Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-11-10
WORDS Of
AVER|LL REPEATED
Witness Says They Were Jose
phine Has Shot Me and Snap
ped the Gun Again


tho testimony of Frank Wells, to whose
house across the road the dead man went
directly after the shooting. Mr.. Wells
was the first witness called this morning
and after telling Of his being awakened
by Mr.. Averil and on opening the door,
saw him leaning against a barrel on the
porch. bleeding profusely from the
wounds and apparently suffering intsns,
pain.
When asked by the state If he held
any conversation with the man. the wit
ness said he did and following this
answer the jury was taken from the
court room and the State offered to
show what It considered the dying dec
lara ton of the wounded man, which was
made to the witness. There was SEINE
question as to whether this should bs
secured. tho question being decided BY
the court that the declaration was made
by AVerill when he Thought he WINS nj .
most breathing his last and therefore
! might he offered subject to the respon-
dents execution.
testimony ADMITTED
The state then asked Mr. Wells VIVA,
Averil said to him when r. met him
i'll said, % God am going to die. Jo-
sephne has shot me and snapped tho
gun again After which exclamation
| Averlll fell to the ground.
The jury vas then brought bac to I 10
court and being questioned, the witness
was again asked what Averill said to
him and he answered 20 God, Josephine
has shot me and snapped the gun -
leaving ont the clause II am going To
die" This omission was tai | up bv the
defense but after sharp questioning IT
was brought out Averll did say to the
witness. II am going to die"
Mr.. Wells also testifieu to the fact
that Mrs. Wells followed her husband 70
his house and told of Der stumbling sew
eral times while on her way to the
house.
Nhon questioned concerning what Mrs.
Averiil said on her arrival the witness
SAD That tt SO were her words: Frank
ten them IT was an accident"
Mt Austin then cross examined the
witness. lie asked concerning tho social
relations between the witness family and
inc ANetills, evidently attempting to
STOW mat the members of the two fam
mes We're not friendly: this unfriendliness
being due to the improper attitude of the
TWO young sons of the witness toward
the three-year-old daughter Of Mrs
AVerilI. Mr.. Wells denied everything IF
this nature and also that he or his wife
ever said that they hoped Mrs Averill
would get all that was coming TO her -
HOLES MADE AT ONE TIME.
II. C. Barney, wood worker. was the
next witness, and he testified concerning
inc hoies in the panel of the door of the
bedroom and as to the condition Of the
door which was battered to certain ex
tent He thought the holes In the door
were all made at one time
. Sulphen was the last witness OF the
morning. He is n neiehbor of the AveriIls
ana on the night of the shooting was AT
t''e wells mouse. He passed the Averill
muse on ms way home ANA saw Mr.. and
MIS-. ANerili and John Bird The oues-
'ioh az to what they appeared to be doing
was objected to by the respondents law
Yer. lie said he was at the Averiu house
"heh Mr. Averill was taken to the hos
pital the following day
The two Wells boys, sons OF FRANK
webs, then testified. and they told OF com =
ing down stairs at their home the night
OF the shooting and seeing Averil lv,rg
on the floor of the kitchen. Nothing i'm
portant developed from the testimony
TELLS OF WOMAN'S THREATS
Mrs. John Hastings of sunapee. n. H.
was called and proved an important wit
ness. She lived in the same house with
'he AVerills when the latter We're residents
OF Sunapee. To the question Did Won
ever hear Mrs. Averill threaten her hus-
hahd' the witness said she had heard
the respondent say that she could kill
FRANK If he didn't do So and so" Oues-
uon, Anything else?" to which the wit
ness replied Yes. twice" The second
time she said Mrs. Averill told her hus-
band that she would kill him (Averiln
II he didn't get them the Hastings fam
ily' out OF the house. 1t developed during
this witnesses testimony that there was
some litigation between the Averils and
Hastings and that law suit had ensued
and at one time tho Averlls sent an
officer to put the Hastings off the place
To the question whether they uhe Hast
ings) owed the Averills any money, $50 or
SUCH the witness replied that they did
not. This law suit was in 1908. To the
question as to what her feelings were
toward Mrs. Averill the witness made
tho ample non-committal statement: '"rhe
same as | always did" She thought that
Averil was often Influenced by his wife
in all matters.
William Hastings a son OF the last wi,
ness, testified that he has been summoned
to this city by George NJ. Hogan, attorney
for the State. His testimony had to do
with the law suit before mentioned and
no new developments were brought forth
BLOOD IN MANY PLACES
u. NJ. Mcintosh OF Burlington. the clvi,
engineer who testified yesterday. was 70
called. lie mad visited the Averill house
again since testiIyins and had made new
plans. ne said there We're 100 blood
stains on ana in the vicinity OF the cellar
door, when was opposite the bedroom
door, across the hail. and he also said
there were blood stains on the trunk in
the hall, a peculiar hole In the wall which
might have been made by shot from "a
gun, and one shot in n crack I'm the wall
near the window, aud another in the
Kitchen door The curtain from this
room was one Of the exhibits made in
connection with Mr. McIntosh's testi-
mOny,
MIR Austin. ON the cross-examination,
NusEeS'ou lhal TINS hole I'm the wall might
nave been made by jackknife in the
Nahhs OF some one who might have been
LOOKING FOR shot since the night Of tho
tragedy. ON being recalled again by Mr..
Austin, the witness testified that the
lower pane Of glass in the window was
broken,