The Hartford herald. [volume] (Hartford, Ky.) 1875-1926, 1910-10-05
Trial of Mrs. Fora Eblen
At Henderson.
KILLED HUSBAND; SHOT WOMAN
Makes Claim of Se:f-DefenSe,
Covering Issue of De.
Tense of Home.
QUITE AN IMPORTANT CASE

Henderson, KY, Oct. 3.-For the
first time in the history of this coun-
ty, and probably in this section of
Kentucky, white woman is charged
with murder.
Mrs. Zorah ]. Eblen, indicted for
the willful murder of her husband,
Balm Eblen, a prominent liveryman
of this city, will be put on trial for
her life in the Circuit Court here
Tuesday morning, October A.
She fired three shots into her hus-
bands body on the early morning of
May 90, last. One shot was in the
breast, the other two in his back,
and he died instantly. The shooting
took place in the dining-room of
their home, while ne was in company
with a negro woman, Matte White,
who was twice shot and then club
bed over the head with the butt end
of the pistol. Matte White has re-
covered, and will appear at the trial
as the star witness for the prosecu-
ton.
Mrs. Eblen states that her mar
ried life had been a perfect hell for
the past seventeen years, and that
her husband was guilty of immoral
conduct with the negress.
The defendants plea is SELF de-
tense. She stated at the examining
trial that her husband had frequent
ly threatened to kill her, and their
three children, all boys.
The story teens with human inl
terest features, and is attracting
much attention from the outside
world from the fact that the defense
may invoke the "unwritten law"
Her friends say that if the case had
been reversed, and she had been
caught in a liason with another man
and killed by her husband, that the
"unwritten law" would have freed
him almost instantly and now that
the shoe is on the other foot, and
that she fired the fatal shots in de-
Tense of herself and her home. that
she, too, ought to go free.
On the other hand the prosecu-
ton and the relatives of the deceas-
ed say that it was a cold-blooded
murder, and the fact that she is a
woman ought not to stay the hand
of justice.
Mrs. Eblen is of the brunette type,
thirty-five years old, and of rather
prepossessing personality. Her
height is five feet eight inches and
normally her weight is about 100
pounds. Her weight has, however,
been considerably reduced by her
confinement of four months in the
county Jail awaiting trial
Twenty-six witnesses have been
summoned for the prosecution, and
an equal number, or perhaps more,
have been summoned to testify for
the defense.
Both sides have intimated that
they would be ready for trial when
the case is called. The prosecution
is represented by States Attorney
Sam V. Dixon and County Attorney
w. p. McClain, assisted by Gibney
Oscar Letcher.
August Owsley Stanley, Congress
man from the Second Kentucky dis
trict, and his law partner, John L.
Dorsey, former Circuit Judge of this
Judicial district, have charge of the
defense. United States Senator Bo-
rah, of Idaho, wired a few days ago
Offering free to defend Mrs. Eblen,
If the case could BE postponed until
November.
The counsel for Mrs. Eblen state
that while they would like very
much indeed to have the Senator's
services, which offer is highly appre-
ciated, that they deem it advisable
to go into the trial at this term of
the Circuit Court. If for any cause
the case is not disposed of at this
term, Senator Borah's services may
be called into requisition at the
January term.
An important feature of the case
is the fact that Matte White, color
ed, the main prosecuting witness,
gave out two sworn statements while
lying wounded at the hospital, in
which she admitted immoral rela-