The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-01-05
SERVANTS He WAS BRUTAL
WITNESSES IN ER7 TRIAL UP
HOLD MRS. ERB's STORY
Of Vicious Treatment Accorded Her
by the Murdered Man at Red
Gables.


Media, Pa, Jan. 5.-The dramatic
ienial OF Mrs. M. Florence Erb that
she participated in the killing Of her
husband; the repetition and cor
roboratlon of stories which she told
Of brutal treatment accorded her by
he murdered man and the testimony
Of Mrs Catherine Beisel, the self
confessed slayer OF her brother-in-
aw, as to the family differences which
ed up to the shooting, marked the
proceedings in the trial here Monday
Of the two women charged with the
murder of Capt. Erb on October 6.
Mrs. Erb was recalled to the stand
'or cross-examination when the case
was called and for several hours she
oarried with District Attorney Mac
Oade, who used every trick at his
command to trap her into contradict
ing herself and break down her
story. Centering his attack upon the
widows account of the events on the
night OF the tragedy, MIR. MacDade
laced the witness and demanded:
Mrs. Erb, you are charged here
With the murder of your husband. Do
you fully realize that?"
With face flushed and eyes fixed
'teadfastly on those of the attorney,
he witness leaned forward in her
3hair with apparent calmness and re
plied: II fully realize IT,"
Again the attorney demanded that
she say whether she aided her sister
n shooting down Capt Erb and that
she state whether she had any hand
in the murder With growing en-
phasis the witness declared she had in
40 way assisted Mrs Beisel in the
Sllllng of her husband and that she
was not an actual party to the muir
Ter. That she had permitted her sis
:er to battle single-handed with her
angry husband, the witness declared,
was due to the fact that she was
afraid of him-that she had been
made a coward by his abuse. Effort
vas made to wiring from the witness
admissions that she had associated
with several men and that they had
visited her home during the absence
of Capt. Erb, but the efforts of the
district attorney met with little sue
cess. The witness was permitted to
leave the stand after the district at
torney, in a tone of withering sar-
sasm, asked, And so you lost your
nerve, you, a skilled fox hunter and
horsewoman, you lost your nerve for
once"
Unaffected by his tone, Mrs. Erb
calmly replied, 81 did"
Following the accused widow as a
witness, Mrs Elizabeth Grey, a house
keeper at Red Gables; Sarah Hogan,
a maid; Blanche Dickerson, a colored
servant; Emma Jackson, a waitress,
and other servants were called to cor
roborate Mrs. Erb's stories Of brutal
treatment at the hands of her husband
and much was brought out to
strengthen her story.
Mrs. Catherine Beisel went on the
witness stand late In the afternoon
and began n recital of the family
troubles and quarrels that led up to
the shooting Of Capt. Erb. She de-
clared that the murdered man was
guilty of extreme brutality and that
he let his anger fall upon either she
Or Mrs. Erb II they ventured to OPP
pose or criticize him.
Once, Mrs. Beisel said, when she
asked Capt Erb why he did not want
her TO visit her sister, he replied: 81
don't want any beggars around here"
When Mrs Frh demonstrated with
him for giving vent TO such utterances
he ran at her and choked her almost
into insensibility.