The defendant then testified thai
the father did not return home until
about o'clock in the evening ant
came up to her and uttering an oath
shook his fist in her face and then left
the house.
Was Afraid of Husband.
Mrs. Krebbs said she was afraid OF
her husband and that night slept Or
straw tick on the floor She said
that he slept in the bed and got W
several times in the night and
drank beer and whiskey He got
,l,1 ~ 1,,,i1t q firn
then came into the room where Lena
was slepeing and threw cup OF water
on her. He then went into the room
where Mrs. Krebbs was and threw wa
ter on her. Mrs. ISrebbs stated that she
had not taken her clothes off during
the night and had not slept wink
She got up and was going to take
some dry clothes to Lena when she
alleges that Krebbs came in ant
knocked her down. She stated thai
he then choked her ana asked her il
she had been to see o lawyer abouu
getting divorce and ii she had told
about his actions with Lena She sait
yes and he replied that he would fl,
her and fix her now He then raj
from the house and the defendant sait
she thought he had gone to get a wea
pom with which to kill her.
She stated that she then picked III
the gun to scare him off and went tt
the door, and that he grabbed thu
muzzle of the gun, when it was dis
charged. She said she did not really
know the gun was loaded. She stated
/ that he fell backwards and she rar
to him and screamed: "Oh John,
did not mean to hurt you, only want
ed to scare you off. | was afraid yor
would kill me"
When asked to take the gun ant
show the jury the position in which
she held it she said that she did mo-
! want to touch it and burst into tears
Cross Examination.
On the cross examination it devel
oped that Mrs. Krebbs has been mar
ried three times. The first husband
she is divorced from and he was the
father of her daughter, Lena. The
second husband was killed in a Goa
mine She is a German woman ant
her husband, John Krebbs, was Ger
man. In her examination in chic
she denied all damaging statements
that state witnesses had sworn to hav
ing heard her make
The case is progressing slowly ow
ing to the frequent breakdowns o.
Mrs. krebbs.