The Cordova daily times., 1922-01-17

LOS ANGELES, Jan. IA jury of ten women and two men were unable to reach verdict after T hours of deliberation in the murder trial of Arthur J. Burch. The trial judge dis missed the jury late yesterday. The jury foremah announced the vote stood ten to two. the majority being for conviction. ,,. a.
 Burch's second trial was ses for March 27 and Mrs. Obenchain will be tried February 6.
 Testimony unusual to the extreme marked the trial of Burch, charged with having murdered J. Belton Kennedy a young Los Angeles real estate broker, as the result of con- spiracy with Mrs. Madalynne Oben- chain. former sweetheart of Ken nedy. The trial began November 22, 1921, and after a week had been taken up with the drawing of a jury the prosecution launched into the presentation of witnesses who told, among other things, of weird dreams, prognostications of a fortune teller, glimpses of Burch Hitting about in an automobile on the dark night of August 5 when the tragedy occurred and keeping watch on Kennedy's offices at other periods. F
 Through all this ran a thread of Mrs. Obenchain's love affair with Kennedy, established by letters and telegrams in her handwriting which indicated that she had divorced her husband. Ralph R. Obenchain, with expectation of marrying Kennedy. The prosecution contended Kennedy refused to carry out this program: that Mrs. Obenchain came, to, Los Angeles from Chicago last July for a final understanding and after sey- eral interviews with Kennedy. re- ouested Burch to come from Evans ton, III. The message to Burch read: T need you and the friend I had last summer"
 The friend" according to the prosecution was shotgun. A Pull man porter testified Burch had a gun case with him when he reached Los Angeles. The proprietor of the hotel where Burch stopped said the latter went out about 7:30 the night of August carrying long package wrapped in newspapers. About the same time, according to other testi- monv. Burch rented an automobile nnder an assumed name.
 Shortly after nine o'clock, it was testified, Kennedy and Mrs. Oben- chain drove up to small cottage owned by Kennedy in Beverly Glen. fifteen miles from Los Angeles. A few moments later two gun shots rang out.
 Mrs. Elizabeth Besanty. who lives next door to the Kennedy cottage testified she heard man say "Tve got him" just after the second shot. Soon afterwards Mrs. Besantv said she heard someone crashing through the bushes surrounding the Kennedy place, then the sonnd of a motor starting up somewhere to- wards the mouth of the glen.
 Earlier that evening Mrs. Besanty declared she saw a man she 1denti- fled as Burch, drive past the Ken nedy place, and after the shootine the same man passed, she said. while officers were gathered about the body of Kennedy who had been shot in the back of the head with a charge of buckshot. Louis Besantv. hus- band of Elizabeth, also told of seeing the man pass after the shooting, and declared it was Burch.
 Mrs. Mary A. Bailiff brought the dream element into the case in re- lating a conversation she said she had with Mrs. Obenchain the latter mart of July. She said she had dreamed of seeing Mrs. Obenchain sitting along a country road with water surging towards her and a procession moving along the road. "I know exactly what that means 7 Mrs. Obenchain said, according tc the witness. "I feel something Is going to happen to Belton." And Mrs. Bailiff declared Mrs. Obenchair added she felt "Belton would not live long" / Mrs. R. B. whitlow, who called her. self "clairvovant and psychic reader" testified Mrs. Obenchain had visited her to find out whether she