Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-05-22
School Teacher on Trial for
Murder Claims Husband of
Woman She Slew Is Re-
SponSibIe for Affair."
MATTER OF BUSINESS
STARTS FILTRATION
Defendant Will Take the Wit
ness Stand Today to Reveal
Every Detail Of Her ReIa-
tons With Doctor.
icy sosn,So Jouss.L spse.. LEASED ~,ss,

teY HosN,No JouPHAL SPECIAL LEASED ~IsEi
Waukesha, wis, May 2l,--Grace
Lusk will take the witness stand to
reveal every detail of her relations
with Dr. David Roberts at her trial
for Staying his wife tomorrow,
This was announced by attorneys
for the Defense after the prosecution
had completed the presentation of its
evidence against Miss Lusk. Her
story is expected to be a fiat denial
that she pursued him with the object
of wrecking his home.
Before the prosecution rested. it in.
troduced a letter written by Miss Lusk
and found in her desk after the trag-
edy. 1t was addressed to Mrs. Rob
erts and was only presented as evil
dence after the attorneys for the de-
fense had registered an emphatic pro
test in which they declared that Miss
Lusk could not be used as a witness
against herself.
When. your husband first came to
ME, it was for business" the letter
read. "at, least that was his excuse.
He did all of the pursuing. l thought
1t was all quite good joke and in
fact it would never have occurred to
me to take the situation seriously if,
one night at the Baptist church af
fair, you had not come up to us when
we were talking in the most innocent
fashion imaginable and rushed him
away. You did not do it in court.
Gas Iatnner--w weii, not rather.
vowed thereupoi' to get even with you
for your discourtesy and have. Only
| have hurt myself in doing so"
Frankly Admits Misdeeds.
The letter then frankly related
her relations with the veterinarian OF
how he spent his evenings with her
while his wife was i'll at home, of his
jealousy and of his statement to her
that he felt that he had been Cheated
in the marriage game"
at seems to me-" the letter added
that if you loved your husband un-
selfishly, you would want him TO be
happy honorably, even if 1t were a
sacrifice to you in some respect. It is
not an unheard of thing for husband
or wife to give up voluntarily the mate
whose love has been lost. Did you
ever hear the story of Ruskin, or more
recently of James X Barrie? In the
eternal triangle the only solution of
the problem is the elimination Of one
character the two who should remain
are those whose affections arc mu.
tual."
Several other letters found in the
desk some Of them covered with
Il Tts.u
Lusk had handled them after she had
killed Mrs. Roberts and shot herself,
also were read. One headed "cXpla-
nation' declared:
Expresses Great Sorrow.
ooh, am sorry, sorry that all this
has happened. Yet I had rather have
had this experience, painful as it has
been, than to have gone through life
without knowing what love can mean.
| can't honestly believe | have been
sinful. The only treason has been in
not telling Mrs. r. l always wanted
TO but he was afraid. oh, well, 1t will
soon be over"
Another letter was marked: "Open
in case of accident only gave direc-
tons for her funeral which she de-
sired to be without much fuss" She
also directed that she be dressed in
the little new grey frock," which she
wrote would "be ready for my last
party
DR.. Roberts was recalled to the wit
ness stand for examination by
the defense early in the morning ses"
sion to answer a series of questions
regarding the defendants mental con-
dition He testified that she appeared
normal except when she was angry
when she occasionally lost control of
herself.
Later in the afternoon the defense
introduced several character witnesses
who testified to the high regard in
which Miss Lusk was held.
Miss Lusk appeared on the verge of
collapse several times during the ses-
sion.