Omaha daily bee., 1921-08-26
Frivolity Marks
Murder Trial of
Auburn Woman
Lapses of Decorum and Sys.
pathy for Mrs. Neal Fea-
tures-Resume Hear
ing Today.

tioH anu ucHicu tllc statement.
Joe Wright, brother-in-law O
Mrs. Neal by her first marriage, tes
tined to conversations held with Nea
in which the latter made Threatening
remarks.
While he was janitor OF the Ne
maha county Jail in January, 1926
Neal told him of his domestic trou
bles and made the statement: II vii
have a double funeral some day."
When Wright told him to "ge
that foolishness out of his head,
Neal replied: he would get that bo,
(meaning his stepson, Leland an,
then her. (meaning Mrs. Neal. I'm
going to end it ALL" was his partin,
shot, according to Wright.
Strike Out Testimony.
The county attorneys motion her,
to strike out Wright's testimony be
cause it was too remote in time t.
have bearing in this issue was sus
tanned by the court.
Mrs. Buck was then recalled tt
the stand to tell what she knew o
the Meals domestic troubles.
She related that when Mrs. Nea
left her husband to get a divorce
Neal said to her: "My wife is afraie
OF me; she thinks I'm a cave-mar
and some day I'll show her | am!'
The witness, who is an old-fashion
cd type of woman, added naively
What he meant by 'cave-man'
don't know" whereupon the spec.
tators burst into laughter.
Needed Good Spanking. .
When Mrs. Neal returned to he,
husband, Neal said to Mrs. Buck
What she needs is right goot
spanking and I've got a notion to
spank her" Mrs. Buck said.
Once Neal telephoned Buck tina,
he had cut his wife's throat during
the night and she made a nice-look-
ing corpse"
Mrs. Buck said she knew Neal
was "joshing' but she told her hus-
band she didn't like those kind OF
jokes.
She said she never told this incl
dent to Mrs. Neal until after Meals
death. She admitted Neal was given
to extravagant speech and no serious
attention was paid to his remarks,
and that she held each of the couple
equally to blame for their domestic
troubles.
Mention Buffers Name.
Fixing the time for Meals remarks,
she placed it as the time the Meals
were having trouble over A. +. But
Ter. This was the first mention of
Buffers name in the hearing.
After Mrs. Neal returned TO her
husband she told Mrs. Buck her hus-
band was lust as good to her as he
ever had been" This occasioned more
laughter in the court room.
Mrs. Buck denied Mrs. Neal told
her she had come back to Neal in
order to get a better hold on his
property.
On the night of the tragedy, Mrs.
Neal kept exclaiming: "Oh, why did
| ever come, back to him?"
When Mrs. Buck then inquired
why she did, Mrs. Neal replied:
Ben threatened to commit suicide if
| didn't" Mrs. Buck testified.
Plan Of Trial.
Thus far in the hearing, the
strategic battle Of the state has. been
to reveal as little of testimony dam
aging to Mrs. Neal as possible, while
the defense is using its utmost en-
dcavor 10 procure as many revela-
tions in its testimony as possible.
Much sympathy is evidenced in
the courtroom for Mrs. Neal, WHO is
the first woman ever put on trial tor
first degree murder in Nemaha coun-
ty, one OF the Oldest organized in
the state.
During the noon recess the court
house square took on the aspect of a
picnic grounds. Family groups
were scattered here and there, while
other groups gathered to discuss the
case and speculate on the guilt or
1illlOCcilSC OL tiS dSSaoSus
Seven Ages Present.
The crowd at the afternoon ses-
sion was even larger than that of the
morning. The air was hot and
stuffy. The seven ages of man were
represented in the crowd, from babes
in arms to doddering old men and
women.
The afternoon session was re-
sumed with Sheriff Davis on the
stand. The sheriff made an exam
iration of the gun found clasped in
Nears hand. Two shells were ex.
ploded, two unexploded and two OF
the chambers were empty. Ire
sheriff said that the condition of the
shells indicated that they were eight
or 10 years old.
He said he had heard Mrs. Neal
testify at the coroner's inquest that
she was asleep in bed when awak-
ened by the shot. Describing the
bed. the sheriff declared that it had
the appearance of having been
freshly laundered, still had creases in
it and looked as if someone had SAT-
on the bed but not as if anyone had
Slept on it. The pillows were undis-
turbed.
Blood-Spotted Sheet.
The sheriff produced the blood
snotted sheet found on the bed at the
request of the defendants attorney
and arranged it in position as 1t
had been draped over the bed.
There was a blood spot on the
chiffonier which looked as if some
thing had been dragged across 1t, ne
said.
At this point the court room !, be :
came so crowded that the bailin
cleared the aisles, whereat the others
cheered.
The sheriff said that he examined
all the walls of the room, took up the
carpets and examined the castings tor
a second bullet. He examined the
windows and screens and also hunted
IN The adjoining room. He did this