Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-09

case, which have already been published,
Mrs. Rice was called to the witness chair.
Mrs. Rice gave her testimony in a clear,
straightforward and unhesitating way, al
though once or twice she broke down and
sobbed. Each time she quickly forced
herself to composure and went on with
the tragic details of one of the most re-
markable suicide contracts ever entered
into.
There were three parties to the COM
pact. according to the young wOman's
testimony-Dr. Rustin, Charles Edward
Davis, connected with the First National
Bank of Omaha. and brother of the vice
president Of that bank, and the witness
herself. -
Did Not Kill Himself.
From the first the surgeons who at
tended DR.. Rustin after the shooting
agreed that his wound could not have
been self-inf1icted. The only thing that
DR.. Rustin said to his wife when she
found him sitting wounded on the porch
was "A man shot me-" a
Again. there were no marks of powder
on DIR. Rustin's clothing. and the nature
of the wound showed that the bullet had
been fired from a distance further than
would have. been possible had he shot
himself. And the pistol was never found.
Mrs. Rice testified that DIR. Rustin was
SO worried over his financial difficulties
and SO respondent that he drank nearly
a quart of whisky day, although It had
little apparent effect on him. She said
that he had begged her to shoot him in
the abdomen. SO that he would live for a
few days and have time to arrange his
affairs before he died. and that she had
agreed to do so, but when ii came to doing
it she lost her nerve and could not.
Then. she testified, he told her that
he had found man who would kill
rio RI
ward Davis. who was a morphine fiend,
and who had agreed to shoot the doctor
If the doctor would give him a drug that
would surely kill him. The woman her
laudanum and taking morphine in her
rooms.
Babe Her Goodbye.
She said that when she left DR.. Rustin
at midnight within a block of his house.
three hours before his wife found him
sitting wounded on the porch, he babe
her goodbye and said she would never
see him again, and that she left him
with the understanding that she was to
kill herself that night.
But when she reached her room she
could not bring herself to carry out her
part of the agreement, and she called up
Dr. Rustin's house again and again on
the telephone and inquired for him. for
she wanted to tell him that the pact was
broken so far as she was concerned
But she could not get into communication
with him. and she read OF his shooting in
extra editions of the morning papers
IL met DR.. RuStin shortly after | came
to Omaha last December said Mrs. Rice
land l was with him almost daily ever
since that time. He was a pretty hard
drinker, and bought a pint bottle of
whisky every day. Two months ago he
mt I'D tra l,r.
amount. but although 1 knew he was
drinking nearly quart of whisky a day
1 never saw him greatly intoxicated.
Finally. four weeks ago. he declared
to me his intention of taking his life.
He told me that his finances were in
a bad way: that his business was going
down. and that he owed many bills to
doctors for fees due them which he had
collected without their knowledge He
said that the bank was pressing him hard
for money and that his mother had helped
him all she could.
Better Off Dead Than Alive"
"Then he told me of carrying a heavy
insurance on his life, and said that he
could provide better for his wife and
family IL he were dead than if he were
alive. Mrs. Rustin went to the country
about month ago and in her absence
the doctor took me to his house to din
ner. together with a gentleman friend of
his. He was anxious for me to see his
home When he learned that his wife
would come home sooner than he had ey-
pected he told me that that meant his
death would be fastened
Il went to the Hotel Loyal to live
The doctor visited me there, and one day
showed me a revolver. He said that he
had bought it in pawnshop. telling the
clerk that he was from out of town He
asked me to get a box of cartridges for
the pistol. He wanted me to shoot him
in the abdomen and get away with the
gun. He said he could trust me.
He told me he wanted to be shot in
the abdomen because he would live three