The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-09-10
|4IT Was HONOR
OR HIS LIFE
Words Which Tell Story Of
Why Maude Moore Shot
Leroy D. Harth.
YOUNG SLAYER coNFEssEs
Says She Killed Harth While
He Was Drunkenly Trying
Assault Her.

q
Harth g, yell-known real estate man
by n : Maude Moore. which oc-
cure : ere on Monday. Miss Moore
bear Uses which she claimed were
inf by Harth In his treatment
of !; She charges him with ,ting
dr.. : and in supplement of the fact
th,. -rinking had been indulged in
W npty whisky bottles were found
O. e scene where the killing took
place The details Of the girls story
cannot be printed in detail owing to
their character. The girl Is pitiful
in her condition.
The preliminary hearing will take
place Thursday Afternoon, and on ac-
count Of the crowd, will be held at the
courthouse. The latest development
in the case Is that some weeks ago a
suit for $4,000 was instituted against
Harth by Mrs. Luella Temple Vines,
she charging Harth offered certa IN in
dignities towards her which she and
her husband resented.
Mystery Solved.
The mystery which at first sur
rounded the death of Leroy d. Harth
a prominent real estate man anJ
president of the Motor Car company
has been cleared up by statement
issued by Miss Maude Moore, in
which she admits firing the shot
which ended Harths life, but she de-
clares that 1t was either his life OF
her honor and she fired in defense
of the latter. Miss Moore was ar
rested at cave two miles from the
end of the Sevierville car line, where
she was found by the detectives, who
had been led to her hiding place by
Martin Hunter, whom the girl had
gone to and asked to 60 with her tc
the hiding place and protect her.
When Hunter returned to his room
after he had taken the girl to the
cave he was confronted by detectives
who told him they knew it all and tc
take them where the girl was. Re.
turning to the hiding place of Miss
Moore, Hunter left the detectives ant
went to the cave and brought bach
the girl. Miss Moore says it is tn,
same old story--an automobile
whisky and a joy ride, with the in.
evitable resulA
Miss Moore's 81 story is az follows:
Il met Mr.. Harth on the street sew.
ersl days. gse,,and told him that I hae
secured job as a stenographer will
III III III WIFE, anu lnttHutu 10 ~
there Monday afternoon" Miss Moore
stated He insisted on driving me
there in his car Monday night and
told him that l would consider it and
telephone him Monday afternoon.
After checking my baggage Monday
afternoon | telephoned him that | wouo
meet him in front of the Y. w. c. A.
at $3.50 that night, which l did. Wher
the car pulled up there was strange
man in it, and Roy asked me II l coult
find companion for him. We drove
out to the home of Clara Harris, but
found that she had gone to Virginia.
From there we drove back to the
Farragut hotel and the other man go
out of the car. He and Roy held 6
brief conversation and we drove off
l thought he was going to take me tC
Maryville and return to fill an appoint
men with the man we left at the Far
ragut hotel, but when we started ou
on the Kingston pike, l asked for al
explanation. In return he said WI
would drive around little first.
4 insisted that he turn the car arounC
and go back and let me out. He re-
whisky from somewhere and asked mi
If l wanted a drink. ! refused, saying
that l never drank. He then took {
drink from the bottle himself. / still
insisted that he take me back to town
I'VE passed through Bearden, goint
the car around and started back tC
town. We had gone about half a mil,
when he stopped the car and demanded
that I get. out | told him that
would not do it. and he threatened me
Roy had been drinking and l wa!
deathly afraid of him He made Ger
tain demands of me, which / refused
to comply with. He said he woulC
snatch me out of the car unless l go
out. I refused and he jumped out o
the car and snatched me out over the
steering wheel and gear levers by thu
Detectives had left Miss Moore anC
a reporter alone in the cell. so sh'
cautiously lowered her waist over on
shoulder and showed several bruises
which she stated were the result o
the scuffle which followed.
These will show that I put up
fight to protect myself" she said.
when l reached the ground, h
threatened me again unless ! woult
meet his demand. | refused and strug
gled to free myself. He, then knocket
me down and kicked at me. In th'
scuffle the pistol fell out of his pocke
and we both grabbed for it. I reached
it first and fired as he rushed at me
| was getting up from the grounC
when | fired.
sure I did not. although I was excited
and may have done it. He ran dow1
the road toward town as soon as he wa
shot and l did not know | had kille,
him until read the story this morning
Girl Takes to Woods.
Followirg & the shooting Miss Moor,
stated she got into the car and tried Il
start it with the intention of getting
away from the scene as quickly as pos
sihle, but the self-starter seemed to b'
out of order. She said that she dit
not know how badly hurt the man wa
and did not know his plans She statet
that ii all happened so quickly that sh
did not have time to make a decision
and was in the woods and runnin,
toward town before she realized it,
After crossing through the wood
she came out on the Middlebrook pix
and followed along the edge of it. Sh
said she had seen the lights of a speed
ing automobile coming in her direction
Believing that the car contained officer
who were rushing to the scene. sh
crawled into a culvert under the roat
and waited for the car to pass.
Upon reaching Knoxville, the girl
who is small of stature but of attrac
tive form and features stated that sh'
went to the room of a friend. Martii
Hunter who lives on Asylum avenue
She related her story to the man an,
asked that he go to the Louisville 4
Nae ehN-iiia Sto