The Washington herald., 1907-02-06
MAY CASE NEARS END
Only One More Witness to Be
Called by Defense.
VICTIMS MOTHER RECALLED
Mrs. Joseph COnen Testifes as to
Authenticity of Letters Received
by Her SOn-EPisf1eS May Be Read
to Jury-Insanify and Handwrit-
ing Experts on the stand.

Mrs. Josephine Conen, the mother of
Lucien Conen, who was shot by Mrs.
Jennie L. May, yesterday afternoon testi-
fed as to the authenticity Of the letters
which had been received by her son. and
which the prosecution claimed were writ
ten by Mrs. May. These letters. it was
shown during the trial. were submitted
to Lieut.. Santelmann and Gen. Elliott
when the trouble between the Mays and
Lucien Conen. was brought to their at
tention.
While on the stand. Mrs May $ hus
band identified three of these letters as
having been written by his wife, while he
was not able TO testify as to the rest
There are seyenty-tive Of them, and 1t
was claimed that at the investigation
before Lieut.. SanteImann, Conon was not
al fault in the matter Of receiving Rtten-
ton from Mrs May.
Loren c. Horton. Of Trenton. \. j.. an
expert in handwriting. was put on the
stand by the prosecution. and he testified
that every one OF the sevcnty-fiye letters
were in the handwriting OF Mrs. May.
j. Frank TraZzare the local hand-writ
testimony was not needed. as at this
point Mr.. Fulton. counsel for Mrs. May,
admitted the authorship Of the Il eX-
hibits
Jury May Hear Letters.
In all probability. these letters will be
read TO the jury this morning. and it is
expected that considerable additional
light will be thrown on the relations that
existed between Mrs May and Conen.
DIR. Charles H. Clark, an alieuist from
ST Elizabeth's Hospital. testified as TO
the sanity OF persons afflicted with cpl
leptic attacks. He was on the stand in
cross-examination by District Attorney
Baker.
Another alienist on the stand was DR..
j. Wesley Bovee, who testified shat he
believed Mrs. May was insane when she
made an attempt on the life Of Coqcn.
He gave as the reason for his belief that
d few hours before the shooting. she mad
had an alteration with her husband. and
that because OF the fact that she is a
woman Of nervous temperament, his
charges against he, so wrought her up
that she could not diTerentiate between
right and wrong. and could not resist the
impulse than came Ia her The evidence
brought out had shown the facts OF the
quarrel which eliminated in the state
ment Of Mrs. Mays husband that he
would get a divorce from her.
Had HOmIcidnI Tendencies.
"Homicidal tendencies were pronounced
in the woman at that time said DR. Bo-
wee, and the deed was done during d 1T
Of emotional insanity
What is emotional insanity asked
Assistant District Attorney Turner.
Temporary Insanity" replied Dr. Be-
wee.
Ole j. May, the husband Of the woman.
was recalled and he testified that he be-
ieyed bis wife insane at times. He was
asked concerning epilepsy in his wiie's
family. but the questions were ruled out
Yesterday was the 6fty dag Of the trial
and but one more witness viii be called
by the defense to-day. There has been
no attempt To- deny there was an as
sauIt made by Mrs May. but the defense
insists she was insane at the time and
had no intention of inhicting injury on
CoHen.