Omaha daily bee., 1921-11-17
Mysterious Call
Features Neal
Trial at Auburn
Telephone Central Operator
Says Phone in Dead Mans
House Rang, But No
One Responded.

phone call sent to the Peru tele.
phone exchange from the home OF
Ben Neal on the night he was found
dead, August IL, 1920, was the prin-
cipal feature OF the trial OF Mrs,
Lucy Neal, his wife, charged with
his murder.
Mrs. Neal, at the coroner's inquest
and her own preliminary hearing, de-
MED that any call had been sent
from her home on the night OF the
tragedy. Mrs. Edith Cook, night
operator of the exchange, was the
first witness called by the state in
an effort to convict Mrs. Neal in
district court.
Mrs. Cook testified she answered
a ring that came from the Neal
home, which was on rural party
line. There was no response from
the party calling, but she could hear
heavy breathing, which lasted for fve
minutes. Later call came from
the home of Charles Buck asking
for help.
Calls tor Help.
She called DR.. V. V. Vance and
J. C. Woodie, village marshal at
Peru. She fixed the time OF the
Buck call at ll:45.
Mrs. Cook was corroborated in
her testimony by the chief operator,
Miss Hope Adams.
There were seven patrons OIL this
rural party line, including Ben Neal.
They were: Jacob Scears, Wood
Hopkins, Jessie Cole, Joe Turner,
Aubrey Croft and Charles Buck.
All of the parties on this line testi-
fled that they had not used the
phone between the hours of II and
II that night. Mrs. Seears said she
was awakened by the first call and
had listened in when the call for
help came from Bucks.
Buck on Stand.
Charles Buck testified that he lived
about 800 yards south Of the Neal
home. He was awakened about IL
by screams and went to the front
porch, where he saw Mrs. Neal,
barefooted and clad only in her
nightgown. She was screaming.
Her daughter, Ava, was with her, he
said
When Mrs. Neal got to the porch
she said: "Come, go home with me
quick. Ben has been shot or shot
himself" Buck testified. "I won't
do it," the witness said he told her.
"You have been in a hell of racket
with Ben again. Buck said he ac-
cused Mrs. Neal. She denied this
and asked him repeatedly to go to
the house.
When asked why he did not go, he
said, Il did not want to poke my
nose into other peoples business"
The witness testified Mrs. Neal
looked pale and as if she was going
to faint. She had to go on the
porch and lie down on the couch.
Calls for Aid.
He went into the house and called
Joe Turner, neighbor, then DR..
Vance, and ]. c. Woodie at Peru
He testified that Ava was scream
ing all the time and appeared ter
ribly agitated.
DR.. Vance told Of receiving call
from the central girl at 11:45. He
called Buck and Harry Patterson,
his driver.
DR.. Vance, Patterson, Woodie and
Tom Raifsback went to the Buck
home and got Buck and Joe Turner.
They drove to the Neal place and
entered the house. Woodie had
light and they found Neal On the
floor i'll the northeast bedroom, with
his head lying about l8 inches from
the doorway. He was clad only in
a nightshirt. There was blood on
his chest, pistol was loosely
claspcd with the middle finger on
the trigger The muzzlc of the
weapon was close to the right side
OF his neck at the top of tie chest.
Examined Room and Body.
He examined the body and found
small circular wound, compressed
and surrounded by dark spot about
two inches in diameter on the left
side of the neck near the angle of
the Jaw. On cross-examination Dir.
Vance stated that he had seen
Sheriff Davis wash the wound and
remove the discoloration about 20
minutes after the latter arrived on
the scene.
Mrs. Neal watched the witness
closely all through his questioning.
and when this point was brought
out, smiled for the first time during
the progress of the trial.
lhe witness described the room
where Meals body was found. He
detailed the location of the bed and
furniture and said the latter was in