The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1904-04-28
GRAVES GOES FOR LIFE

jury dl DeS MONIES C0nylCtS him OF
Numbering his Wife and Fix the
Penalty at Life Imprisonment.
The jury in the case of Charles ".
Graves, who was on trial at Des Moines
all last week for the murder of his wife,
Mrs. Mae Reeder Graves, returned
verdict on Saturday morning, finding
Graves guilty of murder in the first
degree, and fixed the penalty at life
imprisonment.
The trial has attracted considerable
attention in Decatur county as the
murdered woman was we'll known here.
having years ago been the wife of Re-.
Charles w. Reeder, and her daughter,
Mrs. Winnie Karbach, has frequently
visited her father in this city, being at
the present time a singer travelling with
the Grau opera company.
The crime for which Graves has been
convicted was most dastardly one and
was committed at Des Moines on De-
cember 18, 1908. Mrs. Graves was seen
at her home shortly before noon by
neighbors and appeared to he in perfect
health. Graves was seen coming home
about ten minutes after twelve, and in
IL.
| He returned to the house about fifteen
minutes later, and found the house ,on
fire, and when it was entered the dead
body of Mrs. Graves was found lying on
the floor, with the doors closed and the
window curtains tightly drawn. At
first it was thought that her death was
due to accident, her clothing being
burned nearly from her body, but there
were certain suspicious circumstances,
and at the coroner's inquest the physi-
clans testified that the burns on the
woman's body had been inflicted after
her death, as the flesh was not blistered
and medical authorities say that it
always bliSters when the person iSa1ive,
but not when a dead body is burned.
The couple had had frequent quarrels
and Mrs. Graves had twice applied for
divorce on the grounds of her husbands
cruel and inhuman treatment, but each
time he had induced her to return and
live with him on his promise to treat
her better. 1t was found that Graves
stories about his coming home we're not
in accordance with the testimony of the
|-neighbors, as he at first denied he had
been at the house until he returned and
met the milkman who said he could not
get in the house, and when he entered
he found the room on fire and his wife
dead. He was not arrested until five
days after the murder, as the detectives
were making a thorough investigations.
The medical examination disclosed that
the woman had been choked to death,
and the detectives claimed that when
Graves first came home he had choked
his wife to death, then poured kerosene
on her clothing and set fire to it, leav-
ing the house and returning short
time afterwards so that it would ap-
pear as if she had been burned to death.
When they had sufficient evidence col
lected. Graves was arrested and has
since been confined in Jail at Des
Moines. He protested his innocence
and his attorneys made hard fight for
him, trying to prove by expert medical
testimony that Mrs. Graves was subject
to epileptic fits, and had died in fit,
while in falling her clothes had become
ignited from the stove at which she was
working, but it seems the jury took but
little stock in this theory.
After Mrs. Graves death and while
Graves was confined in Jail awaitingl
trial it was found that the most of the
furniture in their house had been stolen
from the furniture store in which
Graves worked as shipping clerk, and it
was claimed that Mrs. Graves knew it
had been stolen and had threatened to
tell about the thefts, and on such
life.
The case occupied nearly week in
trial, being given to the jury on Friday
evening. When they retired to delib-S
crate on their verdict the first ballot
was unanimous for his conviction of
murder in the first degree, the only
difference of opinion being as to the
penalty, four of the jurors insisting on
the death penalty, while the balance
were in favor of life imprisonment.
After being out all night the jury finally
agreed on verdict of guilty as follows:
"We, the jury, find the defendant,
Charles w. Graves, guilty of murder in
the first degree as charged in the in
dietment, and fix the penalty at life
Imprisonment"
Judge McHenry, before whom the
case was tried, has set Saturday morn
ing of this week as the time for passing
formal sentence, but this is merely
formality, as the punishment was fixed
by the jury which found him guilty.
Graves attorney says the case will be
appealed to the supreme court, but
there seems to be but little grounds for
the supreme court to grant him new
trial, and in the meantime he will be
taken to Ft. Madison as soon as SEN
tence is pronounced.
The Des Moines newspapers de-
nounced the crime as one of the most
heinous in the history of the city, and
public feeling was very strong against
Graves.
Wrestling Match Saturday Night.
The postponed wrestling match be-
tween James II. Alldredge, the we'll
known wrestler of Leon and o. w. Shelf
ford, of Kirksville, Mo-, is billed to be
pulled off at Van Werden's opera house