The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-11-26
NOW She is FREE.
Mrs. Mary VOlIstedt Acquitted
by a Jury.
Verdict Handed Down at Near
Midnight.
HUSBAND AT SIDE.
Leaves This Morning With Frail
Wife.
Didn't Say Whether or Not He
Would Return.

mot guilty. That was the verdict
reached by the jury in the Mary Voll-
stedt case. and twelve strong men ex-
tended their right hands to a frail and
weak little woman. in the exercise of
broader humanity.
From the shadow of the prison walls
the pretty little weakling with pallid
cheeks and wide open blue eyes, who
had shot the man that had loved, then
scorned her, was raised up to her
adoring husband.
Il will take good care of the little
girl and make her happy If I can,
said Herman H. Vollstedt with a glad
smile as he raised her from her chair
when the verdict had been read. All
through her long and tedious trial the
husband had sat attentively and often
flushed with modesty, which his wife
has apparently never felt. "a splendid
man." he was called by both the prose-
cution and the defense.
Twelve hours the jury deliberated
over the fate of the most puzzling de-
fendant ever tried in the Shawnee
court Why they gave her freedom
they alone know. Cruel justice could
grated windows. A kinder justice
could give her into the care of her
husband and the people that they
might return her to stauncher woman
hood That was the burden of the ap-
peal of Capt. J. g. Waters, and they
listened. Two of the 5urymen had
been brought to tears by the captains
appeal. The wise ones said then that
Mrs. Vollstedt would never be convict
ed. Yet 1t took from 1880 a. m. to
11:20 p. m. for the twelve to agree.
''The prosecution of that little girl
was an outrage and the jury knew it,"
said Captain Waters, whose victory
was long in doubt.
II only did my duty in prosecuting
Mrs. vollstedt. I know she is not in
sane and that she knows right from
wrong. 1t was my duty to prosecute
her to the best of my ability, and
did, said John J. Schenck, county at
torney, who had ripped the defense of
insanity into thousand shreds.
Takes Erring Wife Away.
In the pursuance of his vow of 10y
atty to his erring and scarcely respon-
sible wife, Herman Vollstedt began
this morning by taking her away from
the scenes Of her crime Early this
morning they boarded a Union Pacific
train eastbound. Mr. Vollstedt gave
his immedi destination as Perry,
where he has relatives and where the
couple will spend few days at least.
Whether he will return to Topeka to
work Is not known.
Last night was spent by the reunited
husband and wife in the ST. Charles no
tel, the place of their meeting and
courtship. Since the incarceration of
his wife in the county Jail. Mr.. Voll-
stedt has given UP his rented home
and boarded at the hotel.
Eight months and 1S days was the
length of time the woman was confined
in her cell in the county Jail. Her hus-
band laboring and planning as he might
was at no time able to furnish the
heavy bond required by the judge. It
was a joy to the Jail attendants to
see the happiness of the husband as he
picked UP the clothes and trinkets his
wife had used in her Jail room, and
carried them away, leading his wife by
the arm.
Throughout the trial the sympathies
of the court room crowds have been
with the prisoner. The room had been
filed all the time. Many women came
day after day, even though sent from
the room at times when testimony was
expected to be unfit for their ears. Even
last night when the jury was awaited
until 1920, a group of curious persons
still hung about the room. Breathless
silence greeted the three bells Of the
Jury foreman and when the IL entered
and their verdict was read, a great sigh
Of relief escaped the sympathetic. The
released prisoner, however, showed no