The Mena weekly star., 1921-03-24
|)K ONE BALLOT
 |TO AQU|T CLARA
|Reouired, but 40 Minutes to Re Eyerdict for Woman Accused of
 wderiug Jake L. Hamon, Rich Oil Man and Politician

.ar,ore Ok, March 17.-Clara sk Hamon late today was acquitted ,harge of having murdered Jake |.amon, republican national com oman from Oklahoma and mill
 <t railroad and oil promoter. s$ ;ury was given the case at 4:30 < and returned to the courtroom 2 ,,o;nutes later. B. F. c. Lough-
 q3 year old foreman, said only
 ballot was taken, a secret one, E H+med by a rising vote.
 2 "a Hamon obtained the informa-
 fullv seven minutes before the ct was rendered in open court '<at surrounded by members of her <Iv half smiling, half afraid to be- S inc n0ds of assurance that were Howard her.
 'hen Judge Thomas w. Champion J ted the bench and received an %ative response to his question:: <tlemen have you reached a yer 5s her eyes followed intently the Ems of the bailiff as he received verdict from MT. Loughridge, .ed across the courtroom and 3ed it to the clerk, who read it in 4vous, falsetto voice.
 Is "Happiest Woman" |ara Hamon gasped audibly in the slv silent courtroom, dropped for d in her seat, only to be seized behind by her younger brother, Imie." who squeezed violently and sd her on the left cheek. Tears l to her eyes and the other mem of her family cried with her as Icrossed to the standing jurors, had passed judgment on her and >ngly thanked them for their yer A came to the press room to thank workers hanging on srms of Sheriff Buck Garrett and brother, and with tears streaming n her face, said:
 am the happiest woman in the h."
 ae used a secret passage from the 4 room to escape the crowds which ateued to overwhelm her and went flower floor of the county building -e she sat for some time receiving Eratulations. might her plans for the future incomplete, she and members ler counsel of six attorneys said. is considering a number of busi-
 propositions, according to Walter | of Fort Worth, Tex, one of her ,sel. but what she shall do in the Hate future is undetermined. ie probably will remain in Ard , 4 day or two at the home she sd to be here for the trial, and
 probably will go to Wilson, teen miles west of here, to stay
 her sister for a few days. Her er, J. l.. Smith, is seriously i'll at oaso. Tex, and it was said she 1t return there to be with him in last days of what is termed a ably fatal illness.
 Widow Not Present.
 one of the members of the fam if Jake L. Hamon were in the troom when the jury returned the jet. Mrs. Hamon, the widow and l9-year-old son, Jake l.. Hamon, left when the case was placed in
 ilry's hands. Mrs. Hamon at
 time was in tears and had wept ,ntly as Attorney General S. P. ling, in charge of the prosecution,
 referred to her several times in plea to the jury as neglected
 and honorable mother, and to Ig Jake as noble boy. and to H. -old Olive Belle as a sweet little
 Olive Belle was in court only he opening day, while Mrs. Ham, tended all sessions, morning and rnoon, except two, clad in deep rning and sitting directly oppo- Clara Hamon, thirty inches away. Dt once during the entire trial, h began a week today, did the
 women appear to become con- IS of each other except on the they testified, when each re- |ed the other closely.