Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-07-19
CREsTOh man
LOSES FIGHT
FOR LIBERTY
Jury Returns Verdict Of
Murder in Second
Degree.
EMERSON ACCUSED
OF KILLING MOTHER
Verdict Given TO Court Shortly After
10 O'clock Today, After Jury Had
Dsliberatsd 9ixtssn Hours-Findins
Marks End Of One Of 0rsatsst Legal
Battles ia lowa-History Of Emerson
Case,

Mount Ayr. July 1s-The jury in the
case Of Roy Emerson. Of Creston,
charged with beating his mother to
death with an iron brace and throwing
her body down an elevator shaft, re-
turned a verdict Of murder in the Sec
end degree.
The verdict was given to the court
at 1910 a. m. today. The case went
to the jury at 8 p. m. yesterday.
Sentence win not be imposed upon
Emerson for several days, 1t Is under
stood. The maximum penalty for Sec
ond degree murder in Iowa Is life i'm
prisonment.
Emerson, his 22-year- old wife at his
side, sat calmly thru the reading OF
the verdict. From the time he enter
ed the court room until he was quietly
escorted back to his cell, the convicted
man said nothing.
While no statement has been issuet
by Emerson's attorneys it is under
stood that they will not ask q new
trial, but the defendant may appeal tt
the supreme court.
Mrs. Kate Emerson, mother Of the
defendent, was found dead In the bot
tom c1 IN elevator shaft In the Emer-
son Undertaking establishment In
Creston, May 6. Her body was badly
mangled and mutilated- Both legs
were broken, her lips were cut, one
eye discolored and her arm bore four
marks on the front and one on the
r. uI,a ho1 n.
ped by someone.
At first it was generally considered
that Mrs. Emerson had committed sui
eide. Discovery Of blood spots near
the shaft, an iron brace with red stains
on It and other evidence, led however,
to the arrest Of her son, Roy Emer-
son, on charge of murder. The cor
oner's Jury returned an open verdict
of, murder at the hands of someone
unknown" but special session Of
the grand jury was called and Roy
Emerson indicted. He was then held
In Jail at Creston without bail. the
trial being set for June 30. A change
Of venue was granted, however, and
Emerson went on trial at Mt. Ayr,
Ringgold county, Juply s.
Build on CircumstantiaI Evidence.
The trial marked one Of the great
est legal battles the state has ever
witnessed. Armed with only circum-
stantia levidence, the state left moth
ing uhdone to convict Emerson. En-
erson, maintaining his innicence at all
times, obtaied several Of the leading
lawyers OF the state to defend him and
made arrangements to sell his estate,
valued at $4,000 to pay for his de-
fense.
The state took eight days In pre-
senting its. case, one day, however
being devoted to trip to Creston SO
that the jury could inspect at first
hand the place where Mrs. Emerson's
body was found. In its argument the
state contended that Emerson care
fully prepared to murder his mother,
giving as the motive his desire to con-
troll the family estate and producing
testimony to show that he had threat
ened her with violence and frequently
auarreled with her over money mat
ters. .
The states evidence showed that an
iron brace was found near the shaft
with red stains on it, that Mrs. En-,
erson apparently had been beaten and
then thrown into the elevator shaft.
Blood spots were found on tho walls
Of the shaft and on the floor of the
room it is in. A bloody rag was found
In the room, also, witnesses said. Other
witnesses said Roy Emerson sent a
suit to q cleaners the day after the
finding of his mothers body and that
II was damp In spots as II someone
had tried to clean out spots.
Defense Holds suicide Theory.
The state also contended That En-
erson had repeatedly said previous to
his mothers death that she planned
suicide, maintaining that t:.!s .sc a.:;a
to remove suspicion from himself. The
top Of Mrs. Emerson's skull was In
troduced as evidence and an attempt
made to at the iron brace into the
dent in It., This demonstration was
barred from the testimony.
The defense maintained that Mrs.
Emerson committed suicide, producing
some twenty-fiv witnesses, most Of
whom testified she had planned sui
eide and was frequently melancholy.
4 The defense also scored point when
u chemist refused to say the stains on
7 The iron brace with which the state
u0nttends Emerson killed his mother,
were blood. An adequate test could
not be made, It was said.
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