Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1908-05-15
WOMAN BIGAMIST
GETS Her LIBERTY
GRAND RAPIDS (WIS.) CASE SET
TIED ON a WRIT OF HA-
BEAS CORPUS.
HUSBAND NO. 2 MADE CHARGE.
Violet De Camp Married at Age of IA
and Later Took Another Spouse,
Thinking Herself Free
SHE WAS IGNORANT OF TIE LAW.

GRAND RAPIDS. Wis. May IL
Especial. I-Gousiderab local interest
has been manifested in the case Of the
state OF Wisconsin vs.. Violet L. Levin.
on the charge OF uigamy, which ease WINS
set tor trlal at the spring term of the
circuit court for thIS county. which coz
Vened today. The defendant. through
the efforts OF her attorney, George Il.
Hambreckt, was brought up for hear
Ing ON h3h"as corpus PROCEEDINGS Sutur-
day, and was discharged from custody.
ana she Immediately left the city for
Cahtornla, where she will make her fu-
ture home.
The ease is the result of a peculiar
matrimonial! tangle and was started last
December. When Sheriff WEIGH, of this
county, went to GAINESVILLE and arrested
the defendant, VINO was known here as
Mrs George {. Payne. 1t seems that
Mrs Lev III tor Payne, who was for
me"!y Violet DeCamp, was married To
laul Lev i'll i'll the city OF Chicago some
hlteen years ago, when she was lust past
n Yeats old, and be not quite 10 Short
y after TINS child MARRIAGE Levin is
said TO have left his wife and drifted to
iSconSin. where ne got into trouble and
was arrested on 4 serious charge. He
was tried and convicted to a term OF
years i'll Waupuu.
Her Second Courtship.
In the meantime, his wife came to
this city, where she met George &
Payne, and after Il short couriship mar
rled HIM on May 30, 1912, without first
gong through the formality of a divorce,
proceeding from her former husband. \
sister of the former husband told Mrs.
Payne, II seems, that her first marriage
with Levin was null and void ON ac-
count OF her youth at the time she CON
tracted that marriage, and without seek
Il Oh, Ill,
Tree to marry again, and innOcently laid
herself open to the charge now preferred
against her.
1t seems that Levin heard of her
marriage TO Payne, and he managed to
communicate with her, and told her that
she was still his UeNin's} wife. An in
vestigation followed and it proved to be
true, so III September last Mrs. Payne
sued for and procured Il divorce from
husband No. l, thinking thereby to
remedy, 50 far as lay in hex power, the
wrong she had innocently perpetrated.
The whole affair caused so much talk
ana trouble i'll the Payne family that
Mrs. Payne, or Levin, decided to leave
husband No. > last December and go to
see see husband No. !. who was still in
WaupuH, serving time and when she
were patched up and it was decided that
the ,WIfe should go to GAINESVILLE, seek
employment there and wait for her first
husband to be released from the Deni-
tertiary, from which he was released on
April 20 just past.
No. 2 Swears to Warrant.
The actions of his supposed wife So
weighed on the mind of Payne that he
SWore out 4 warrant for her arrest Oh
the charge of bigamy, and he had the
sheriff sent after her. When the sheriff
returned with the wife to this city, Payne
tried to overcome her infatuation for
lie Vim, but failed. Payne said that he
had her arrested only that she might be
brought back for reconciliation with
him, and would then like to drop the
case against her, but the wife decided
not to have anything further to do with
Payne, and he learned III any event that
the case was then i'll hands Of the state
and not i'll his power to drop. At her
hearing last December before Justice
Brown OF this city, she was bound over
to the spring term of the circuit court
to stand trial, under 5000 bail. Payne,
thinking thereby to win back the WON
ans affections, Immediately furnished
the necessary bonds for her appearance,
SO that she would not have to stay i'll
jail in the meanwhile.
Husband No. ! was released from the
penitentiary April 20 and came to his
Wifes assistance soon after, with the
result that he and Payne had consider
able trouble, and Payne, fearing that the
defendant might jump her bail bond, de-
cided ON April 80 to deliver her over to
the sheriff, and was thereby released
from her bonds. and she was then, and
up to yesterday, confined in the county
jail, Payne claiming that rather than see
her become reconciled to her first hus-
band that he would prosecute the charge
of bigamy to the end that the supposed
wife might be sent to the penitentiary.
Leaves for the West.
Attorney Hambrecht secured her re-
lease on habeas corpus proceedings. The
writ was asked for, and was granted on
the theory that Payne was not the prop
er party to institute the criminal action,
there being an equal presumption of law
in favor of the legality of each Of the
marriages, until the first marriage was
proven by competent evidence and that
neither husband was a competent wit
ness to question the legality of his own
marriage. The point was well taken,
and the writ granted, which resulted in
her release from custody Immediately
after the defendant was discharged she
left the city for California, where she
expects to make her home among rela-
tlveS.