Omaha daily bee., 1909-05-27
NINE DEPOSE AGAINST GREEK
State Gets in Considerable Evidence
Against Masauredis.
LILLY BREEsE TELLS OF SHOOTING
Girl who was with Lowery's slayer
Proves Not Altogether willing
and TractabIe witness for
the Prosecution.

Nine witnesses gave testimony yesterday
for the state against John Mssauredis, the
Greek on trial before Judge sutton in dis
trict court for the murder Of officer Ed
ward Lowery. OF these Lillian Breese. the
girl who was with tho Greek. and Louis
Resented, an eyewitness of the shooting.
were the most important.
Resented was on at the afternoon SEES
sion. He swore that he saw the Greek fire
two shots at the officer and then run into
a nearby space between a store and a
small building used by a scissors grinder.
Then, declared Resented, Masauredis fired
two more shots. This witness has the
Greek discharging his revolver oftener than
any other, but his statements are valuable
to the prosecution nevertheless.
other witnesses Of the afternoon were
| Sam Truehart and Jesse Carr. who heard
the first shots and saw the Greek run;
Earl Piper, also on the scene at the time.
and Mrs. Ellen Haines and Harry Wana-
maker and officer Harder of the South
Omaha police force. Wanamaker, who is a
soldier at Fort Crook, and Harder together
captured the Greek In Lilly Breese's room
after the shooting. Mrs. Haines is the pro-
p~rietress of the rooming house where the
girl had her room,
Lilly Breese was the star Witness OF the
day, even IL she was not disposed to help
the state more than she could and con-
tradicted her evidence before the coroner's
jury and a signed statement made to the
county attorney.
with the testimony Of Lillian Breese,
the trial Of John Masauredis for murder
got fairly under way in district court
Wednesday morning.
IN these DrENiOna occasions the girl de-
clared that after she had heard two shots
fired she saw Lowery move his hand from
his hip pocket to his side and that then
was the first time she had seen a revolver
in his hand. The Inference Is that Lowery,
UP to this, had not drawn his gun and that
the Greek had fired the two shots she
heard.
Wednesday morning she first denied hav-
ing so testified and on being confronted
with evidence that she had so deposed
explained 1t away by saying she had meant
that Lowery had moved his hand like as
IL he had put it in his pocket. l never
seen no gum she added.
Relates All Prior Events.
Otherwise the girl told willingly enough
all about the events leading up to the MUIR
der of the policeman. She referred TO the
Greek throughout as John though she
never let her eyes fall on the defendant,
whom she has not seen since the niSht of
the shooting.
Masauredis sat beside two interpreters,
Louis Agnes and George Samos, both en-
gagged by the defense. To these he spoke
but once or twice during the morning.
The days proceedings began with the
opening statements by Attorneys English
and RAFT. Both were brief. The county attor-
ney reviewed the well known facts regard
ing the way the shooting occurred and
then Raft rose to expound the theory of
self-defense, which will be maintained by
his side. He declared that the defense has
evidence to show that the Greek did not
fire until after Lowrey-had- shot him twice
and that his pulling the gun was simply
to get rid of it and not be caught with it
when searched in the station. The attorney
, also asserted that Lowrey had no right to
arrest Masauredis and that the mans re-
lations with the girl were as teacher and
pupil, as the girl has asserted.
Pictures of the scene.
The state began with the offer of several
pictures of the scene of the shooting taken
). by Joseph Walker, a South Omaha news
paper man. Previous to this the defense
had moved that all the Witnesses be Sc
gregated and the order was carried out. In
4 order that Mrs. Lowtry, widow of the
murdered man, might stay in the court
room, the county attorney waived her APP
: pearance as a witness. Her testimony, he
r said. would not have been important.
Y The girl testified that on the evening OF
D February 10 she and the Greek and her
| brother, a boy of Z years, were in her room
in Mrs. Haines' lodging house above the
y Kress shoe store, on NJ street near Twenty
J fourth, South Omaha. They had been there
: ten minutes when the officer appeared. He
: commanded Masauredis to put on his over
coat and hat and notified them both that
they were under arrest.
Took Knife from Him.
"John did not understand saiu the girl,
"aad the officer then pointed to the hat
and coat. John picked them up and after
he had his coat on he dropped the case
of a knife. The officer saw it and made
him give up the knife
The case and the knife, which is =
weapon six inches long in the blade and
an ugly looking affair. were then offered
v in evidence.
The girl went on with her story;
when We turned the corner John was
on the outside at the right, l at the left
and the officer a little behind us both
g John reached down into his hip pocket and
I saw the officer put his club down a,
il to pry his hand away. Then John wen
forward fast and the officer after him
e Next 1 heard two shots and ran into tn,
hallway
Al this point in her testimony was de
veloped the contradiction about the of
II ficer's revolver.
: DR.. A. II. Koenig OF South Omaha fol