The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1912-04-11
.TfALt CASE AFFIRMED
Supreme Court Says Clarence Teale
Must Serve twenty Year Sen d
tenCe for zOrneS Murder.

the jury and sentence of the district
court in the Clarence Teale case.
The facts in this case are so we'll re-
membered by our readers that it is
not necessary to 60 into lengthy de-
tails again. On the night of Decem-
ber 7, 1910, Mrs. Bertha Zornes was
by board or club at her home near
DeKalb, in Long Creek township,
and Clarence and Hugh Teale, Tom,
Ed and Roy Young were all arrested
and later indicted by the grand jury
on the charge of murder. Clarence
Teale was the first of the defendants
to be tried, his trial being held at
the March, 1911, term of court, the
jury returning verdict of guilty of
murder in the second degree and the
defendant was sentenced by Judge
Maxwell to a term of twenty years
in the penitentiary at Ft. Madison.
His case was appealed to the su-
preme court, and he was released
under a $4,000 bond while the case
was being appealed. Tom Young
was the next one tried, and he was
convicted of manslaughter and was
sentenced to an indeterminate SEN
tence of not to exceed eight years.
Then at the next term of court, Hugh
Teale, was also convicted of man
slaughter and received a similar
sentence, and at the recent term of
court Ed Young entered plea of
guilty of assault with intent to COM
nit great bodily injury and was SEN
fenced to an indeterminate term of
not to exceed one year in the re-
formatory at Anamosa, and he is
now serving his sentence. The case
against Roy Young was dismissed
on motion of the county attorney.
Both Ed Young and Hugh Teale have
given bonds and appealed their cases
to the supreme court.
Clarence Teale has been staying
at his home in Kellerton since the
trial of his case, and he came to
Leon Friday when he learned that
the case had been decided against
him in the supreme court. The pro-
cendo from the supreme court did
not reach Leon until Saturday morn
ing, and when it arrived he was
taken into custody by sheriff Andrew
and on Saturday night he was taken
70 Ft. Madison to begin serving his
sentence. i$E r -. - e.
The opinion of the Supreme Court
waa written by Judge sherxin, and
is as follows: 2
The defendant, Clarence Teale,
was Jointly indicted with Thomas
Young and others for the murder of
Bertha Zornes in december, 1910.
A separate trial was granted him,
and, as we understand the record,
he was the first one of the several
defendants tried. The facts neces-
sary to an understanding of the
questions to be determined are sub
stantially and briefly as follows:
The murdered woman, with her hus-
band, Levi Zornes, and their chill
dren, lived on farm adjoining the
farm upon which this defendant
lived, and Levi Zornes rented of this
defendant two or three acres of his
land. In the evening of the 7th day
of December, the deceased with her
husband and three sons, Henry, 1S
years of age, Willie 13 years old, and
Ellie, IL years old, were at the fam
lily home on the farm. A daughter,
21 years of age, was at the time
away from home. The Zornes had
for supper that evening Thomas and
Henry Phillips, their nephews, and
both grown men, and Roy Young, a
man 29 years old, who is a brother
of Thomas and Ed Young, who, with
Hugh Teale, were jointly indicted
with this defendant, Clarence Teale,
for this murder. The Zornes family
and their supper guests remained at
the house during the evening, and
about 9 O'Clock or a little thereafter,
this defendant, Clarence Teale, his
brother, Hugh Teale, man % years
old, and Thomas and Ed Young,
adults, called at the Zornes home
and were admitted to the house, and
they with the other guests and the
family, except Mrs. Zornes, were in
the same room, it being southeast
room of the house with an outside
door opening therefrom on the east,
and door in the southwest corner
thereof opening into the southwest
room of the house, which Doom had
an outside door opening to the south.
A room directly north of the living
room, where these people were, was
occupied as a bedroom, and when
this defendant and his friends ar
rived at the house, Mrs. Zornes was
lying on one of the beds therein, but
the door between the two rooms was
open. - The door between the two
south rooms was in the southwest
corner of the east room. and it was
hung so that it swung to the east
and south. At the time in question,
a shot gun belonging to one of the
Zbrnes boys stood behind the door,
which was then open. Shortly after
the Teales and Thomas and Ed
Young entered the house, a contro-
versy arose between this defendant
and Mrs. Zornes as to who was the
anthor of report current in the
neighborhood that a young woman
had been cooking for the defendant,
he accusing Mrs. Zornes of being its
author and she denying it. 1ntem-
Derate language was applied to each
other, which finally resulted in re-
guest from both Mr.. and Mrs. Zornes
that the defendant and his party leave
the house. Up to this point, there is
mo substantial difference between
!. 4