The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-21
UP TO VAN HORN.
tCootinued from Page one.l


While standing in front of the barber
shop and this was about 1880 o'clock
IN the morning he saw his hack at
the watering trough north of the Union
racine station Van Horn was on the
box and another man, whom Bechtel-
nelmer did not recognize, was on the
box with him. He drove from the
barber shop to his home before driving
out In the country with his relatives
on a nine mile trip and said that when
ne got there Van Horn was standing
In the doorway of the barn. He ask
ed how much money he had taken in
during the night and Van Horn replied
that 1t was one dollar. Beehtelheimer
told him to keep the money and have
a new window light put in the hack.
He said that this was all the CONVEX
that occasion and did not know VIII eth-
er or not there was any one else In the
barn with him at the time:
Replying to questions from Mr..
Schenck, Mr.. Bechtelheimer en-
phatically denied that he had been on
the south side of the city on Wednes-
day morning.
Frank Summers. a policeman. took
testified that he was on duty on lower
Kansas avenue from o'clock on
Wednesday morning. He said that he
knew Van Horn. Rabbit Morkinson
shortly after o'clock he saw Van
Horn driving a hack north on the
avenue and that the Rabbit was on
the box seat with him. He said that
there was a man, bareheaded, wearing
a blue shirt and smoking a cigar in
side the hack and he was positive that
this man was Bechtelheimer, whom
he said he knew we'll.
Bechtelheimer was recalled to the
stand by one of the jurors and he was
questioned again. He insisted that the
policeman must be mistaken because
he could prove that he had not been
l. IL - 14N Fr~rlr1
Tuesday afternoon until yesterday.
Henry COwan's Story.
Henry Cowan, for whom Morknson
worked as a peddler, told about the
same story that he did yesterday but
with some important additions. He
testified to paying Morkinson IS, the
money that was due him on Tuesday
night when Morkinson told him that he
was going away. He said it was Mork-
insOn's custom to carry a pocketbook
and that couple of weeks before, Van
Horn drove up to him and Morktnson,
who were selling bananas on the corner
of Sixth and Quincy streets and told
Morkinson that he knew where thele
was a fresh one on tap. Morkinson
pulled out his pocketbook. displayed a
number of bills, probably $50 and said
to Van Horn, i've cut out drinking
altogether and I've decided to work for
Rabbit now" Van Horn then drove
away. Cowan said that he started in to
work on Wednesday morning and had
come across many persons who had
seen him driving towards ..orth Topeka
with Van Horn.
Cowan's statement that it was always
Morkinsons custom to carry pocket
book for his soft" money is important
because no pocket book was found In
MOrkinsOns clothes.
John Wagner, a hackman, who rode
over to North Topeka in the hack with
Ii Nor Ir4n CDR
day morning told his story just the
same as he did on yesterday. He got |
in the hack in front of Dick Johnson's
place and was let out near Jenkins barn
on North Quincy street. He said that |
Van Horn and Morkinson continued to
drive north and he supposed that they
were going on to Bechtelheimer's barn.
William Donovan, Elmer Krone. Frank
King and others testified to seeing
Morkinson and Van Horn on the hack |
bound for North Topeka early on
Wednesday morning. Each of them fix |
ed a different time between six and
eight o'clock as to when they saw the
hack going north. on the avenue. And
it is the opinion of the authorities that
Van Horn and Morkinson possibly
made two trips to North Topeka on that
morning.
DR.. O. A. Banded. who performed the
autopsy on Morkinson's body, describ-
ed the wounds he found in the head and
identified the two bullets he took from
the head. He told of finding the frac-
ture in the skull posterior to the bull
let wounds and believed that the blow
which made it was delivered shortly
before the shots were fired into the
head He expressed the opinion that
Morkinson's death had been caused by
one of the bullets which went straight
through the brain. He did not think
that the fracture of the skull would
have caused instant death, although it
probably would have produced uncon-
Frank Norville. Undertaken Conwell's
assistant, told of going after the body
and bringing it back to the undertake
ing rooms.
Morkinson's Body Taken Home.
William Morkinson, the father of the
murdered man, arrived here early this
morning from the family home at
Hope, Dickinson county, Kan. He took
his sons body back home on the 1:30
Rock Island train this afternoon. Mr..
Morkinson was pretty we'll broken up
over the unfortunate end of his son.
He spoke in the highest terms of him
and said that it was his custom to send !
his mother IS week from wherever he
to