The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-04-05
Farm Hand Being Tried on
Charge of Arson.
Court of Topeka Crowded When
Case Is Called.
CALL FORTY-TWO WITNESSES
ratification of Hammer May
Be Important Feature.
tie Will Attempt to Show
BOlin Was Seen in Field.

fhe preliminary hearing of James
lin, farm hand, on charge of ar
II. was in progress today before
.dge Paul Heinz in the city court.
lin is alleged to have set fire to the
use of Mr.. and Mrs. Charles Owens,
e aged couple who were burned to
sath the morning of February FL in
cir home just north of Berryton.
Forty-two witnesses were called by
e state to testify in the preliminary
caring. The court of Topeka was so
DIVIDED that Judge Heinz moved the
caring to the first division court
,em on the second floor, and even
zen several persons could not find
ats.
Hammer Found in Bed Room.
The Identification of hammer
5und in the bed room occupied by
hrs. Owens may be-an important fea-
ure of the hearing. When the body
IF the old man was found, small tri-
angular piece of the skull lay on the
pillow beside it, tho more like the
skull had burst from the heat than
the striking of a blow. The handle
was burned from the hammer.
Charles NJ. Zirkle, owner of the
larm upon which the aged couple had
ived for twenty-eight years, testified
hat when he went to collect the rent
owens always produced the money
from somewhere around the premises.
Owens had a reputation for keeping
sums of money about the
place. ZiTkle said that one time he
reached over the door and got the
money; that another time he went out
of doors and came back with the mon
ey in a tin can. He often paid the
of the rent-$175 a year-in
gold, Zirkle said. The owner said he
had told Owens that he would be
robbed some time, but that his tenant
expressed the belief that he was safe.
Mrs. Della Wilson, 700 Chestnut
street, a daughter of the dead couple.
said she visited her parents home
three days before the tragedy and
stayed two nights. She declared her
father had owned a hammer and kept
it in the tool house. She said the
matches were kept in the cupboard
and that she had known of mice being
in the house.
She testified that the day she left,
while they were on the road to the
depot, they met Bolin, who asked her
father for money. He did not give it
to him in her presence, she said. She
stated that Bolin had been to the
house two mornings while she was
there asking for work but that he did
not obtain it. She said her father al
ways paid cash for his purchases and
that he kept his money in the house
or outside. They had a habit of lock-
ing the doors of the house at night,
-he said.
Floyd Breeding Testifies.
Floyd Breeding, 10, who lives two
and one-half miles west of Berryton,
md who, with Dean Yinglin and
3ernice DIETRICH, was the first to arrive
ut the burning house, testified that the
fire apparently started on the south
west corner of the house and was
burning toward the northeast corner,
toward the kitchen. Altho the flames
had enveIoped the kitchen stove when
he arrived. he said, that part of the
house was not so greatly consumed
as the opposite corner. The trio OF
young folks watched the blaze for
some time before a part of the east
wall fell away, revealing to their eyes
the charred body of the old man.
He lay close to the east wall on the
kitchen floor, where he always slept
because of an infirmity which made it
painful for him to sleep in bed. The
body of his wife was found in an adj
Joining room. 1t was apparent that
she had risen from the bed and started
toward the kitchen when she fell, ac-
cording to evidence. The body of the
Family dog was found close to that of
Owens. where he had been in the
habit of sleeping.
John w. Owens, 221 Branner street,
a son. and Robert Owens, 923 North
Quincy street, a brother of the dead
man, were the first two witnesses
called. They described the arrange
ment and location of the house.
The state. it was said, will make an
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