Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-23
Prosecutor Says 1t Led Mac
Donald to SIay Woman.
OTHER WIFE N KW YORK
Attorney Declares Prisoner Thought
Victim Had Learned Secret,
OPENS FOR THE GOVERNMENT
Several Witnesses Tell of Shooting
in the Colorado Building
Last May. t.

| foiloWing the completion late yesterday
afternoon of the jury box. the trial OF
EDWARD J. Macdonald. charged with
killing his wife last May In the Colo
rado building. was opened shortly after
lo O'Clock this morning in Criminal Court
NO. :, with an outline of the govern
ments contentious by Assistant United
States Attorney Proctor.
Inatth slain woman was not the law
ful wife of Macdonald. or George A. GIL
| iette. as Mr.. Proctor told the jury the
| DEFENDANTS proper name is, and that It
| was for fear his second wife would learn
OF his bgamous marriage that MacDon-
aid killed her, is what the government
| expects to prove.
The courtroom was uncomfortably
crowded, all seats being taken and spec
tators standing five and six deep outside
the railing in the room
Members or the jury sitting In the case
are as follows: Walter j. Taylor, 1913
| 18th street. barber; William A. Cassidy.
| 2Ol2 NJ street. carpenter: Paul d. Frost,
434 Manor place. bookkeeper: Harry
Houser, Grant road. dairyman; James W.
Martin. 40 Maryland avenue northeast.
br1ckiayer; John III. Keenan,, jr.. 146 u
street northwest. retired: William Car
ney. 2l9 9TH street northeast: Patrick A.
Ford, 42U12 l. street northwest horse
| shoer: James E. Wheatley, 65 Myrtle
| street northeast, grocer; Samuel Lowen-
| thai, 400 East Capitol street: Charles N.
Bennett 2721 18th street northwest, in
surance agent. and Charles G. Beckert.
| 31:O Dumbarton avenue northwest.
i grocer.
Attorneys in Case.
! The snEsrnment was represented in
court this morning by United States At
| torney Wilson and Assistant United
States Attorneys Proctor and Hawken.
/, The defendants counsel consisted Of d.
w. Baker. J. A. OShea and Montague &
| Moriarity.
Mr.. Proctor said he expected the evi-
dence would show q case of premeditated
| murder. He told the jury the govern
ment would prove that at the time Mac
donald married the woman he IL accused
in the city of New York; that Macdonald.
| whose real name. the assistant prose-
cutor claimed. is George. A. Gil
lette was married June II. 1899.
Donald was separated from his wife, Mr..
/ Proctor said, in 1902, joined the army
under the name of Macdonald and later
served in the Hospital Corps at Fort
| Myer, Va. In February, 1906 he mar
| ried the deceased" Mr.. Proctor said.
The second marital venture proved un-
| happy, Mr.. Proctor stated. and finally,
in February, 1911. Gertrude Macdonald
! left the accused and went to New York.
Macdonald remained in Washington at
the home Of Mrs. Billopp. sister OF the
| dead woman.
Feared Woman Knew.
| A few days before the homicide. hs
said, Macdonald learned In a conversation
with Mrs. Billopp that Gertrude was liv-
ing in New York, where the lawful wife
of Macdonald also then resided. Fearing
| that Gertrude would learn Of his first
marriage. the prosecutor stated. MacDon-
aid induced her to come to Washington
by writing a lett letter. In which h ne repre-,
money with a local attorney to be deliv-
cred to them on her signature.
The unsuspecting wife came to this city
pursuant to the letter and met Macdonald
! at Mrs. Billopp's home.
The accused made excuses, Mr.. Proctor
said. which delayed visit to the law Of
| flee. and no steps were taken to see the
attorney for two days. During the inter
| val the couple were together, and In
| conversation the day preceding the trag-
| edy Gertrude made statements to the de-
| fendant calculated to confirm his sus-
picions that she knew of the New York
| wife. Mr.. Proctor said.
On the day of the homicide the accused,
| according to the governments attorney.
made definite engagement at the Colo
rado building. and there carried out the
alleged intention to rid himself of her.
The accused. the jury was told, got his
revolver out of pawn on the day he wrote
the letter decoying Gertrude TO this city.
Witnesses Take Stand.
Miss Margaret Moore. who testified
she was q stenographer in the office of
George w. Blankenship. an attorney on
the fifth floor of the Colorado building.
last May. was the first witness exam
| ined by the government. United States
Attorney Wilson questioning her. She
| identified the defendant in the courtroom
| and described what she saw OF the trae-
edy, She said she entered the elevator
| Just before the shots were fired and that
when she returned to the fifth floor the
| corridor was crowded and that she saw
Mrs Macdonald lying on the floor, face
upward, and Macdonald standing near
| talking loudly to a woman she afterward
learned was Mrs. Billopp. Witness SAID
she heard Macdonald accuse Mrs. Billopp
| Of being the cause of all his trouble At
| torney James A. OShea questioned the
witness following Mr.. Wilson'S examina-
ton
George H. Poske of 22l3 X street north
west. an employe of the Corporation
Trust Company, with Offices on the fifth
floor Of the Colorado building, told OF
hearing and seeing the flash of the nrst
shot fired. and OF seeing macdonald nre
the second and third shots while stand
| ing over the body of the woman. He
also telephoned for the police and ar
ambulance. he testified.
| Alexander II. Weber, a civil engineer In
| the Southern building. who had ofnces
! last May in the Colorado building on the
| floor on which Mrs. Macdonald was
killed, told OF seeing Macdonald and his
wife talking apparently earnestly. In the
corridor. Shortly after entering his room
| he heard three shots. He said he walked
| into the corridor and accosted MacDon-
aid, who he said, appeared to be In
dazed condition. Under cross-examina-
ton by Mr.. Baker, witness said MacDon-
AIDS appearance at that time indicated
| he might be just getting over the effects
of spree or suffering from hang
over"
Testimony Of Physician.
Dr. Walter Price testified to answer
| ing the call for an ambulance from
Emergency Hospital. He said he found
| Mrs. Macdonald unconscious In the
| Colorado building; that she was re-
| moved to Emergency Hospital and
died in the emergency room about half
an hour after reaching there. He
described in detail the wounds found