The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1917-01-23
Co,,rt Affairs.

Court Affairs.
Judge Lippincott did not have mucf
to take his attention at his Thursday
session of court, as the murder tria
was taking the time of prosecutor Kel-
sey.
On Friday there was an application
for license to open the West End
hotel at Moorestown. When the ap
plieation was made Judge Lippincott
said the only proposition was that OF
necessity. The applicant did not pre-
sent any evidence on that point, SO
the license was not granted.
TRIAL OF EDWARD A. COOK
The trial of Edward A. Cook for the
murder of his wife, at Bordentown, be-
gan yesterday morning. James Mer-
Ger Davis assisted prosecutor Kelsey.
v. Claude Palmer represented the pris-
oner, assisted by Clifford R. Powell.
1t required one hour to select jury,
which was composed of the following;
! John S. Haines, Northampton
7 ThOmaS PERKINS.
/ William Schoff, Riverside
! Harry +. Wright, Shalnong
John NJ. Pfeifer, Riverside
George Friday, Delran
Edward Middleton. EveSham
Martin Cramp, Beverly township
Andrew McIlhenny, Cinnaminson
( John f. Newton, Beverly township
Van Lew Schenck, Eastampton
Howard Lamb, Pemberton township
Mr.. Davis opened for the state. On
November 10 last, in the city of Bor-
dentown, the defendant murdered his
wife, Bertha Smith Cook, to whom he
had been married since the previous
March. Mr.. Davis claimed that Cook
shot his wife, who died before any one
could reach her. The house in which
the Cooks lived was twin house. The
partition wall was. thin. Everything
was quiet in the adjoining house. The
family, named Reid, living there,
heard noise, which was dull thud.
Mr.. Reid and his wife went to their
back door to ascertain the cause. They
saw Cook, who said his wife had been
fooling with a gun and had shot her
self. Mr.. and Mrs. Reid went into
Cooks house and found the wife lying
on the floor under a stove, her head
being literally blown to pieces. A gun,
with one empty cartridge, was found,
and Cook was asked to explain this
circumstance and he said he was in the
second story of the house when he
heard the noise, and on running down
stairs found his wife, and incidents
showed she had been handling the gun.
Cook made a statement to detective
Parker to that effect, but the latter
said that, the interior of the house, the
position of the body and other circum-
stances, showed that an accidental dis
charge could not have happened.
Then Cook claimed the gun went off
by accident while in his hands. This
statement was disputed and then Cook
made third statement to the effect
that he had taken the gun and in go
ing towards his wife he stumbled and
the gun was discharged. On one oc-
oasion few days prior to the shooting
he had chased his wife and her sister
around, pointing the gun at them and
that the wife protested, saying she
was very much afraid of the weapon.
1t was claimed that Cook and his
wife had constant quarrels from the
previous June, he insisting that she
was not faithful.
After James Logan had explained a
map, Charles Reid, the next door
neighbor to Cook, told of hearing the
shots and also said that Cook and his
wife had frequently quarrelled or at
least that was what he thought was 60
ing on. He told of the position of the
gun. Mr.. Reid said he and his wife
were in their own home, during the
morning of the alleged murder, and
heard the Cooks moving around, going
up and down stairs, but he could not
give any particular time that he heard
angry voices, although there were a
number of times when he had heard
this. He is married but does not live
with his wife. He lives with another
woman.
Mrs. Lydia Reid heard gun explode
and body fall. She did not hear any
one come down stairs in the Cook
house, although sounds in the other
house were easily distinguishable. Her
testimony was substantially the same
as that of the preceding witness. Every
thing in the Cook house appeared to
be perfectly quiet for some time prior
to the shooting. She had heard the
couple apparently quarreling, especial
ly during the week before the occur
renee. She told of an arrangement
between Cook and his wife which last
ed week. Mrs. Cook took some of
her furniture into the house of the wit.
ness, and it was taken away by an ex-
pressman later. Witness said she was
a married woman, not living with her
husband, but is living with Reid as
man and wife.
At this point the Judge, acting on
motion made by the state. directed
sheriff Stecher to take the jurors and
constables in charge of them, in auto
mobiles, to Bordentown. The jury was
instructed to vie the house where the
alleged murder occurred, and to make
a careful and complete examination of
the premises, inside and outside. The
jurors were cautioned against convers-
ing with anybody about the case and
they were not to take testimony, but
merely to look over the premises.
Medford.
Clifton Budd, Of this place, on Fri
day and Saturday killed eighteen big
hogs at an annual old-time hog killing.