The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-06-21

| court room ana ne continuously TWISTED
| his hat, a black felt one, in his hands,
| stopping the twisting occasionally to
! pick at a spot on it.
Van Horns Stories About Gun.
Josiah Ross, the police sergeant, told
on the witness stand about the con-
| hicting stories Van Horn had told yes
terday afternoon while being questioned
| in the county Jail by the authorities.
| According to the sergeant'S testimony,
| Van Horn at first vigorously denied
| that he ever owned or carried a revolv-
| er. After he made the denials as strong
| as he possibly could he was shown the
| revolver and asked If 1t was not a fact
| that he had taken it out of pawn at
Jacobson's early on Wednesday morn
| ing.
| Van Horn weakened at this Ques
| ton and admitted that he had but
/ said that he had taken 1t out of pawn
| for his brother to whom it belonged.
Then he declared that Morkinson had
stolen 1T from him on the trip to
| North Topeka. First he said that he
| had given the gun to Morkinson at
| him up on the morning that the crime
! was committed. Then he said he gave
it to Morkinson at Johnson's restaur-
ant where they stopped to get some
whisky. Then he said that Rabbit
/ (Morkinson) had stolen it out of his
pocket on the way to North Topeka
and had showed it to him when they
reached the Bechtelheimer barn ana
then run down the alley with 1t like
a rabbit" Van Horn had insisted to
the officers that this was the last time
he had seen Morkinson alive.
Sergeant Ross also testified about
the stories told him by Van Horn yes
terday in which he first denied that
Morkinson had ridden over to North
Topeka with him and then had finally
admitted it. The last story told by
Van Horn to Ross on this point was
that Morkinson had gone only as far
as the Union Pacific station with him.
More Important Testimony.
r. 1. Wilkerson of Valencia,
other important witness. He was
standing on Kansas avenue early on
Thursday morning when Van Horn
drove up to him with a hack.
HE asked me-" said Mr.. Wilkerson,
''if 1 would drive over to the undertak-
ing shop in North Topeka where they
had the man who had committed sui
eide the day before. told MIN
would and got on the hack with him.
He wanted to know if he could see the
body and I told him yes. He said that
he might be able to identify him as he
knew everybody in town.
when we reached the undertaking
rooms" Mr.. Wilkerson continued, Il
held the horses while he went in and
looked at the body. When he came
out 1 asked him if he knew the man
and he replied that he did, that it was
his old chum The Rabbit He said he
did not know the mans right name but
people did. We hunted up Hartman
and he identified the man as being |
Morkinson.'
Mr.. Wilkerson Immediately notified
the sheriff of Van Horns proceedings
and at the direction of the sheriff he
held him in North Topeka until the |
sheriff arrived and placed him in Gus |
tody.
Blood Stains on Trousers.
Sheriff WiIkeFson took the witness |
fest 10
some stains on the legs of the
gray trousers worn by Van Horn. He |
believed that these might be blood |
stains and Van Horn told him that if /
they were blood stains they got on the |
trousers on an occasion when one of /
Bechtelheimer's horses got his leg cut |
and that Becktelheimer, the hackman
for whom he was working, wore the |
trousers on that occasion. Sheriff Wilk-
erson is to have an examination made
of the stains on the trousers to find out
for certain whether or not they are
blood stains.
Hack Seen Near Three Bridges.
Mrs. Mary Robinson, who lives with
her family on a place just this side of
and in the vicinity of which Morkin-
sons body was found, was a most i'm
portant witness. She testified that on
Wednesday morning she saw a hack
being slowly driven along the Grant
Vile road and towards the city. 1t
was an old hack. She could not fix
the time exactly when she saw the
hack but thought that it was around
seven o'clock in the morning. She
said that she believed that the man
who was diving the hack wore gray
trousers.
She said that she had since been
taken to see the Betchalheimer hack
that Van Horn drove and she gave it
on the road was the Becteiheimer
hack.
Van Horn Called to the Stand.
Wilburn Van Horn. the accused,
was called to the stand by Mr..
and was first instructed by
the county attorney that he did not
have to answer any of the questions
asked him If he believed that they
would tend to incriminate him. Van
Horn took advantage of these instruc
tons and did not answer any material
questions, being instructed by his at
T. D. Humphrey and F. ].
Lynch. that he was not to answer the
questions.
peka for twenty-four years and was
twenty eight years old. He had been
a hackman for eight or ten years.
Some of the questions he declined to
answer were: ,
Were you driving a hack on
Wednesday morning."
Did you know the man called
Did Rabbit ride over on the hack !
with you to North Topeka?"
did you ever carry a revolver"
"Did you ever see that revolver be-
fore?" and the weapon with which ]
the crime was committed was shown
to him.
When the question was asked Van |
Horn if he ever carried a revolver he
quickly replied no before he received
from his lawyers not to | )
answer it. His examination occurred :.
hn
given proving that he owned the re- :
ZolXer with which MOrkinson was /