Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1917-07-21
PROSECUTOR ASKS DEATH PENALTY
 FOR MRS. MOONEY
Rarely Has Such Occur rencce Been Recorded as
 in Trial in California.

!
 San Francisco, Calf, July 20.-
 Demand by the prosecution for the
 infliction of the death penalty, rarely
 before asked in California in the case
 of woman; widespread interest of
 labor unions, public controversy in
 volving creditability of states wit
 nesses and charges by the defense
 that important evidence had been
 fabricated, were features which mark ed the trial of Mrs. Rena Mooney for murder resulting from bomb explos-
 ion here last July.
 Mrs. Mooney, a music teacher, wife of Thomas J. Mooney, was arrested a few days after the explosion, which, ccurring at 2:06 pm. in the course of a Preparedness Day parade July 32, killed ten persons and wounded more lt,lan forty men, women and children. At about the same time the Mooneys were arrested, Warren K. Billings. 1s- rael Weinberg and Edward D. Nolan were taken into custody by detectives.
 The state contended that the eX- plosion was the continuation of a con- spiracy plot of wide qualifications, with the five bomb murder defendants as the ring leaders.
 Billings was tried, convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprison- 'ment. Mooney was sentenced to death on a verdict of murder in the first degree without recommendation for mercy. Both sentences have been held up pending appeals to the state su- preme court. The others are now awaiting trial. Nolan is at liberty on bail.
 Dissatisfied with the verdict in the case of Thomas J. Mooney, union labor organizations, which contributed largely to the defense fund through the International Workers Defense league, caused the appointment of "silent jury' composed of labor men, to hear evidence adduced at Mrs. Mooney's trial and render an indepen- dent verdict to organized labor. Mrs. Mooney was brought to trial May 21 before Superior Judge Emmet Seawell, of Santa Rosa, and jury. The specific charge against her was the murder of Mrs. Myrtle Irene Van Leo. one of the ten victims of the ex- plosion. In addition the defendant was charged with having been mem- Der of "murderous conspiracy" to overthrow the government and bring about state of anarchy. Much testi- mony and many exhibits intended to support this theory were ruled out by Judge Seawell. Various letters writ ten to and by Mooney, extracts from an anarchist publication called the "Blast," edited here about the time of the explosion by Alexander Berkman. an associate of Emma Goldman, and tended showed designs of the alleged group of conspirators, were admitted. Alibi was the defense which the de- fendant's attorneys sought to estab- fish by score of witnesses, who de- clared Mrs. Mooney and her husband had been on the roof of the building in which they made their home more than mile from the scene of the ex- plosion, throughout the afternoon. Mrs. Mooney and the four other de- fendants told of their movements in detail on the afternoon of the bomb murders. The defense sought to prove that others rather than the defend- ants were the persons who had been seen in the vicinity of the explosion by the state witnesses.
 The states contention was that Mooney and the others sought to pre- vent the parade because it was mili- tary preparedness measure which might interfere with their alleged plot to overthrow the government and that Billings, accompanied by three of. the other defendants placed suitcase which, the state contended, enclosed the bomb, at the spot where the blast occurred. One witness said he saw Billings, accompanied by Mooney, place the suitcase on the sidewalk The defense contended that bomb l was hurled from the roof of build | ing and witnesses testified they had l seen a black object coming through l the air before the detonation.
 Bits of what purported to have been pieces of an alarm clock. by which the state contended the bomb was explod- ed; pieces of what purported to have been parts of a suitcase and other eX- hibits such as bullets and jagged pieces of iron picked up an tha scene after the explosion. were admitted as evidence.
 Eleven days before the explosionj Mrs. Mooney obtained about twelve pounds of nitre, component of dyna- mite. one witness testified. A detective testified that bullets extracted from the bodies of victims and picked up from the sidewark were identical with