Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-08-22
ATTORNEYS FOR MARY HARRIS
WANT THEIR CLIENTS CASE
DISMISSED.
CALL TESTIMONY WEAK
Friends of the Accused Woman De.
clare That the Charge Made Against
Her Has Not Been Sustained by the
Evidence Introduced by the State -
Will Submit Motion Tomorrow.

From Mondays Daily.
The arguments of the attorneys re.
garding the motion for the dismissal
of the case Of Mrs. Mary Harris
charged with the murder of her hus-
band, will be heard by Justice M. l..
Kirk at the court house tomorrow
morning at 9 O'Clock. The defense in
troduced no witnesses at the hearing
and by submitting the motion will be
entitled to the opening and closing ar
guments
The case has aroused more interest
than any that has been tried in Wa.
pello county for a number of years
and the probable outcome of the hear
ing, whether the woman will be re-
leased or held to await further inves-
tigation by the grand jury, is a sub
ject Of general discussion. 1t is the
general opinion of many who have at
tended the hearing throughout, even
those who acknowledge themselves
prejudiced against the woman, that
more evidence than was brought out
at the examination will be necessary
to fasten the crime upon Mrs. Harris
| The fact that she was released on a
bond for $4,000 is taken by many az
an indication that the strong charges
against her were not fully substantial
| ed by the testimony, and that the ru
mors and suspicious which gained
general circulation after the investiga
tion by the coroner's jury and resulted
in the arrest Of the woman, were mag
nified to a certain extent because Of
the prejudice against her in the com
munity.
The Evidence.
The principal points brought out b,
the state at the hearing were thai
Harris was shot a little above and {
little forward of the ear on the righ
side Of the head, the course of the
bullet being forward, downward ant
inward from the point Of entrance
1 When the neighbors arrived after be
ing notified of the tragedy by Mrs
Harris and her son William, Harri!
was lying on the bed. The body was
almost straight with the arms acros:
the body, the revolver lying under the
right hand on the chest. The lef
hand was across the waist. When DR.
Keplar arrived at 10:30 rigor mortis
had set in. There was disco1oratio1
of the tissue between the scalp ant
the skull at the back or the head, thu
opinions of the physicians differing al
to whether it could have resulted from
the bullet wound. The note pinned il
the pocket Of the shirt of Mr.. Harris
was found after repeated requests b.
Mrs Harris and after the clothes hat
been removed from the house into th'
yard. 1t was shown that the propert.
affair between the Harris and Lewis
had been settled but no witness sail
that Mrs Harris told her HUSBAND
. that he had no business to influence
her to go to Ottumwa. Constable Nc
Donough also testified that Mrs .Harri
said before the coroner that Mr.. Hal
ris saw him coming on Saturday morr
ing. He arrived at the house abou
$3.50 o'clock, half hour before MI
Harris was found but could not ge
any response to his knocks. Anon
the exhibits submitted were the shoe
worn by Mr.. Harris, the revolver, hi
pipe, the portion of the skull showin
the wound, the pieces of oil clot
found under the bed,a monkey wrenc
and the note and samples of han6
writing of Mr.. and Mrs. Harris.