The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-12-18
LAWRENCE TELLS
STORY OF FIGHT
C0-Defendant in Murder Case
Relates How Walker
Fought Beers to Death.

Counsel for the defense in the Beers
murder trial yesterday placed A. E. Law
renee on the witness stand and had him
tell all he knew regarding the tragedy.
Lawrence stands himself charged with
murder in the first degree In some re-
spects the testimony of Lawrence was
more sensational than that of Walker.
All that Walker told of the tragedy was
up TO the time the fight started but
Lawrence went farther and told of what
happened during all of the fight as we'll
as what occurred before it commenced.
He also told of some of the things that
passed between Mrs. Beers, now Mrs.
hughes, and the doctor that proved to
be decidedly interesting testimony. On
one occasion lie told of Mrs. Beers lam
basting her husband with an umbrella.
and then trying to end her troubles by
jumping out of a window at the Colo
NAL rOoming house and, he understood.
after she had attempted suicide by cut
ting her throat.
Walker just completed his direct exam
inatiOn before court adjourned for the
day.
Upon the ruling of the court declaring
that evidence tending to show the fact
of the defilement was admissible,
prove. by Mrs. Nagle and John
]. GALLAGHER. that the defilement
occurred at the time they were guests
at the hermitage hotel. as was also Dr.
Beers. GALLAGHER testified that when he
went to call DR.. Beers he heard a mans
voice, also the voice of a woman, i'm the
room. Judge Maginnis was rather Sc
we're with the witness on cross examina-
ton and brought out that the witness
had expressed willingness to aid the
defense. GALLAGHER, however, denied that
his interest in the defense had affected
| his hearing on the occasion in question
1 He was also questioned as to whether he
/ had talked with George Sheets, 'chief
/ detective for the defense" but he denied
! this.
/ Mrs. Maggie told her story on direct ex-
animation to the effect that she went
/ to the Hermitage with Mrs. Walker and
/ DIR. Beers, on Sept. s; that she heard
Beers say he had registered under an
| assumed name; that he gave as rea-
son that Mrs. Beers was coming up later
on with an automobile party and he did
not want her to find him there. She said
| that Beers was assigned TO a room. and
she and Mrs. Walker were assigned 10
| Room 10; that Mrs. Walker and herself
| retired between 10 and IL o'clock; that
| she fell asleep and when she awoke at
/ midnight she discovered that Mrs. Walk
er was not IN the ROOM She testified
/ further that Mrs. Walker was not in
/ Room 10 again until about o'clock the
next morning; that when she awoke at
midnight she heard voices in the room
| adjoining, and recognized them as the
voices of DR.. Beers and Mrs. Walker:
/ R. z. Hoag. cashier of the Utah Ma
tional bank. Identified the letters of DR..
/ Beers, said to have been written to Mrs.
/ Walker while the latter was in Los An
/ geles as being in the same handwrit-
! ing as the signature on the promissOry
note produced by Cleaveland.
Beers Letter 10 Mrs. Walker.
! Counsel for the defense then tried TO
/ have the letters received in evidence and
/ began reading them to the jury. Judge
! Maginnis objected, as the letters had not
! been shown to have any connection with
! Mrs Walker. Mr.. Hutchinson read to the
] jury MY Only Darling joe" and coun-
( sci for the state said that both Joe and
| Josephine were very common names and
! that there was nothing in the evidence to
show the connection between the letters
/ and Mrs Walker. The court read the
| letters and then said that the objection
| of the counsel for the state was well
! taken and sustained it.
J R. ". NicoI was then placed on the
stand and told Of receiving the letters
| from Mrs. Walker. and was excused.
| The defense again offered the letters,
| but they were excluded from the evil
dence of the case on the same objec-