Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-11-20
to smash the story of the alleged
murder plot" She was on the stand
most of today.
TWO CRIMES SIMILAR.
,lIiinois Officer Shows Parallel Between
viIlisca and Blue Island Murders.
[By a Staff CORRESPONDENT.

,lIiinois Officer Shows Parallel B%twesn
viIlisca and Blue island Murders.
IBy Staff Correspondent.
Red Oak, Nov. 20.-The skein of
evidence which y. N. Wilkerson. the
Burns detective of Kansas City, un-
travelled in his search for the. perpetra-
tors Of the Villisca ak murders of 1912
when Joe Moore, his wife, four chill
dren, and the two little daughters of
Mr.. and Mrs. Joe Stillinger were killed
in their beds with an AK, commenced
to be unwound in district court here
today before Judge Rockafellow, who
is hearing the slander suit of Senator
F. F. Jones of Villisca against Wflker-
son in which he claims $50, 900 as dam
ages for rumors and stories set afioat
by the detective, connecting his name
as ~an accomplice in that atrocious
crime. The case in.chief of the plain
tiff, which was closed Friday after
noon, brought testimony before the
jury from witnesses who attended
meetings addressed by Wilkerson and
who said that he made statements at
those meetings. that IF. F. Jones fur
nished the money to pay for the mur->
der of Joe Moore"
norP Meote manonelo.
r. H. Thorp, formerly Of Shenan-
doah, but now living at Jefferson, was
the first witness to be heard in the
present trial tending to connect Will
liam Mansfield with the Villisca mur-
der. Thorp testified that on the Mon
day morning the Moore murder was
discovefed in Villisca, he had left
Shenandoah at 10:40 o'clock for New
Market. His train, he said, got into
Clarihda about noon, where it watt
ed twenty minutes for dinner. When
he left Shenandoah, Thorp declared he
had heard nothing of the tragedy In
Villisca, and did not learn anything of
it until he got to Clarinda. Here, he
said. he was the sole occupant of the
smoking car when two men got on the
train. and came into the car in which
he was sitting, one coming in at each
door. The men got on from the side.
opposite the depot, he said.
One OF the men, the witness con-
tinued, walked back to where he was
sitting and asked him for a match.
you're pretty nervous" Thorp said
he remark1d To the man and asked
him to sit down l,esida him.
''Did you hear OF that murder at
villisca?' Thorp said the man asked
Of him, going on to tell him that there
was a family OF eight killed the night
before, Thorp said he asked the
stranger what the family's name was
and he told him 1t was Moore Thorp
then declared that the stranger went
on to tell him that he and his COM
,panion were In Villisca last night, that
the town was in q great commotion
and that they had come away early In
the morning because they didn't think
it was safe for stranger to be caught
there.
Asked About Bloodhounds.
'.Do you think bloodhounds can track
a man?" Thorp said the man asked OF
him. -
Il said. yes, thought they could
because I had helped track q man once
In Indiana" Thorp said he replied te
the question.
..what did You observe these men do
as the train approached the depot in
New Market ?"-:A ttSrney NJ itcliefi ask
cd 81 fThofp. 4, IS s1ss 4 iS$ I.
a -..Instsad sof sett.ns OF the side
where the depot is they got OF on the
opposite side. Z then watched them
walk down the track, Thorp respond .
ed. III
j Thorp said that during the journey
to New Market, he had played one
game Of pitch with the stranger but
that he was too nervous to play more
than one game, the cards droppins
from his hands.
"Up until the time that this gentle
man spoke to you about the tragedy,
had you heard word about it?" ask
ed Wilkerson's attorney.
mot a thing" Thorp replied.
When he got to New Market, Thorp
said the town was in great commotion
over the news of what had happened
at Villisca.
identified Mansfield.
Tnorp testined that last summer he
came to Red, Oak and saw William
Mansfield, then in the. custody of Sher-
i'll jackson of Montgomery county as
a suspect In the yillisca murder case.
was the man you saw here as
Mansfield in the custody of the sheriff,
the man you rode with from Clarinda
to New Market?'' asked Wilkerson's s
counsel from Thorp.
He's the same man." the witness
replied, declaring that ~one of the
means by which he identified him was
a scar IN his neck which he had no.
t,cad the morning he rode with him
IN the train. Thorn also identified
Mansfield from q nicture.
Attorney Reeson of Jones' counsel
|arruad At rreat length to exclude
Thorn,s testimony until it's compe-
tencv had been established. holding
that there had vet been shown to be no
connection between the two men whom
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