The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-08-13
Attorneys for Mrs. Obenchain
and Arthur Burch Retained.
Relatives of Two Contribute
$4,000 to the Fight.
NAVY AIDS HUNT FOR CLUE
Diving Crew Hunts for Gun
Clue in Murder Mystery.
Witness Found Who Saw Him
in Car Near Fatal Spot.

Los Angeles, Aug. 13.-Efforts to
raise a $4,000 defense fund will be
made by relatives and friends OF Ar
thur c. Burch and Mrs. Madalynne
Obenchain, indicted for the murder
of J. Bolton Kennedy. in Los Angeles,
Chicago and Evanston, ILL.,, it was
learned today, when preliminary ar
rangements being made for the trial
of the two became known.
Burch's father, an Evanston minis
ter, and Attorney Ralph S. Obenchain
of Chicago, the divorced husband of
Thursday, will arrive in Los Angeles
tomorrow night and will Immediately
confer with the attorney who con-
suited Burch's friends.
The $4,000 fund will be the larg-
est ever raised for the defense In a
murder trial in Los Angeles. The
trial of Harry S. New, Jr., convicted
slayer of Freda Lesser, cost the rec
ord-breaking figure of $20,000s exclu-
sive of investigation expenses.
Navy Is Helping Hunt.
A navy diving crew. at the
request of Sheriff Craeger Of Los
Angeles. has been ordered to aid
this morning in the ocean-side
search for the missing barrel OF
a shot gun, the rusty stock OF
which has been turned over to Dis
trict Attorney Woolwine here by a
beach camper near Santa Monica can
yon mouth in the belief that it is part
of the weapon used in the Staying OF
]. Bolton Kennedy, broker Kennedy
was shot near his summer cottage in
Beverly Glen, eight miles inland, Aug
, ust 5.
The stock was found by the camper
the day following The shooting. It IA
part of an old fashioned 12-gauge
double barreled Belgian gun and in
veStigators holding to the belief that
it is the gun which slew the Los An
geles man, point to the fact that the
charge which caused Kennedy's death
came from 12-gauge gun. Others
point out that the firing pins are
probably too old to have caused what
they say were extremely clear cut in
dentations on the caps of the two 12-
gauge shells found in the Glen near
the scene of the killing.
Authorities who have been making
expert examination of the gun ana
the shells refused early today either
to confirm or deny any statement
made in connection with the piece,
altho Mr.. Woolwine yesterday an
nounced to reporters that he had rea-
son to believe that the shot gun butt
was part of the gun used in the mys-
terry shooting in connection with which
two persons were recently indicted
I ere by the grand jury on charges OF
murder.
Burch Seen Near Scene. =
Arthur c. Burch of Evanston, H.,
former college friend of the dead
man, held in Jail since the day after
the killing, was said to have been
identified yesterday by motorist who
says he encountered Burch in the
roadster which the police said had
been in the glen on the night of the
shooting.
The meeting occurred, he said, near
Santa Monica canyon mouth, where
Of
believed the slayer of Kennedy had
gone in a machine, throwing the gun
used into the ocean.
The witness said that his lights
flashed into the car driven supposedly
by Burch and that the man inside the
car was wearing dark goggles altho
it was late at night.
Burch Near Break.
Nervous and worn from a weeks
confinement in Jail, Burch today was
believed by officers to be near the
point of breaking the naughty silence
which he has maintained with un-
canny fortitude since his arrest.
Late yesterday for the first time,
Burch WINGED, turned pale and appar-
emily tried to shield his face when
confronted by Charles Sumnar, the
states latest witness, whose testimony
so far officials have guarded with ex-
treme care.
The identity of this mystery wit
ness whose visit to the county jail
caused such a change in the stoicaI
demeahor of Burch, Jointly indicted
with Mrs. Madalynne Obenchain in
the Kennedy case. was learned early
today. By actions rather than by
words, District Attorney Thomas Lee
Woolwine and his aides indicated that
this new witness has been a great
| find" Following the meeting between
Burch and Summar in the county jail.
the witness was taken to the district
attorneys office