The Waxahachie daily light. [volume] (Waxahachie, Tex.) 1894-current, 1907-03-08
Why SHt SHOT TO kiLl


&H1uaab AHAaAS ~ @tR@&0A aE ~
intense Interest over the trial of Mrs
snuio MahaucF. she fragile ittie
woman vho il accused ~ she mar-
der ot her husband A Jury was se
cured "Wednesday aud yesterday the
hearing Of witnesses was cnmmene
sd The state concluded and the de
feaa. got as far as oue witness tn
rebuttai THAT oue witness was the
woman who did the killing. aud she
f told why she did # The courtroom
/ was packed when the defendant took
I the stand She ~ sllght of stature.
bur wears a determined expression
and does not appear 10 BE- afraid
: that her fate. which now rests with
F the twelve men Of the jury. will be
an unkind one, II s.le feels that she
+ did wrong TN killing her husband
She does not show It II she has any
/ twtnge of conscience II has been con
cealed In a mastery manner, for on
the stand she gave the impression
! that she had done something which
she could not have avoided with safe
/ IS to herself
Mrs Nahaney coutesses 10 thirty
+ five years. But she looks older She
IL broken and shows that she has
suffered through the hard lines
around the mouth, and there Is a
seeming lack OF care for personal
adornment that means much to a
woman. She Is dressed plainly, Sc
vereiy plain in fact, and while she is
I in no need of funds for her defense,
she does not give the impression,
/ through her clothes. that she is be
yond want. Her brothers are well-to-
+ do owners of black land farms and
they are standing by her in her dis
tress.
When she took the stand she told
her story of the homicide in most
dramatic manner She is mistress
of mimicry, and as she told how she
met her husband on the day OF the
shooting, how he looked when she
first saw him and how his expression
changed to hate and rage on sight O
her, she demonstrated that her ia
cial expression was capable of win
ming the whole gamut of humal
emotions. She portrayed every act o
the dead man from the moment sh'
saw him in the hallway of the tele
phone exchange to the time he lay
dead on the sidewalk as result OF
the bullet wounds she inflicted in
order, according to her story, to save
her own life. She said that she was
80 wears old that she married the
man she killed seventeen years ago
and that she is the mother of three
of his children. She detailed the fact
that they had lived in different
parts of the state and swore that
while they lived at Merkel that the
dead man burned their home in or
! der TO get the insurance. After the
arson he threatened to kill her II she
ever told that he nad fired the
house Sherman was the last place
they lived together. While there he
had an affair with woman who Nv
ed at Honey Grove and threatened
to kill her If she disclosed the fact
to her brother and sister. she SAID
this treatment broke down her health
her nerves were prostrated and she
became a physical wreck and she
could not live with him any more.
She swore that she was in constant
fear of his taking her life. once pre-
yiouslv her husband came to Town
aud she had fled To her neighbor
house, for protection as she was
afraid he had come to Kill her, IN
',atrying out a threat he had so often
made. she in the meantime having
told her brother aad sister that Ma
tauey had burned the nome 80 Nei'
ilel 10 get the insurance.
While Mahuney went 60 her heme
tn. morning of the homicide she was
I'm mortal fear for her life. In the
lhouso was q pistol belonging 20 her
ibrnther. I'd Breeze and she took
1.-THE pistol and started out Ia carry u
Ita her brother. as she believed him
lIu bs la danger, aH deceased had
Threatened to cut him To pieces. she
declared she had no inteut,on what"
Issvf ~ kiiitng h.r husband aud That
shc started luto ths telephone es
change to telvphoue tn her brother
she theu narrated how she met her
.hushana nn thv stairs as he was
coming dowu toward fhf street she
isata that whva sh~ fiFsg esw him h"
aas cusnlHpss.si sua his facn ~or~ The
.as1sE oppression but that fhv instant
r. aw hvr ana rrensusresi hwf hls
f..... thsnHta Be- shuwed his INTENSE
.ar.r a aeawt Hfnsa Htrf nis fest
.a..- sad ue mate msiiou ss II "a
iafas aeauan smd rsshssi apon her
.it sss fhen that Htv ugsd in s~sf-sss
) fau-. believing As e@uid onr9rF h"F
.a the s4aitwAx zuh Aitl neg before
hstp gauIa reaeh her.
d u waA aHFtnE fa. t'-s' afa"n at
.fhia aanu fhat fhe NtfnesN mtsnssA