The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1913-12-03
WAS SUICIDE
OR MURDER
Horse Doctor on Trial Charged
With Cutting the Throat
of the Woman
Physician.

UNITED Press Leased Wire Service
[By staff correspondent Of the
United Pressl
SHELBYVMI4E, Ind, Dec. 3.-Dr.
Helene Knabe, the beautiful Indian
apolis woman physician, whose mys-
terious death was followed by the in
dictment OF DR.. VIM. B. Craig on the
charge Of murder, will be pictured by
the defense In the murder trial here,
as woman to whom I've, in the
commonly accepted Sc, was un-
known. II
This will be tp S Aswer of d..
Craig's attorneys Ae charge made
by the prosecute q lat the vsterinar-
Ian and DR.. rs es friendship had
ripened into = and that when Craig
tired Of He Knabe, he entered
| her a2artmenNs at midnight and cut
4 her throat.
| In cross examination Of physicians,
close associates of DR.. Knabe, who
were among the first to visit her
apartments on the morning of Oct
"a, 1911, after an Office girl found the
! woman physician dead in her bed
ths defense took every opportunity to
emphasize her masculinity
From DR.. b. G. Reyer, DR.. George
j j. Cook, DR.. G. e. Ferguson and DR..
Frank B. Wynn, the first wtnesses
called by the state after the defense
had made it's opening statement, At
torny Henry Spaan, for Craig, drew
admissions that Helene Knabe was
of the masculine type of woman. Wig
orous and aggressive, so much so
that her associates called her simply
Knabe, as If she were man
I Coroner Durham Of Marion county
; who psrsistently held to the murder
theory in the face of police declara
J tions of suicide, was the first witness
to be called to the stand when court
} convened today. Other physicians
who viewed the body were to des ribe
J the gaping wound in her throat and
Z conditions Of the apartment before the
{ police arrived. The defsnse4wiH sub
Z iect them to the sanis system of eros!
: examination.
DR.. Durham strongly supported the
states theory of murder against the
defense CT suicide when he testified
that the fatal wound in the neck was
made by sharp knife drawn from
right to left. DR.. Knabe was righ,
handed and it would have been un
natural for right handed person tt
WELD a knife in that direction. Dur
: ham also testified that besides thu
cash that caused death there were
7 two small cuts on the throat on the
left side. He said he saw blood,
!. finger marks on the wall paper of th,
! room near the electric light switcl
and this was before the police at
: tempted to move the body. The ligh
: was turned on when the body wa.
: discovered. The defense in opening
claimed that the bloody marks were
made by the police in handling thu
: body.
. I'VE expect to convince the jury
too, that woman of the marvelou
. physical Developments attributed t.
:, DR.. Knabe, could, not have been mur
dered without a violent struggle
said Attorney Spaan. Her work Il
!, physical culture classes mot only en-
: hanced her physical beauty but de
veloped her muscles to such an ex
tent that she would have put up
terrific fight for her life, Yet ther
was no evidence Of a struggle. Every
thing points to suicide"
= Augusta Knabe. the school t9ache
: cousin of DR.. Knabe, and Kdtherin
Mcpherson, the Office girl, who dis
:, covered the body, are to follow tn
physicians on the stand. The stat
refused today either to deny or affirr
that Harry Webster the private dc
g tective who worked up. the cas-
p against DR.. Craig would not be c2l
|. ed to the stand. In its opening state
ment yesterday the dsfense threater
e ed to completely discredit Webster
q testimony by calling up his past.
n Coroner c.. o. Durham, OF ,ndiar
It apolis was the prosecutions star wi
g ness He said he found DR. Knabe
d head jammed under cross bar of he
bed so tightly that the body had t
be moved before 1t could be released
y Two blood smears on the thighs an
l. around the electric push button whic
ID Durham testified he saw, viii be th
t. basis Of the states argument tina
is DIR. Knabe was murderta. DR. Scnal
n pei who officiated at the post mortel
e. described the wound in detail
10 The state introduced picture {
10 DR.. Knabe showing her dressed Yer
,e feminely with laces and ruffles in o
1t der to combat the claim of the defens
that she was of masculine type an
is not likely to have attracted the d.
d. fendant.
h. sez Ole Cliff Fox.