Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1920-08-12
CHAPTER XII.

= Fortunately for me, there had re-
Gently been Il wave of public criticism
of the courts for the long delays in
bringing criminal cases to trial. ana
The district attorney was moving with
all celebrity to bring my case to a con
clusion. An indictment against me
for the murder of Daisy Lutan had
been quickly found and the date had
been already set for the trial-one
week %hence-sO that the period of my
incarceration and doubt as to my ulti-
mate fate seemed likely to be very
brief.
Utterly absurd as the situation was,
accused Of numbering a Oma whom
| never had seen and hardly had
heard of until | saw her lying dead in
her apartments, conscious as | was of
my entire innocence in the matter,
still, as in the solitude of my cell l
reviewed the case, | found myself fac
ing the ordeal of a trial for murder
with considerable apprehension.
circumstances NNl ~
much against me. There was abso-
lutely no way in which ! could refute
the testimony of the two detectives
that they had found the revolver with
one chamber discharged in the drawer
of my dresser. | myself had seen
them find it. While German still held
that there was a possibility that they
| themselves had put 1t there, ! knew
that neither Of them had been near
the dresser after l had admitted them
to nv rooms. The only person whom
had the slightest ground for sus-
pecting was Claire Bradford, yet what
motive could she have had?
! Wick undoubtedly would testify
that he had met me at the door of TIT
Lutan apartment directly after he had
heard the shot. He might say that l
! appeared to be greatly excited. This
would be the exact truth. There was
even the possibility that he might
swear that he had found me coming
out of Miss Lutan's' apartment. Even
If he did not make the statement d.
rect, shrewd questioning on the part
of the district attorney could easily
make it appear that l had just left
the Lutan apartment. How could we
possibly controvert his testimony?
Then, In addition, there were the
| damaging statements that would he
offered by Nellie Kelly. She would
swear that the evening before ! had
taken her out to dinner and had been
questioning her about the other ten
ants I'm the house. Even though we
knew that she was q tool of wick and
was the wife Of Lefty Moore, the bur
glar, unless German was able I" dis
cover that she herself had "A criminal
record, it seemed utterly hopeless tt
attempt to confute her statements,
II would also initiate against me
that at the time of the murder ! was
out of II job and almost without funds
They were likely, too, to bring out the
fact that ] had been discreditably
discharged from the only position
had held in New York. The only MAI
who knew anything about the matter
MFR. Wood. the head Of the firm, hat
been suddenly called to France In con
nectIoD with an order for munitions
and was not expected to return TO
several months, The fact woul'
weigh against me, too, that ] woul'
be unable to offer the Testimony %
n character witnesses. Birge am
Roller. my classmates with whom hat
roomed ever since | had come to Nev
York, were somewhere In France
with the American troops ana coul
not possibly aid me-
All Of this was pointed out to m
by John McGregor, a young attorne
whom German had employed for M
While German and had. think, sue
cecded In convincing him OF my inht
ceDce, the fact that he was c0ntlnt
ally citing the difficulties In the wa
OF our proving 1t made me realiz
that he was very dubious as to tn
outcome.
(To Be C%ontinued.)
Let the Mirror do your printing