The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-11-26
SELF DEFENSE PLEA
IT'S MADE BY FAY HEARD JONES;
ACCUSED OF MURDER.
Charged With Having Killed Her Hus-
band, a Prominent Attorney at San
Antonio, Texas; Four Shots Fired
At Him; Woman Claims That He
Attacked Her With a Razor; Police
Battling With a Mystery.

cumStances OF peculiar interest surround
the killing of Nat. B. Jones, promi-
pent lawyer of this city. His wife,
Fay Heard Jones, is in custody charged
with the murder and pleads self-de-
Tense.
Jones was killed at local fashion
able boarding house in what has been
described as particularly cold-blood-
ed manner. Four shots were fired at
the man, and when other occupants of
the house rushed into the room, only
his wife was seen. Jones rolled on the
floor in commissions and died shortly
after his transfer to the hospital.
Claimed He Had Razor.
The only statement made so far
by the woman is that her husband had
threatened her with razor and that
she had fired The shots to protect her
own life. Around this statement the
mystery in the case circles. The fact
that a large leather cushioned chair
was covered with blood and that two
of the bullets had penetrated the back
the victim was sitting in the chair at
the time he was shot. 1t is not
thought that the man could have threat
ened the woman effectively in that
position, and that had he done so the
woman could have made her escape
through the door. The razor was found
under the body of the man, and its
case under the bed As yet, it is not
definitely known which of the shots
penetrating the back of the chair prov
ed fatal to the man. Two of the
wounds inflicted were not such as to
render him helpless, but the others
were of that nature. The question
now is, was the man shot before he sat
down in the chair to receive his quietus
there, or was he sitting when the flu
silade began. 1t is not improbable that
the victim fell into the chair after
one or even two shots and Tat in
doing this dropped the razor where it
was found There is theory, how
ever, that he would have been hardly
able to gain the chair in that case, for
the succession of shot is alleged to have
been too rapid, the gun used being
an automatic.
Case Is Mystifying.
All in all, the case is one of the most
mystifying that has come to the atten-
ton of the local authorities. So far
the man must have been sitting in
the chair when the woman began to
fire at him. The most peculiar circum-
stance in the whole case is the fact
that ingermarks on the blade of the
razor are not those of the muir
dered man. When the razor was
found, Chief of Police Van Rimper was
careful to close it without touching the
blade. The razor, instead of having
been opened by the extension of the
black of the blade as is invariably done
by men familiar with it's use, had been
opened like a pocket knife. On one
side the imprint of the tip of a
thumb are plainly visible and on the
other the mark of finger tip appears.
Impressions made of the fingers of the
NCou illoIl dlC ollo llOC W SoliCSpOuu
with the lines left on the razor. What
is so unusual is the fact that the IA
zor is one used as rule by BARRIERS
only, being of the BARRIERS Choice"
brand. The appearance of its edge
shows that it had been handled by
professional barber. At the store at
which the razor had been bought it
was said that both Mr.. Jones and his
wife dealt there considerably but that
neither of them had ever bought
razor of that kind
Attempt to Deface Revolver.
Another feature of peculiar interest
is that efforts had been made to deface
the revolver with which the deed was
committed. The number of the wea-
pom had been carefully erased with a
file and the initials of the dead man
had been scratched into the metal with
fine pointed tool, either a needle or
the point of a file. Another odd fac
tor is that the ] of the mans name
lad been reversed, something Mr.. Jones
would hardly do had he scratched the
ieItclo III IlIuStll, USlllS uldu VI uue
education and unusual intelligence In
the opinion of many, the number of
the gun was erased only a few days
prior to the deed, for the filing has
every appearance of newness.
The case is admitted to be very
battling one and speaks of careful and
deliberate preparation either on the
part of the woman or an accomplice.
should her claim of self defense not
be sustained
Mr.. Jones left life insurance to the
amount of $4,000 and little property,
most of the former taken up in favor
of his wife. He was lawyer with a
large clientele, and well known all over
the city. A little boy survives him.
Both he and his wife had obtained di-
vorces from former matrimonial part
ners.