South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1922-10-14
Dapper War Vet
To Help Spouse
In Court Joust
Armour L. Phillips Tries to
Besmirch Girl Wife Who is
Charged With Killing.

] AndIRCu W I'LL NlllIllSs
LOS ANGELES, Cal Oct. 10
First, he told OF his wife to shield
/ himself
Now, to save his wife, he attempts
! to besmirch the girl she is charged
with killing.
Pictured by the prosecution in this
role Armour L. Phillips, dapper
I young Texan, waits to testify in be-
| half OF his wife, Mrs. Clara Phillips.
after proclaiming himself a 'love
| chameleon" on the eve Of his wife's
/ trial for the brutal hammer Staying
here of Alberta Meadows, attractive
young widow.
Phillips, whose statement of in
/ timacy with the slain woman, will
/ bolster an unwritten law defense
| for his wife has temporarily drawn
I the spotlight of public interest.
First, he brought about his wife's
arrest after he had helped her to
| flee. telling the officers she had con-
/ tossed the crime to him He said he
/ feared she might harm herself, and
insisted that her fatal jealous fury
was without foundation.
Now. assuming a moral share IN
+ the tragedy. Phillips has confessed,
through Clara's attorney, that ne
and Mrs. Meadows were desperately
infatuated, that they were even plan
ming a trip abroad at the time of tns
murder
f. Girls Family Reused
BY these dramatic inconsistencies,
the one-time soldier, garage man
and oil worker promises to share
with Mrs. Peggy Caffee, chief state
witness. the heaviest legal crOss1re
Of the trial, which is scheduled 20
start Oct 20
The prosecution declares ito belief
/ that the confession is shOckingIy
/ false. 1t also has aroused the fight
ing bitterness Of the slain wOman's
family. who characterize it can Un-
+ speakable attempt to besmirch Ar
+ berta's untarnished name to help
/ Mrs Phillips and wholly without
/ foundation"
/ The killing Of Alberta Meadows on
/ a lonely road. in the asserted pres
/ cree Of Peggy Caffee, former chorus
/ girl friend of Mrs. Phillips, shocked
/ the country with its grisly details.
\ The state will contend Mrs. Phillips
adroitly lured her victim into the
death trap. charged her with unGue
/ interest in Phillips, and then smoth-
T cred her terrified deniars in a volley
/ of mutilating hammer blows.
The state attorneys viii declare
/ Phillips latest statement was con
/ cocted at his wife's instigation In u
/ desperate dilemma Ii viii cal. many
witnesses to refute aspersions on
1 the dead girls character.
Wife's Love PrObcd,
But the states original intention
/ Phillips couple through p!tiless
/ Phillips couple through pitless
analysis-will be carried on The
nature Of Clara's love for her hus-
/ band viii be the main issue, prose
/ cutors say.
The state will challenge the
+ genuineness Of her protested ardor
/ for Phillips, which il hitherto ac-
/ cepted as a matter Of fact. over
whelming love must be shown as a
basis for an "unwritten law" de
tense.
Mss frankie Lee, former chorus
girl associate of Mrs Phillips. the
/ prosecution admits. Will be called
in an effort 20 strike At the very
underpInning Of such an assumption
of deep. unquestioned devotion. Miss
Lee is ready to testify that Mrs.
/ Phillips kissed the stage manager
. OF a Los Angeles theater a week
before the killing. the prosecution
declares At that time. the state
. saws Mrs Phillips made disparaging
remarks about her husband. accord
ing 10 the expected testimony Of
Miss Lee.
Into the trial the state will also
7 try 10 introduce testimony 10 show
the couple had a stormy domestic
lfe Married at Houston. Tex, m
7 1915 they were divorced and re-
s married in 1918. according 10 state
I witnesses. The state will also seek
20 delve into alleged tempestuous
scenes az the Phillips home for days
preceding the murder: TO show that
/ Phillips told friends. that life was
home was unbearable and that he
fed from Claras alternate embraces
and rebuffs 20 more sympathetic
company.
Final hours preceding the trial
are filed with many Surprises. The
defense maintains that state adrO!t-
" infamed public opinion by print
ing fragmentary evidence. that only
part OF the Alberta Meadows diary
has been divulged. that even Peggy
Caffee. eyewitness, has failed 20 de-