Los Angeles herald., 1908-10-14
MRS. FINN IN
PlTEOUS PLIGHT
APPARENTLY ON VERGE OF
NERVOUS BREAKDOWN
LISTENS TO TESTIMONY ALONE
OF DEAD MANS BROTHER
Witnesses Describe the Shooting and
Detective Swears to Confession
Despite Objections by De-
fendant's Counsel

Pale. trembling and apparently on
the verge of a nervous breakuo"h'
Mrs Margaret Finn, a slender hsure
in black, appeared in Police Justice
Chambers court yesterday morning
for her preliminary eXanlhatiolI ~ 9,i 3,i,i,' q
charge of numbering James EDWIN
Mahaffey at Seventh street anu
broadway Sunday evening, July o.
Because of the exhaustive cross eH-
animation of the witnesses at lHe
morning session of court there was
little headway made.
Mrs. Finn seemed to pay small at
tention to the first two witnesses. She
sat as if dazed.
9 n Humer a motorman for the
Los. Angeles -Redondo railway, was the
first witness called. He testified that
his car was standing at the corner
when he saw two men having StruS-
ole At this iuncture, said the Witness
a woman appeared. 1T was the same
one who is now being tried" he stated
"She walked up to within ten or M
teen feet of the men. Then saw her
raise her hand. She was gripping a
revolver. Suddenly 1 heard two shots
ring out. They We're close together.
.'At the second shot one of the men
fell. l sprang from my car and, with
about fifteen passengers, rushed over
to where the shooting occurred. The
woman was taken into the drug store
and [ followed the crowd to get looN
at her.
The next witness was Bernard Mas
terson a collector, living at 3017 East
Second street. His testimony in sub
stance was as follows:
Saw Mahaffey Fall
81 was at the corner of Seventh
street and Broadway when l heard
two shots. They sounded as if they
were fired in my ear. 1 was stepping
off the curb at the time. L quickly
turned and saw Mrs Finn lowering
her right hand, in which was re-
volver. Then l saw a man fall off the
curb into the street. He was on his
hands and knees. I ran to him and,
bending down, asked him his name.
He replied that his name was I'D MA
haffey Then he collapsed. The Wo-
man had been taken into the drug
store and l stepped inside to get a
look at her. She was hysterical and
was rocking to and fro, moaning and
sobbng."
When w. H. Mahaffey, night CASH
Ter at the Monarch cafe, was called
to The stand, Mrs. Finn began to listen
attentively to the proceedings. Ma
haffey testified that he was brother
OF the QedQ Hail. w IlCIl cloNSu "AANetf
er his brother was living or dead, he
replied in a voice so low as to be
hardly audible, and on leaving the
stand seemed hardly able to restrain
his feelings.
Recess was taken until o'clock in
the afternoon.
While a petty case was being heard
in the afternoon, just before her own
trial was to be resumed, Mrs. Finn
-, Her annpar-
ance was the same as in the morning
although if anything, she was more
nervous.
Witness Becomes Confused
Miss Mary Broch of S2718 South
Spring street was called to the stand
and gave her occupation as waitress
at the Lankershim The direct exam
ination brought out that she was going
west on Seventh street when the shoot
ing occurred She testified that she
saw Mrs. Finn, who was dressed in
black. fire two shots at Mahaffeys back,
the first causing him to turn, and the
second to fall with blood streaming
from his nose and mouth. When asked
to point out Mrs. Finn as the woman
who did the shooting, she wavered for
the moment, but nodded when the pros
ecuting attorney pointed to Mrs Finn
and asked if she was the one.
On the CIOSS-eAdlilllldAlO ny EAtbpl
ney Thompson she became confused
and seemed unable to state how far
Mrs. Finn was from the deceased when
the shot were fired. Her words at the
coroners jury declaring the accused,
after the tragedy, to have acted like
any other person walking up the street,
she failed to confirm, and the attorney
for the defense made a strong point of
her lack of memory, and suggested that
for this cause her testimony should not
be accorded too much weight
The next witness on the stand was
Miss Mary McGrath of 599 South Broad
way, a waitress at Bullocks cafe,
whose testimony differed from the first
witness only in the matter of how far
Mrs. Finn was from the murdered man
and her demeanOr after the shooting.
She testified that. hearing a shot, she
believed it was a firecraCker, as it was
the eve of the day following the Fourth
The second, however, attracted her at
tentiOn, and turning she saw Mahaffey
totter and fall to the pavement. She
called for some one to lift up his head
but no one did so until life had left
his body. AS for Mrs. Finn, she stated
that she saw one of the men grab heI
and her only action was a shrug of the
shoulders. Mrs. Finn seemed inciff r.
ent to the surroundings when taker
into the drug store. During the cross
examination she said she only saw Mrs
Finn's back, if she was the woman
who did the shooting The witness
stated that she had been talking with
Miss BrOch just before the shooting.
Differ as to Distance
In opposition to Miss Broch's state
ment that Mrs. Finn was two feet from
the man, witness said she was about
fifteen. but admitted that she did moi
actually COO Mrs Finn fire tba cb0tS
Leading questions on the part of Mrs
Finn's counsel elected the testimony
that the defendant acted as one in q
stupor, half asleep and not realizine
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