The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-10-12
The Accused Will Make Strong
Fight for His Liberty.
SEVERAL NEW CLEWS.
"Murder!" Not Mother" Is
What Miss Sapp Cried Out.
An Itinerant Peddler of RaZOrs
Is Badly Wanted.

Samuel +. Whitlow, who is charged
with the murder Of May Sapp. The
lawyers are: F. J. Oyler, H. A. Ewing,
S. A. Gard and G. R. Gard. A confer
| ence between the attorneys and Whit
low and members of his family was
held Friday afternoon in Mr.. Oyler's
office. The relatives present were w.
T. Whitlow. the accused mans father;
Alonzo and T. E. Whitlow, brothers,
and G. W. Garner, Mrs. Whitlow's
father.
I'VE have not decided on the line of
defense" Mr.. Oyler said last night
"Of course. we haven't gone into the
mass of evidence that has been intro
duced before the coroner's jury in con-
! nection with the case. but we are just
as anxious as the county attorney to
get at the bottom Of all the undevelop-
ed phases Of the affair."
Whitlow probably will not be ar
raigned before next Thursday. c. j.
Peterson, the county attorney, and
Whitlow'S lawyers practically agreed
that the attorneys for the defense win
make elaborate preparations for the
trial before the justice of the peace in
the hope that Whitlow will not be held
for trial in the district court.
1--WE shall ask that our client be re-
leased on bond Immediately after he is
arraigned," Mr.. Oyler said. There
will be no trouble of getting bonds
men,
First degree murder is now a ball
able offense in Kansas. The law pro-
vides that bail shall be refused only in
cases of persons charged with a capital
offense. The recent legislature passed
a law abolishing capital punishment.
1t is learned today that Whitlow's
testimony given during the secret ses-
sion of the coroner's jury had much
to do with discrediting his story in
the minds of the jurors. Whitlow had
never described the relative positions
of himself and Miss Sapp when the
tragedy occurred. With the county at
torney posing as Miss Sapp he in
Dictated to the jury their positions. He
said Miss Sapp had started east to-
ward the kitchen door of the house
and he was back of her and slightly
to the right. He said she cut herself
with the razor as she started toward
the house while he was still behind
her. He did not clearly explain just
how he grasped her right hand and
wrested the razor from her or how the
body of Miss Sapp came to fall toward
the west, the opposite direction from
which she was going. It was the
opinion of the physicians who said the
girl was murdered that the murderer
stood behind her slightly to the right
and inflicted the wounds by drawing
the razor or knife across her throat
from the left to the right
Another feature of the evidence that
the jurors considered carefully was
lieve that her cries were: Murder!
Murder!" and not "Motheri Mother"
A juror said today:
Mrs. Sapp was certain that it was
the cry tMother!' that she heard. She
said that May never had called her
anything except ma in addressing
her. It is hardly probable that she
said mother that night. What she
said was murder With her last
breath of life she tried to tell what
was happening to her"
Whitlow was in a cheerful frame of
mind at the Jail today. He laughed
and talked brightly to his relatives
who visited him there He is much
more hopeful of the outcome of his
trial than he has been since he knew
that he was certain to be compelled
to face the charge of murder. All of
his relatives declare they believe him
to be innocent. His father and broth
ers are rich farmers and will spare no
expense in his defense.
1t was rumored last evening that J.
n. Sapp, father of May Sapp, would
officials in the prosecution of the case.
Mr.. Peterson said, however, that no
such arrangements had been made.
wallace Anderson, my deputy, and
myself will prosecute the case" he
said.
There was a question raised today
as to the validity of the information
charging Whitlow with murder. The
deSignateS the weapon as
a sharp instrument, a razor.
Suppose it's shown that it was an |
other weapon that was used ?" a |
lawyer asked. The county attorney |
said that would not affect the validity |
of the complaint.
Think They Have a C1ew.
A new clew which may end in es- |
tablishing the ownership of the razor i
found on the scene of the May Sapp
was learned last night by c. :
J. Peterson, the county attorney. He
believes the razor found near the !
girls body may have been purchased |
in lola and Moran about two months |
ago.
Douglas Schomeraus, grocer at
POI North First street, this city, read |
a description of the razor He came to |
the county attorney last night and |
asked to see the razor. After examin- |
ing it carefully he said:
ct saw several razors OF that same
brand about two months ago. 1 remen:- /
the blade. They belonged to a tramp |
ing peddler He had about fifty razors. |
He stopped in my store between and |
her distinctly the name Our Alliance on |
Q o'clock in the morning He asked me |
Il had any old razors to trade or /
wanted to buy one looked mis- whole /
st eek over and finally bought one.
f.sI remember the Alliance razors. |
TT ey were among the cheapest he had. |
He wanted from twenty-five cents to 81 /
for each razor. This razor looks like |
the razor this man had. don't know |
lust how many razors Of this brand he |
had. but there were three or four, I |
think"
do you know where the man went /
from lola ?" Mr. Peterson asked.
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