Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-02-24

Des Moines, Feb. 23.-(SpeciaD -
County Attorney Guthrie is laying his
wires with the hope of securing Mrs.
Nellie Taylor's conviction on a lesser
degree Of murder and her commit
ment in the insane ward at Anamosa.
The prosecuting attorney is slowly bat
tering down Mrs. Taylor's plea of In
sanity. By a rapid fire process of cross
examination, Mr.. Guthrie yesterday
succeeded in weakening much of the
testimony offered in behalf of the
pretty Ottumwa girl who Is charged
with the murder of her baby and is on
trial for the crime before Judge De
sGraff of the criminal division Of the
Polk county district court. He will
urge that if she was insane SO long
prior to the time she murdered her
child, she is not completely recovered
now and is a subject for the state in
Btitution.
A severe attack of scarlet fever
bite by mad dog, extreme grief as a
result of the sudden death of her hus-
band, coupled with a general weak and
nervous condition, are the chief ele-
ments that caused the mind of Nellie
Taylor to become unbalanced, prior to
the time she was charged with the
murder of her babe.
This is the gist of the testimony of
Mrs. Anna Miller, mother Of the girl
who is on trial for her life. She oc-
Dupied the witness stand for several
hours and made desperate effort to
establish, without q doubt, that her
daughter was insane at the time the
crime is alleged to have been COM
mitted.
Her story was told in a simple,
straightforward manner, as only q
mother could have told it It seemed
to Great a decided impression
1t was a great efforS for her to ex-
pose family secrets to the world and
many times she was on the verge of
breaking down. Tears were in her
eyes almost constantly, her voice was
weak and her body trembled.
Defendant Weeps.
The ordeal was also a hard one on
the girl defendant, as she wept softly
and kept her head bowed all during it.
Mrs. Miller was the first witness
called by the defense.
Preliminary to the real meat given
in her testimony. Mrs. Miller testified
that her daughter is now past 20 years
and that she was born on farm just
east Of Ottumwa. "She attended a
country school one mile from home,' %
she said. When she was 18 years old
she was married to Glenn Taylor. She
quit school when she was Is years old,
and absolutely refused to attend after
that. Up until the time she was mar
ried don't believe she had ever been
away from home a single day in her
life. Nellie kept company with Glenn
about fifteen months After they
were married they lived on the farm
with us for several months. On the
21st day of February Of the next year
a baby was born. This child was 4
years old yesterday" she continued
with her story. "EIe was named Gle
land Taylor.
Taylor Killed In Wreck.
"Mr. Taylor was killed in railroad
wreck in Missouri on the night of Octo
Der 4, 1908, and was buried in Rock
Island, ILL.,
outward signs of an unbalanced mind
mothers story.
when we went to the funeral Mel
lie acted very strangely on the train
Sne. lauSlleu nySl6TlC&lIy aDCuCs
woman's hat; her eyes seemed CLASSY;
they protruded from her head, and she
seemed inattentive to everything
about her"
Acted in Wild Manner.
"Just describe her actions to the
Jury" said Attorney Jaques, as he
urged to the woman to lay bare all the
facts pertaining to her daughters life
"She acted in wild manner. she