The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1915-01-27
THOMAS MURDER CASE WILL
BE ARGUED THIS MORNING

permitted 20 supplement Attorney
hocres statement Prosecutor Ad-
dleman said he had no objections aud
The attorney said i want 20 make
my position clear In bis case A. an
oricer % this court. gnde cath. ! am
% here 20 acguit this man o. a crime
20 which ne has confessed Re has
confessed. he has confessed 20 shoot
ing bis wife and I DO not ask that be
b acquitted. However. I do not say
that - want him found guilty Of the
charge IA the Indictment
The hrst witness called by the state
was John Thomas. 70 years old. son
Of the prisoner AZ gar. The boy was
closely questioned as 70 what would
happen 90 him should be tell a false
hood Judge Robinson ruled that the
boy might testify.
Strikes Ais wife.
Witness said ne vas 10 a old.
lived AZ Richland with father. step
mother and brothers. This lad al
his father fused with hts step-mother
and he hit her with a s~poonholder.
They went 10 bed later. In the morn
ing. at 7 O'Clock. the boy told his little
brother 10 call the woman and sb@
vas found dead Ia bed. Their fathei
vas gone. The night before the vo-
man had scolded her husband for Eo-
ing 10 MinKo.
The boy said his father had a revolt
yer. The boy identified a .3S-calibre
I~ver-Johnson gun a. that owned BY
his father. He also Identified a broken
glass s~poonholder as that used IN the
fight the night before. The skirt worn
by the woman was introduced and
NARmHNNaH ~ ~ uHrn . hHr.Nu vruH.H
and a torn and bloody apron These
articles were all found along the river
shore at WsrwoOd a day after ner.
dead body Was found
The boy said a trunk In his mother 4
room was broken open. papers were
strewn about the floor and razors
were gone from the barber shop down.
stairs. This morning In court was the.
first time the boy had seer his father
since his step-mother was slain.
shorty" About Home.
On cross-eNamination the boy de
MED hat his father had put him 10
bed. He said that a Greek by the
name OF shorty had frequently been
about his home. He was there thai
night when the mar and woman wer.
fighting. His father and shorty
"fA' NaAhAllh NAtN evening. ne ONNlNHu
that they q]uarrrlod over the Womar.
On redirect examination by Mr.. Ad-
dleman The boy said his father brought
beer and whIskey from Minro. His
mother drank beer and the father
whiskey.
Thomas Thomas. the other son OF
the defendant. followed his brother or
the stand. He said lie was ten years
OF age. Tho boy was questioned by
Assistant Prosecutor Beneke and told
Oh" same story as did his brother. Tn.
little fellow identified all of his step
mothers wearing apparel. lie told u
hnding his mother in her room cry
ing and Of finding her dead the next
morning. The boy Identified his faith
or's 81 and said his father shot twice
al his ~step-mothcr. He said his father.
and step-mother quarrelcd often. when
his father was drinking heavily.
Mother Never Drank.
m crOss-eNaminat.0n the boy denied
that his father %quaTreled with "a Greek
by The name OF shorty He also Dc
MED that his stcp-mother ever drank
beer with other mCr In the absence
OF his father. Asked as TO what this
man shorty looked like. the LITTLE
fellow pointed at Court sl~cnographer
Louis F. SchradDr and said. BE- Shorty
would look Ike that man 10 DC he'd
a mustaCae. This caused laughter
throughout the court room. The boy
told Attorney Moore that everyone
knew shorty called his stpp-rother
'Sweetic. He said shorty" had
threatened TO have his father arrest
cd for creating a distuTt4uc, about
the house. The Two bows were axe
cused, but the defense reserved fr,
right 10 recall tGem
Deputy sheriff Thomas smith took
the stand and said De found NIrs
Thomas clothes near the Warwu9d
dam. along the rivers ,l-D. living
sfrewu about the place Deputy smith
said the broken s,uunhuIlar was
found in the kitchen OF the Thomas
home.
Marshal ID. l.. Poole OF WarwrrI
told of being sent 90 the Thomas home
and of finding the woman's dead BODY
ON her bed. Hc told ar tho entire
house being 'topsy tUTgey." paper be-
ing scattered about the house. etc.
Poole said he examined the barber
shop and that there was not n single
razor there. over objection Marshal
Poole told Of following Thomas to
Minco. S~foubcnyilIo and East Liver.
pool. The witness was not cross.
examined.
Told Of Autopsy.
Dr. r r. Plant. county co-8-or's
.HysIciau, told Of the autopsy upon
Pee BODY OF Mrs. Froda Thomas and
'he discovery ~ bullet wounds a
r'morrhare into tho LEFT lung caused
"a bullet caused tho w0wan's death.
POI" doctor said Ifo Identified % bullet
handed him as that removed from the