The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-02-02
Defense Lays Foundation for
"UnWritten Law" Plea.
Widow Weeps as husbands
Reputation Is Defiled.
DEAD MAN FREQUENT CALLER
He Was at Cooper Home Pre-
yiOus to Day of Shooting.
Preliminary Is Continued Be-
cause of Cold Court Room.

While Mrs. Burt F. Hunt sat in a
corner of the court room sobbing with
the arms of a neighbOr woman around
her, the reputation of her husband,
Burt T. Hunt, dead man, was placed
on trial today before Judge Rad Lee
in the court of Topeka in the prelimi-
nary hearing of Ezra Cooper accused
of the murder of Hunt. In their eff
forts to build a case based on the Jun
| written law" j. ]. Schenck and w. E.
Atchison, attorneys for Cooper, pro-
| duced witnesses who knew Hunt ten
| years ago to prove him as a man who
Dragged of his corruption of women.
Testimony was produced showing
| Hunt visited Cooper's home While
Cooper was away previous to the day
/ of the shooting.
Time and again Schenck and Atch-
ison referred to Hunt as the man
under the bed the ladies' favorite''
and the man who spent half an hour
reading a gas meter" immortality
fairly smeared the testimony offered
by the defense and crowd that could
| not find standing room Uttered and
clapped its hands as the case prog
ressed. over in a far corner sat Mrs
| Hunt, neighbor woman, and A. H.
| Hunt of Kansas City, a brother-in-
law.
All Wore Overcoats
|
The woman's body rocked with
sobs as the attorneys for Cooper I'M
| relentingly questioned witnesses con-
! corning her husbands alleged Hcen-
tious life Meantime, the furnace in
! the court house had broken down and
the air became chilly obliging wit
nesses and attorneys to put on their
oVercoats and wraps. Finally the
court was forced to postpone the pre-
| liminary and it will be continued at
10 O'Clock week from Saturday
! morning. Mrs. Hunt was half car
ried from the court room. Her two
! fatherless children were not present
| I'VE will prove that Hunt was a
! 'lady's man every minute of his life
from ten years ago until Saturday,
January 90 said ]. J. Schenck to the
! court
Mrs. Cooper appeared at the court
4 house with her husband and his
| brothers and one sister. Mrs. ]. E.
| Montgomery. But she beat a hasty
retreat when the testimony began.
ers. two of his children and his sister,
| Mrs Montgomery. He leaned forward
once or twice to whisper in the ears
of his attorneys. Fully fifty witnesses
and prosecution, and it is probable
/ nearly all will be examined before the
preliminary ends The defense re-
fused to go to trial until they had OBJ
tanned a stenographer to take notes of
the testimony.
The Threats Run Down.
Witness after witness was called 20
| the stand to give testimony of prior
threats made against Hunt by Cooper.
Only one could produce any testimony
to verify wild rumors published con-
corning threats made against Hunts
life by Cooper This lone witness
mreely testified that Cooper had de-
clared that he would ge the man who
got his job" without even mentioning
Hunts name.
/ w. r. Wright, 1900 East Sixth ave-
nue., told of the activities of Jim Will
son, solicitor for a morning paper, IN
digging up testimony against Cooper.
| Wilson tried to make me say that
| | had seen Cooper go into an empty
house to telephone" said Wright, 'tan1
| told me a man had told him so. 1
found it to be all untrue"
e. G.. Green, taxicab driver, told
/ of driving past the Cooper home a
! few minutes after the shooting, of see
ing Hunt running out of the yard, of
hearing a shot, of seeing Hunt stag
ger across the road and of seeing
Cooper with shotgun in his hand
standing on the front porch.
Cooper was calmly blowing the
smoke out of the barrel when I saw
him." said Green. Hunt beckoned
! to me to stop but 1 was frightened and
drove on
Hunt, Frequent Visitor.
! G.. P. Gill, 2502 East Sixth avenue
was standing in the door of his feed
/ store near the Cooper home when the
! shot was fired. He saw Cooper in the
! yard shotgun in hand and saw Hunt
running across the road
| "a few minutes later, Cooper came
| into the store and called up the chief
! of police" said Gill. He told him
he had shot man and would be down
as soon as he had unhitched his
team"
Did you ever see Hunt going into
the Cooper home?" asked Schenck.
Twice" replied the witness.
Was Cooper there?"
| No"
How long did Hunt stay?"
Half an hour, once" said Gill
1T doesn't take that long to read
a gas meter, does it?" demanded
Schenck.
Il am not a gas meter reader" re-
piled Gill
The defense had just begun to bring
in its testimony against Hunts repu-
tation when the bitter cold called for
a postponement. Jessie Harvey, a
| Meriden butcher, was the first man
called. He had worked with a man
named Hunt as carpenter at the
asylum ten years ago He could not
| swear it was the same Hunt, but this
| Hunt. according to testimony, was
! looked upon as "a fast fellow"
a Topeka carpenter
| who worked at the asylum at the same
time. positively identified Hunt. the
dead man, as a fellow worker at the