The Washington times., 1921-02-06
.SOBS AS Jury
.CONV|CTS WIFE
Husband of Mrs. Louise Peete In
Tears When Murder ver-
dict Is Reached.

LOS ANGELES, Cal, Feb. g.
Without a word betrsying emotion
Of any sort. but rather as one
stunned. Mrs. Louise Peete. accused
of the murder Of Jacob C. Denton.
is back in the county jail today, con-
victed by a jury Of murder in the
first degree.
10 TO FOR CONVICTION.
After being out since Ii:+b a m.
the Jury fiTed into the court room
promptly at 6:26 this evening and
At $50 the verdict OF guilty" and
the recommendation for 4 life sen
tence had been read to the waiting
counsel, prosecution and defendant.
The Jury deliberated nve hours and
q half standing ten to two for con-
yiction on the first ballot and reach
ing an agreement on the sixth.
Mrs. Peete showed no emotion as
the verdict was read and stared at
the twelve men In the box with an
expression fxed in Q mould of stern
indifference. After the poll OF the
Jurors by Judge Willis. the court
ANNOUNCED that sentence would be
pronounced on Mrs. Peete February
| 8. and the convicted woman was
started on her journey back to the
county Jail without having broken
her silence.
As Mrs. Peete left the court room
to return TO the Jail. she put one
arm around her husband. for sup
port and showed for the frst time
signs OF a breakdown. Her face
displayed the terrific strain Of her
81, kAr ia
WAS NOT SURE OF ACQUIT'rAL.
The night before her trial began
the correspondent had a somewhat
lengthy interview with Mrs. Peete.
At that time she did not express
anything like a positive declaration
OF hope OF acquittal, saying:
Il would not be surprised to see
. hung jury. Some strange things
have happened In the cases of others
who have been in Jail since l was
placed here last fall
On that occasion Mrs. Peete ex-
pressed great surprise for the faith
full husband who has stood by her
throughout the ordeal. She asserted:
"Whatever misunderstandings Mr..
Peete and I may have had in the past
have all been cleared up by his stead
fastness in this awful tragedy. His
love has been a great support to me-"
One of the pathetic incidents in the
case has been the stories told to little
Betty, Mrs. Peets's four-year-old
daughter. She has been made to be-
Iieve that her mother has gone away
for a while"
The trial attracted wide attention
because OF it's sensational character.
1t has been unusual as being the first
great criminal case in which Com
monwealth provided the prosecution
and defense. Mrs. Peete being penni-
less, Public Defender William T. Ag-
geler has looked after her interests.
FOUND BODY IN BASEMENT.
Jacob c. Denton, a rich mining man.
disappeared from his beautiful resi-
dence here in the Wiltshire district
about June, 1920. His relatives be-
came worried and a search was final
ly Instituted which resulted in find
ing his body in basement in his
home, September 2S.
1t was established by X-ray photo
graphs that he had been shot in the
head.
The prosecution contended that Mrs.
Peete, who had leased the residence
from him late in May, committed the
murder.
1t was brought out by the prosecu-
ton that Mrs. Peete had claimed a
mysterious Spanish woman" had
quarreled with Denton on June =, and
Denton shot her.
A State witness said Mrs. Peete had
told him that friends of this woman
had returned to the Denton home and
killed him.