New-York tribune., 1919-06-10
First Panel Is Exhausted
and 35 More Talesmen
Are Called to Court at Min.
cola to Fill Box To-day
Prisoner Gains Weigh,
He Issues Statement Saw.
ing He Has a Clear Con.
science and Faith in God,
Staff Correspondence.

Stdft Correspondents
MINEOLA, L. l., June Six of III.
twelve jurors who will decide on tba
merits of the circumstantial ev;dar..
of murder against DR.. Walter Keene
Wilkins, the Long Island physician.
whose wife was found with her skuli
crushed by the blows of hammer ont.
side her home on the night of Feb.
ruary 27, were sworn in before Jus.
tice David Manning in the Supreme
Court here to-day before adjournment.
The accepted jurors are all elderly
men. The questions by Charles Wvs.
ong, chief of counsel for the defence.
indicated that he would seek to have
the entire jury made up of men past
middle age.
DR.. Wilkins, calm and dignifed
without any show of emotion, sat with
his counsel. His white mutton chon
whiskers, which he shaved off during
his flight to Baltimore, have grown
In the two months he has spent in Jail
to full beard. He wore a black cut.
away coat and dark trousers with
thin gray stripe. A black bordered
handkerchief protruded from his
breast coat pocket Frequently during
the examination of talesmen he con.
suited with his counsel, but for the
most part he assumed an air of dis.
interested dignity as he surveyed the
courtroom through his nose glasses.
Few in Courtroom
The courtroom was not crowded
with spectators. The morbid and cur
ious who revel in the rehearsals of
life's tragedies seemed to have no in
terest in the fate of the venerable
physician.
AS the examination of the taesmen
progressed it was apparent that the
admission of most of the circumstan.
tial evidence upon which District At
torney Weeks depends will be bitter.
ly contested. Mr.. Wysong took spe.
cial pains to inquire if the prospect.
i've jurors would be Influenced at all
by the actions of counsel in the con-
duct of the case. Those accepted said
that they woald not let this influence
them IN coming to decision.
Many of the prospective jurors
were excused because they said they
were opposed to capital punishment or
because of their friendship with per-
sons interested in the case. There
seemed to be a general disposition on
the part Of those called to shun re-
sponslbllity in imposing the death
where eye witnesses of the
crime were not produced
Oscar w. Paries, retired farmer. Of
Central Park. was selected as the first
juror. He was the twelfth talesman
examined. Previous to this Gottlieb
II. Morris, of Lynbrook, was excused
because of his friendship with Carman
Plant, county detective. who has
worked on the case. Fred w. Seaman.
of Glen Cove, was excused because he
said he was opposed to capital punish
ment. Mr.. Paries, who will act as
foreman, was the only juror accepted
at the morning session.
Richard H. Soper of Oceanside. who
described himself as small farmer.
was the second juror accented He was
the twentyfifth talesman called. A few
later Daniel B. Smith. re-
tired electrical engineer of Oyster Bay,
was accepted as juror number three
From that time on the examination
was speeded up, Edward S. Deubert of
belmore and William J. Barlow of
Freeport, both employees of the Cur
tlss plant at Garden City, were quickly
seated in the jury box. William Won
Velson, an antique dealer from Hemp
stead, was the last talesman of the
pane! called, and he was accepted with
out delay.