The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1910-09-19
ROBERT CART
TELLS STORY
States Say Witness May
Convict.
H0UCK ADMITS KILLING
More Important Testimony
to be Produced.
Houck Said he Killed the Officer Be-
cause the Latter Caused His Wife
to Bring Suit Against Him, Says
Cart.

"Harry Houck said that he had
killed the officer in Marion because
the latter had caused his (Houck'0
wife to bring action against him for
non-support" These We're the words
of Robert S. Cart, a fellow prisoner
with Houck in the Sidney jail in
whose presence Houck admitted the
killing of Patrolman Jerome Hostel
ter i'm the Erie yards, described the
shooting and told why he did it,
cart testified this morning in the
court of Mayor J. c. Setter In the
preliminary hearing in the case of the
state of Ohio against Harry Houck in
which Houck is charged with murder
in the first degree.
Cart was the states star witness
and he proved "a mighty strong one.
He gave his testimony in plain mat
ter of fact way and his story was
not broken down in the slightest by
the defendants counsel who put him
through n rather severe test.
Cart said that he was confined in
the Jail at Sidney having been bound
over to the grand jury for petit lar
ceny He said that it was the first
time that he had been arrested. Houck
was arrested on Sept. Z and brought
to the Jail by Chief of Police Will
liam O'Leary. When he met Houck he
ask him what he was arrested for and
lIouCk told him that II was for muir
der of policeman at Marion, ohio.
Cart said that he then warned liouck
to keep his mouth shut and say moth
ing to anyone about the case.
Witness further said that Houck
did not comply with his instructions.
Only n few hours later Houck, in the
presence of Cart, told Albert 'Hawes
another prisoner. the details of the
killing. He said that he and his part
ner had done a "stick-up" job and got
watch and some money Then they
went down in the railroad yards and
hid in a coach. The policeman was
looking for them in. the yards when
he saw Houck's partner through the
window of the car. The officer covered
the man in the car and ordered him
to come out. At this point Houck
said he raised up and shot through
another window, the bullet hitting
the policeman in the stomach. In tell
ing II Houck indicated the point
where the bullet entered with his fin
ger.
Houcl said that he had II i'm for
the policeman because the latter caus-
ed trouble between him and his wife
and got the wife to bring non-sup-
port proceedings against him.
In referring to the watch, taken
from the hold-up victim and the re-
volver blue steel 3S calibre pistol,
4 a ,a1 NlN.
time. Houck told Hawes and Cart
that he had left them in Dayton
after leaving them in Marion. Wit
ness could not remember whether
Houck said he put them up in a
pawnshop or disorderly house
Cart said that Houck told him he
then came to Sidney TO get some
money after which he intended to
go to Chicago and join his partner.
He did not give up the name of the
partner.
In the Jail at Sidney Cart gave a
written statement of Houck's story
and his testimony bears out the for
mer statement to the letter,
The first witness put on the stand
was Chief William O'Leary of the
Sidney police force. He said that he
had arrested Houck at railroad
camp mile south of Sidney and that
after his arrest Houck had asked
what he was being arrested for The
chief said that he told Houck 1t was
for the murder of n policeman at
Marion and Houck replied:
"Its merely case of one thief kill
ing another one" The chief knew In
tie else that was material to the case
But two other witnesses were ex'
amined before the state concluded
Bert Fisher, former policeman, wht
was with Hostetter when he was sho
down, told the court his version o
the shooting. DIR. II. j, Lower whC
attended Hostetter and removed thu
bullet, told the court the nature of th'
wound. He said that 1t passed a dis
tance of twenty inches through Hos
letters body, lodging in the back. Tn
course Of the ball was downward. Tn
post mortem examination establishe
the fact that the wound was neces
| sarily fatal