Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-30
sKELLY ON STAND;
TESTIFIES CALMLY
Man Accused of Numbering Wife
Quietly Tells Jury Story
of Her Death
DENIES THROWING. GASOLINE
Both Sides Close EVidenCe-Jury
to Visit SCene-Begin
Arguments Today
DENIES THROWING. GASOLINE

SANTA ANA, July 29.-Frank F.
Skelly, the man who is on trial for his
life, charged with the murder of his
young wife by igniting gasoline he is
said to have thrown on her, testified in
his own behalf today. Quietly he told
the story of the morning of May 6,
when his wife was burned. He told of
hearing her scream, and of running to
the kitchen, where he said he saw his
wife whirlng about in flames.
He testified he caught her by her
skirts and tried to throw them over
her head. He said he held her with
his left hand as he threw water on
her. She, according to his statement,
broke from his hold and ran into the
yard. He testified that he wrapped a
quilt about her form and carried her
into the house
To the question: did you or did
you not throw gasoline on herr" asked
by Clyde Bishop, counsel for the de-
tense, Skelly said:
II did not"
Did you love herr" asked Bishop.
"I did"
did she love your"
"She did"
When asked if she made good wife
he replied: "She suited me-"
The accused man repeated Mrs Skel-
1y's statement, Frank has murdered
me-" and said he answered: mo, Ethel,
I did not do it." He said he repeated
the denial several times. He stated
he heard her say to Mrs. Frost:
"I was filling the tank with gasoline"
In regard to his own burns, which he
said were not attended to for twenty
five or thirty minutes, he declared he
did not feel any pain, so paralyzed was
he with shock.
DENIES ANGRY WORDS
He denied having angry words with
Mrs. Skelly the previous night, or that
they had ever had any trouble
Testifying as to the insurance poll
cies, he said he carried $4,000 for his
wife and $1,000 for his mother, particu-
larizing the policies in his wife's fa-
vor as $1,000 in the Foresters, $4,000 in
the Fraternal Brotherhood, $4,000 in
the Bankers Life and $4,000 in the
Occidental Insurance organization.
When asked If the latter was not for
$4,000, Skelly said w. H. Perry of Los
Angeles, agent for the company, had
told him the policy was for $4,000.
The policy was produced and proved to
be for $4,000.
Skelly was then examined by Attor
ney Fleming for the prosecution on
every part of his statement made at the
direct examination. His testimony ap-
peared to be straightforward, and the
only time a discrepancy occurred was
when he stated that he overheard his
wife tell Mrs. Frost that the accident
happened when she was filling the
tank. The prosecution then produced
his evidence in the preliminary near
ing, when he said he had not heard his
wife state the cause of the accident
In the morning session Mrs Harriet
F. Smith testified that she had worked
at the Skelly home for two months.
She said Mrs. Skelly filled the gasoline
tank usually from a quart jar. On
1itoa finn che admitted thar
Mrs. Skelly was i'll in bed during her
STAY there, and she had never seen her
fill the tank
c. Mcneil, a Santa Ana contractor,
testified to visiting the Skelly home at
Westminster July 10, after the acct
dent which occurred May g. He told
of seeing blistered ceilings over the
gasoline stove and in the pantry, and
also averred that the front of the
pantry door was bEstered, while the
back Of it was uninjured. Later, in re-
ply to a question as to whether the
kitchen and pantry were in the same
condition July Is as May 6, ]. F. Pat
terson testified that they were the
same.
L. ]. Aldrich, for the defense, testi-
fed to long friendship with the Skellys
and that he had never seen any dissen-
sion in the family. He denied having
said to Mrs. Cleaver and Mrs. Dim
mick, May Z, in the Skelly kitchen; 81
know there has been trouble here for
the last year 1 don't know what
about, but think it was over the chill
dren, and Mrs. Bradley is at the bot
tom of il"
WIFE's PARENTS SUSPECT
Aldrich declared that both Mr.. and
Mrs. Lewis. parents of Mrs. Skelly
were suspicious of foul play ard sus-
pected that Skelly was concerned in 1t.
He testified that Mrs. Lewis said
IF Ethel is to die, Frank will have to
die too. 1t is no worse for Frank to
die than it is for Ethel"
Mrs. Aldrich, who had testified along
the same lines of her husbands testl-
mony on the evening before, was re-
called, and in answer to the question
as to whether she had said: 1T was no
accident of Ethels; she never filled
the tank with a glass jar" denied haV-
ing said it.
In rebuttal the prosecution brought
forward Mrs. T. J. Lewis, mother OF
Mrs. Skelly, Mrs, T. j. Dimmick and
Mrs. A. D. CleaYer, sisters of Mrs.
Skelly, who testified that Mrs Aldrich
did make the statement attributed to
her.
Mrs. Cornelia Phillips and her SON
Frank Phillips-testified in rebuttal of
Earl Frost's testimony that he had not
made the statement that 1T looked
funny to him that If he (Skelly) was
innocent he would not defend himself
against what his wife said" averred
that the only words he said in reply
to her accusations were: "No, dear, l
dropped it, They sWOre that Frost
made the statement to them.
With the rebuttal the evidence ended
for both prosecution and defense. To-
morrow morning the jury will visit the
Skelly home and IN the afternoon ar