The Wenatchee daily world. [volume] (Wenatchee, Wash.) 1905-1971, 1910-05-06

TO Be TRIED FOR
WIFE MURDER

SOA'AAA~p w s&Shss ~'AAJ " 49, 49,
day next and not before, according
to law, George L. Pepoon, now con-
fined in the Stevens county Jail, may
marry Maude Keller, to whom he has
already been married in British Co.
lumbia, and thereby prevent the wo-
man from testifying against him
when he is placed on trial the fol-
lowing day to answer to the charge
of having murdered his first wife.
This is one of the interesting fea-
lures of a case which has attracted
attention throughout Oregon, Wash
ington and Idaho, and the trial of
which is awaited with intense inter-
est.
George l.. Pepoon and his wife
were residents of Newport, this coun-
ty. The death of Mrs. Pepoon oc-
Cured on August 20, last, and at the
time was ascribed to natural causes
Shortly afterward, however, Mrs. N.
D. Wolcott of Portland, the mother
of the dead woman, visited the scene
and brought to light facts which led
to the arrest and indictment of the
husband ON the charge of having
murdered his wife by putting strych-
nine in her food Sensational devel-
opments in the case followed in rap
i'd succession until the evidence be-
came so strong that the prosecuting
attorney is of the opinion that the
accused husband cannot escape con-
viction, even though he marries the
woman with whom he is now living
and thereby prevents her being called
as witness for the state.
On the day following the funeral
of Mrs. Edith Pepoon, Maude KEEL
Ter, whose conduct with PepoOn had
been the cause of much comment,
applied for a divorce from her hus-
band who had left her several years
before. When her case came up for
hearing, Pepoon was the only witness
in her behalf. The decree was grant
ed.
Then, without waiting for the per-
iod of six months to elapse, as the
law of the state of Washington re-
uuires before a divorced woman can
remarry, Pepoon and the. Keller wo-
man went to Rossland, B. c., and
there a wedding ceremony was per-
formed. Upon their return to the
town of Newport they lived as hus-
band and wife, although their mar
rage was not recognized by the laws
of this state. The six months re-
CURED by law will elapse on the day
before that fixed for the trial of Pc
poon to begin. If the woman sue
ceeds on Sunday next in having the
marriage ceremony performed in jail
| she will thereby escape being called
as a witness in the murder case, as
the law prescribes that wife cannot
testify against her husband. The
prosecuting attorney, however. pro-
fesses to have a strong enough case
against the husband without the tes-
timony of the wife.
The prosecution declares that Pc
poems desire to marry the Keller
woman was not the only motive that
might have induced him to commit
the alleged murder. 1t has been
| learned that shortly before the death
of Mrs. Pepoon the husband had in
/ duced her to take out a life insurance
policy for $1,000. Three weeks af-
| ter the woman took out the policy,
! she was given a glassful of strange
colored liquid, according to the state
ment Of the prosecuting attorney.
The liquid, it is said, was prepared
by Ray Wilcox, a paroled convict who
was familiar with drugs and poisons.
Fifteen minutes after she had swal-
lowed the liquid the woman was
dead. the victim, as was determined
by the analysis, of strychnine poison
ing. Almost simultaneously Wilcox
disappeared, after cashing Pepoon's
check for 500.
!