The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-12-29
ept the statements Of this defendant

s sapta1 the statements Of this defendant
NV II wouldn + dignity the story Of the
man and the black cat except to say
that it is foolish. They don It connect
the cat with the man, the man with the
wasting time with it, I won't.
"Who would have gone up into those
rooms? Was it a burglarf Would
burglar 90 into a half deserted house?
Would a burglar go up there to Kill
Elizabeth Brennan, the little mothers
black cat, go up, break into the house,
Kill the children and then fade into
NThat Is fiction, created by the de-
PENDANT to escape the responsibility or
her terrible act: a., = -. ..:.
n VIZ So the ss sa Pe asas en- Sa
fereda Gentlemen. think of it. You
MT escape it. Who did the children
Interfere with? Think of all the people
on earth and you can It think OF any
one except the defendant, Stella Bren-
nan. /. j, -..-.
kill Tommy Brennan With this
statement the county attorney argued
that Mrs. Brennan wanted to save
| Tommy, while she murdered the other
three, and with this in mind. she had
| Tommy keep on his clothes SO that at
| ter she had killed the others, she could
! send Tommy over to the frehouse for
| his father. But the shots awakened
Tommy. There he was, looking at her,
and she had to change her plan.
didn It intend to kill Tommy originally
And she never intended to kill her
self. - - = - y - =
Mr.. Smith then took up the theories
| of the defense, that a robber came in
to the house and killed the family.
"Now, when they argue that to you,
he said, IT want you to think of this.
went up there to kill the whole family,
had shot four chcildren thru the head.
then when he came to this defendant,
when he walked upto her and had every
chance to put the gun up to her head
what did he dos Shoot her in the heads
No; he politely put the gun down at the
edge of her uightdress. and put the
ball where it could do no mortal in
jury. Think of that, as men of COM
| shoot the defendant in the head, as
he had done the children9
And when they. argue she was IN
sane, think of an insane woman who
! had shot four chcildren thru the head
| had shot four children thru the head
I, No. In the breast. Is that reasonable
4 thing to believe. about an insane wo-
man seeking to blot cut whole fam
ily9o fs
Mr.. Smith then cited murder cases
and incidents and deduced from them
arguments that threw ridicule upon the
! defense's theory that Mrs. Brennan was
y insane because her crime was such an
atrocious and horrible one. He went
down the line with the insane theory
/ and punctured it in many places.
At 1880 pm. the county attorney re-
sumed his argument, pointing out tbs
Inconsistencies, contradictions and I'M.
possibilities of the defendant s story
He then turned his attention to Tom
4 my's evidence and showed the strong
points of it. Mr.. Brennan testimony
was next taken up and in scathine
terms he branded as false the denials
and statements Of the father Of the
murdered children.
4, As climax to his. argument, Mr.
Smith took up the motive for the muir
! der, as shown in. Mrs. Brennan's dis
:. like for and trouble with her stepchil
: dren. Mrs. Bryson's testimony was
, quoted ct length and Mr.. and Mrs
J Brennan IS denials of facts conclusively
proven by the state were cited rs tend
} ing to prove the defendant 3 guilt.
i Shortly after 2 O'Clock Mr.. Cary
took up the argument and in a long anc
, at times eloquent plea, attempted tx
!. prove on scanty evidence, irst. that
!, Mrs. Brennan did not murder her step
children, and, second, that If she ail
, she was insane.
Judge Dickinson will charge thc ill,,
!. before adjournment and the Jury vii
! have the case about 5 0 clock.