Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1921-10-12

On the night of April 16, the state
alleges, Alvin "A. Jorgensen, an, ex-
pressman,r was called Ito Mahoney's
apartment at 400 Denny Way to take
a trunk to Lake Union. After find
ing the body, Jorgensen, it is said,
identified Mahoney as: the man who
had directed him to take the trunk
to the lake The proprietor Of a boat
house pointed out MahoneW as the
man who had rented a small skif
April Is, and had failed to- return it,
T. MahoEey first :, came under sus-
'picion in connection with his wifes
'disapp earance when Mrs. Kate
Stewart of Vancouver, s. c., a niece
offs the missing woman, received a
number of letters purporting to have
been written by. her aunt and dated
from towns in Idaho and Montana.
Her Investigations resulted in the ar
rest of Mahoney May 3 on a charge
of forgery in connection with an
order on safe deposit -ibex main
tanned by his wife. Two additional
forgery charges followed both arts
ing from an: alleged fraudulent at
tesn!pts by Mahoney to gain control Of
his wife's property. One document
was a power OF attorney.
After his arrest, Mahoney asserted
that he and his. wife had lett Seattle
for st. Paul the night Of April 16,
and that he had left her there, re-
turning to Seattle while she con-
tinued East with the expectation OF
visiting Cuba. 4 nation wide search
found. Meanwhile, police, acting on
~, ~l,S
the boathouse proprietor, placed
divers at work to drag the bottom Of
Lake Union in the hopG Of finding
the trunk which Jorgenson had de-
scribed The trunk, with the body
was brought to the surface August 8.
The skull was found crushed by sew
eral blows.
Examination by Dr. William NJ.
Delm, University Of Washington
Oh enlist. revealed enough narcotics to
kill ten or Is men, according 10 Coro-
ner w. II. Corson.
After Mahoney had been charged
with murder, Jailers reported he had
been acting quedrly." Mrs. Nora
Mahoney, his mother, swore out an
insanity complaint and the court APP
pointed a commission OF physicians
and alienists> to examine into his
mental status The commission found
Nahoney sane and he was required
70 plead to the murder charge over
the objections Of counsel, who argued
he should be tried before a jury Oil
the insanity commission. The pris-
Oner stood mute when arraigned and
the court entered a plea OF mot
guilty. in his behalf.
The trial came to an end on Satur-
day, Oct. l, when the jury upon which
sat four women, two Of them mar
ried, returned a verdict Of guilty for
the murder Of Mahoncy's aged wife
q I'D also prescribed the death penal
tv. The trial was declared to be one
of the most sensational and gripping
episodes Of criminal history on the
Pacific Coast for many years. The
jury verdict was read to the court at
lilo P. NJ on Oct. /. Two ballots
were cast before a verdict Of guilty
was sreachets and eight before there
was unanimity on the death sentence,
honey, tainted in her chair when the
verdict and penalty wera@real by. the
Jury foreman. Mahonety nainta ined
his stole attitude, whispered a few
words to his mother at his side and
then arose to accompany the sheriff
10 his cell. Even during the *>tan
nerve racking days OF the! trial Ma;
honey showed no emotion. or notice
able sign OF nervousness but on&the
contrary smiled pleasantly. The only
other penalty was life imprisonment
which in tho first balloting five OF the
jurors favored but were later won
over to the most extreme sentence of
hanging.