Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-15

ue aute 10 TX tht olulht Aot thte snoounA
on OHearn
The statement Of Mr.. English for the
defense was very brief. He merely asked
the jury to suspend judgment until all the
evidence was In.
Raymond Nelson" he said. "a trained
and experienced thief. has unloaded on this
defendant the stigma OF firing the shot"
lie said II was unnecessary for the de-
Tense to state what Il expected to prove
Judge Sutton has decided TO keep the
jurors locked up during the trial. Rooms
at the Drexel hotel have beer secured
for them and they will be closely guarded.
Nelson sticks to story.
The fore part of the afternoon session
was taken up with the cross-examination
of Raymond Nelson. which was rigorous
He stuck firmly to his first story in all
important details.
In the cross-examination Mr.. English
gave limitations OF the evidence the de-
Tense would introduce. His first questions
brought out Nelson's criminal record, and
the witness admitted he had been arrested
a good many times He said it would take
too much time to figure up just how many
times His arrests We're mostly for petty
and grand larceny, but once 1t was for
burglary and once for assault and battery
He said he was q years old and had left
school at the age OF 1s.
Mr.. English then tried to show by the
witness that he had had the p calibre re-
volver with which Lausten was killed and
had given II to OHearn. after the shooting
with the statement II the police found IL
on him it would incriminate him. He
denied this. and also denied that he had
told O'Hearn to take the gun to South
Omaha and get rid OF it. He denied ne
had asked Mrs. o'Hearu Sunday morning
what jay had done with the gun. but said
she told him voluntarily that she had given
It to her father Ralph w. Gray after
o'Hearn's arrest The witness said that
the only time he had had the gun was
when he and Angus bought it in Council
BLUFFS.
Does Not Expect Leniency.
Nelson stated he did not expect to receive
lenient treatment on account of the con-
fession nor had he been promised leniency
or a lighter sentence for going on the
stand ..t
Did you not, while in jail pass up from
the lower cage to the upper, to Joe Warren,
a note in which you said he had better
join you in turning states evidence and
thereby get lighter sentence?"
II did not"
when you were brought over to the
court house from the jail with Warren
to plead to the charge, didn't you tell War
rem he had better turn states evidence?'
II did not say a word to Warren. be-
cause l don't like him very well and didn't
talk to him"
He admitted ne was the man who sug-
gested holding up the saloon, as he lived
In hot ~ %
lions. He said he did not confess until
after he had heard the others had done so.
CorrObOrateS Nelson's story.
DR.. Lavender, who examined the body
after the shooting. testified as to the
course OF the bullet. His testimony indi-
Gated Lausten was standing with his right
side turned toward the man with the gun.
This confirms Nelson's statement as to
the relative position of Lausten and
o'Hearn. DR.. Lavender said he had weighed
the bullet and found it Weighed eighty
seven grains, which was the weight OF
other 32-caliber bullets he had tested.
s. Friedman testified as to the purchase
of the revolver in his pawnshop at Coun-
Gil Bluffs, but nothing important was
brought out.
Ralph W. Gray.Go' I4earn's father-in-law,
the state. He said the Sunday morning
after the murdaTSishis daughter, Mrs.
o'Hearn, gave him revolver which he
took to the Union Pacific depot where he
worked. and locked 1t in his desk He
afterward turned At over to the police.
He examined the, 32-calibef revolver and
said he thought It was the one He also
testified Mrs. O'Hearn gave him ten 60-cent
pieces about noon Sunday and he got
IS bill for her in exchange for them. The
theory Of the state is they were given t.
her by Nelson as ,OHearn's part OF the
plumber and. are offered as evidence thai
Nelson and not O1Hearn went around be-
hind the bar and robbed the cash register
while oHearn held the gun.
BOnney's story of Shooting.
The first direct evidence aside from that
given by Nelson pointing to OHearn as
the man who did the shooting was given
by Henry Bonney who was in the saloon
with Lausten at the time He told about
the two men coming into the saloon and
asking for three beers. He was standing
at the bar. drinking at the time. He did
not pay much attention to the men until
he saw them with revolvers in their hands.
He saw them point the guns on Lausten,
but he thought at the time they were
playing a joke on the saloonkeeper. Laus-
ten went toward the cash register, he
said, when the man next to the witness
told him to come back. Lausten then
turned and started to put his hand on
the bar, when the shot was fired. His
testimony to the relative positions OF
the men corroborates Nelson's testimony.
AS soon as he heard the shot he said
he started out of the door, when the man
who did the shooting turned the gun on
him and told him to come back. He went
to the bar, while the other man went
around behind the bar and rihed the reg
lister.
He said the man who stood next TO him
and did the shooting wore short over
coat, while the other one wore a black
ulster overeoat. He said ne thought the
short overcoat was black. though he was