Evening star., 1921-12-13
HCAlM I
AS TRIAL BEGINS.
Nv sttn - 0
Navy Officer Denies Charge
of Wife Misunderstanding
of Jury Begun.
From a STAFF Correspondent.

OF Jury otyui'.
. From a STAT Correspondent.
. MONTROSS, Va, December
fore several hundred stern-1aceu
ginia country folk. Roger u. Eas'~Ne'
chief petty OFFICER, u. s. N, cnarse
Jointly with Miss Sarah E. Knox. Dbl
timore nurse, with hacking his young
wife Margaret to death In the carry
morning hours of September oo ias',
pleaded not guilty at the opening oi
his trial before County Court Judge
.Joseph w. Chinn. in the little West
moreland county courthouse d. .'
place today. The prosecution is
ing conducted by Commonweatn
torney Wat T. Mayo. Attorneys Thom-
asI. Hunter of King George county
and Charles W. Moss of Richmond.
Trial Arouses Montross.
Ordinarily quiet. Montross realized
its responsibility today. and with nun
dreds of visitors from Baltimore
Fredericksburg. Washington ana sur
rounding country, took the air OF I'M
portance commensurate with the
gravity of a crime that shocked the
whole country at the time of Its per-
petration.
Owing to the Importance OF the oc-
casion and limited courtroom space
considerable delay was necessary De-
fore the trial was under way. :.
Scheduled to open at 10 o'clock: It
was 1888 when Sheriff p. 5. Grimth
formally pronounced the court con-
F. vened, and Judge Chinn. solemn and
dignified, took his seat upon the bench.
Another fifteen minutes were con-
sumed by the lawyers on both sides
, with technicalities on the law before
D.. Eastlake entered the courtroom.
. Eastlake In Navy Uniform.
3 The accused man seemed perfectly
cool. and. while somewhat pale. showed
evidences of being in full control OF
: his nerves. He wore the uniform Of
the United States Navy. He shook
hands cordially with his attorneys.
w. Butzner and Frank w. Chichester,
both of Fredericksburg.
Mr.. Chichester of the defense imme-
F; diately moved to quash the indictment,
; alleging various Irregularities In sum-
/. moning Of the venire facias. He con-
Z tended that the names of two members
, of the grand jury had been written In
: lead pencil and misspelled. Judge
I: Chinn overruled the motion. and an ex-
; ception was taken by the defense.
Mr.. Butzner then moved to quash
the Indictment on each count. He
refused to assign reason other than
the specific ground entered by Mr..
Chichester This motion, too, was
overruled by Judge Chinn.
Shouts ..Not Guilty.
Eastlake was then ordered to stand
b,, County rlarL Alfred Sfeuarf who
read the charge accusing the Navy
. officer with the killing of his wife
by chopping her to pieces with q
hatchet. Displaying no emotion what
ever, the prisoner fairly shouted:
: Not guilty.
Attorney Butzner then made a mo-
; tion to have certain letters now held
f. by the prosecution turned over to the
. those writtn by Miss Knox to East
lake and Eastlake to Miss Knox.
Commonwealth's Attorney Mayo
agreed to turn the letters over to
Judge Chinn for decision as to the
propriety of giving same to the de-
Mr.. Butzner then asked that a Ger
tain white collar and rafncoat be
available in court If required. He
was assured by the prosecution that
The lawyers for the defense then
asked that the order summoning the
original grand jury be shown. This
was done. Mr.. Butzner then moved
to Quash the writ Of venire facias
on the ground that the writ was
the venire has been made. This mo-
tion also was overruied by Judge
Chinn.
Beein Securing Jury.
The impeachment Of the trial jury
was then begun. Fifty men had been
summoned for possible jury service.
E. F. Purcell. farmer Of Westmore-
land county. qualified. as did E. w.
English and Frank Hardwick, both of
Westmoreland county. A. A. Parker.
A. carruthers. Brainard Delano and
]. H. Morris. jr.. were tentatively &C.
cepted for the jury.
Eastlake was brought to the Mont
ross Jail late yesterday afternoon
from the Richmond city Jail. where
he had been incarcerated since four
days after the crime was committed.
The transfer was was done in an or
derly manner with no interference.
Miss Knox still In Richmsnd.
- Miss Knox is still in the Richmond
Jail. There are many in the COM
munity who claim that the woman
will never face the trial jury. This
opinion is strong among court OFF,
cials. who base their opinion on a
declaration given out by the prose-
cutting attorneys that the trial Of
Eastiake will reveal sufficient evil
dence against the accused woman to
cause her attorneys to enter plea
Of guilty.
Should Miss Knox's attorneys de-
eide. however. that she should be
brought to trial. the proceedings will
not be begun until the first week in
the New Year. unless Eastlake's trial
can be completed in the next few
days. which, according to the first
hours of the trial, seems an impos-
sibility. W. G. c.