Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-09-19
SELF DEFENSE IS
DEFENDANT PLEA
Defense is Also Attempting
to lmpeach the Testimony
of the Leading Witness
es For the Prose
cution

From Tuesdays Daily.
a trifle pale after his long con1ne.
ment in the county jail, dressed In
neatly tailored suit, with hair care
fully parted and general apparel I'm.
maculate, Miles Morrow, indicted for,
murder. sits in the crowded court
room today at the Wapello county
court house patiently listening while
the fight for his freedom goes on.
Morrow shot and apparently killed
Benny Farrell in Smoky Row May s.,
after a quarrel with. Farrell over
Mary Judson. He was bound over to
the grand jury about the middle OF
May after a long tedious preliminary
hearing and has since been In the
jail.
The grand jury returned an tndict
ment against Morrow September 4,
and the case came up for trial yes
terday afternoon. 1t was late in the
evening before the jury was secured
and the attorneys had made their
opening addresses in the case.
The Jury.
Whether or not Miles Morrow goes
forth from the court room q free man
or treads the path leading to the gal
lows or the penitentiary rests with
the following carefully chosen twelve
men:
Dan Smith, B. F. Black, George Bis
sell. Joseph Schoech, w. F. Harsch,
T. Sheehan, Frank Wheaton, Emmett
Haley John Ramey Andrew Johnson,
Walter Schoech and c. D. Lambert.
Saw klliino Was Malicious.
In his opening statement to the
jury, Assistant County Attorney e. R.
Mitchell practically reiterated the
charges set forth in the Indictment.
He said that the prosecution Intended
to show that Morrow killed Farrell
deliberately, with malice aforethought
and that the act was premeditated.
He spoke very briefly. He said that
Morrow, on the afternoon of May 5,
hunted Farrell down, cursed him
when he found him and then pulled a
gun from his pocket and shot him.
Defense Denies Statements.
Attorney L. L. Duke for the defense
spoke more at length He stated that
1t was the intention Of the defense &c
show that the action was In self de-
tense. He went into the story Of the
killing more fully than his opponent
saying that Morrow had no Intention
of killing Farrell when he went down
into Smoky Row that afternoon. Ac
| cording to his statements the action
was entirely without malice and was
not premeditated.
| He said that Morrow came upon
Farrell unexpectedly. and that he
Morrow, had reasons to believe that
If he did not shoot Farrell at once
that his own death would pay for the
| delay. That Farrell met his death Al
the hands of Morrow was not denied
at all but that the action was mali
cious and premeditated was stoutly re
pudiated.
| Attorney Duke stated further that j
was their intention to show that the
state depended upon witnesses who
were not to be relied upon and tina
they could show that the principa
| witness, Mary Judson was in no pc
| sition at the time to see the shoot
ing He said further that Mary Jud
son and others Of the states witness
es were so Influenced in the matte
against Morrow and hated him so In
tensely that their stories could not b.
! relied upon as the truth.
Morrow Sits Alone.
Surrounded by friends the relative
of the murdered Farrell occupy thu
front row of seats in the court room
! All alone in the center of the spac
inside the railing, between his tw
attorneys l.. L. Duke and OF r. Jaque
sits Morrow, apparently the most III
concerned man In the room.
From the moment on May that b
gave himself up to the police afte
the shooting. all through the prelimir
airy hearings and arrangement hi
bearing has been a wonderful exhib
: ton Of nerve. And today, as the frs
witness Mary Judson. is being barrie
by the attorneys On either side Of tn
case, he sits calmly awaiting the on
come Of the fight coolly surveying tn
scene as If he were but spectacle
{ and not the principal in the affair.