Custer County Republican. (Broken Bow, Neb.) 1882-1921, 1903-03-05
DEFENSE OFFERS TESTIMONY.
State Contest TO Rest 10 LII lie Murder Trial
Strong Chain Of evidence.

wholly in the introduction Of testi-
mony, the state Tuesday rested In the
prescott IN of L ma NJ. Lille, charg-
ed with tn mIrd Of her husband.
From the standpoint Of the prose5u-
tion it has been well handled and "a
remarkably strong chain of circum-
stantial evidence established. 1t is
hardly thought the defense will re-
quire the time occupied by the prose-
cution.
At this time the state rested its
case, and the defense began calling
witnesses.
Mrs George Leper was the first
witness for the defense. She said in
part: con the morning of October
"a 1902, / was at the Lille home and
saw Mrs. Lille. ] went from there
to the hospital Mrs. Lille was
there, and she told me that in the
morning she was woke up by a shot,
d saw man standing at the head
of the bed pointing revolver at her.
She was crying all the time, saying
she wished it could have been her in
stead of her husband; that Edna
| thought so much of him. She was
continually asking how Harvey was,
and wanted to go upstairs where Mr..
Lille was. She was weak and faint.
We took her out Of doors and one OF
the ladies got some camphor. After
this they took her upstairs. Ed Hall
and l went up with and assisted her.
When she arrived in the room she
dropped down into a chair, laid her
head on the bed and kept saying, oh,
dear, oh dear, why couldn't 1t have
been me instead of Harvey. Mr..
Hall and L helped her down stairs.
Mrs. Lille was not dressed warm
enough. Mrs. Woodward got some
other clothing and l assisted in put
ting them on her. Mrs. Lille was
crying and asking how Harvey was
all this time. In assisting in dress
ing Mrs. Lille / noticed there were
no pockets in her clothing. Mrs.
Lille went home about o'clock. l
went over there soon after she got
home and took her back to the hos
pital with my horse and buggy. On
the way to the hospital Mrs. Lille
was crying and feeling very badly.
After we arrived at the hospital she
asked Ed Hall how Harvey was, and
be said he was about the same. Mrs.
Lille went home little after II
o'clock, ate her dinner with the rest.
[ could not say whether she ate
heartily or not. She was feeling
badly and her actions were not natur-
Il. She went back to the hospital
lfter dinner. Hewitt and Ed Hall
advised her not to go to the room
where Harvey was, as she could do
MIN no good. She remained there
lntil Mr.. Lille died
81 have been in the home of Mr..
md Mrs. Lille and they got along
very nicely. | never saw a cross look
from either one of them. l have seen
them at lodge. ,They were very
Aifectionate. -
| w llOU hI "
what their conduct was when | was
not there. 1t has been about two
years since | saw them at lodge. L
have passed the house frequently and
have seen them sitting on the porch.
[ do not remember any particular
time that i saw them together on
the street.
When court convened this afternoon
the cross-examlnation Of Mrs. Leper
continued. She said:
"The second time Mrs. Lille went
TO the hospital she did not go into
the room where Mr.. Lille was"
Mrs. Bell Benton said: 81 am a
cousin of Harvey Lille. Since they
moved to David City have been at
their house two or three times. Mr..
and Mrs. Lille were always kind and
atfeCtiOnate toward one another
Their conversation was always pleas
ant"
On cross-examination witness said ::
81 cannot recall that / have seen
Mr.. and Mrs. Lille together but
IOnce."
Mrs. Clara King said: 81 saw Mr..
and Mrs. Lille quite frequently;
lived on the lot adjoining the Lille
residence. Mr.. and Mrs. Lille
seemed to be ON very friendly terms.
1t was Mr.. and M 5. Lilies Gus o n
to stay at home evenings On Cross
examination witness said. 81 saw
Mr. and Mrs. Lille every evening out
in the back yard feeding the chick
ems"
Mrs. Carrie Wilson said: 81 was at
III Lille house on the morning of
the murder. Mrs. Lille was getting
ready to go to the hospital. She was
crying and wringing her hands.
saw her at the hospital, when she
was walking around the room and
out on the porch. She wanted to &c
to the room where Harvey was.
Some of them told her that the wound
was not dressed yet. She was con-
tinuOusly moaning, wringing h I
hands AMI crying part Of the time.
Mrs. Llilie went home before noon
and requested me to stay, saying If
Harvey got worse to telephone her.
| told her | would. | left the hos .
pitaI about j. O'clock" CroSS-eXam.
ination: Mis- lille went up stairs
once i'm the forenoon where Mr..