The Omaha morning bee. [volume] (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927, 1922-07-28
Court Holds
Woman for
Fatal Shots
Mother Of Two, Acc~ | Of
Numbering b.. ~. !sS IS
Mar w. ss'"'st.'$x1
,@s'~ :.
Husba III Is Released

Mrs. Linda Taylor, IS, drab little
woman with shaggy blond hair,
pointed nose. sallow complexion and
deep-set eyes. waived preliminary
hearing in Council Bluffs police
court yesterday morning and was
held without bond for first degree
murder. William Taylor, her hus-
band. was released.
Mrs. Taylor shot and killed Sam
c. Freiden. Al, real estate dealer,
former banker, former merchant,
Shriner and president OF the newly
organized Citizens Ice and Coal COM
pany on the porch of her home at
822 Avenue D at noon Wednesday.
In good spirits after a night of re.
ireshing sleep in Jail. Mrs. Taylor
laughed and joked with Lawrence
Taylor. her brother-in-law, and his
wife and smiled down upon the baby
that Mrs. Lawrence Taylor carried
in her arms. She seemed greatly
pleased when her husband was
freed.
Smiling and Joking:
The gravity of her plight seemed
not to weigh heavily on her mind
and she was still smiling and jok-
ing when an officer tapped her on
the shoulder, then led her back to
her cell.
Mrs. Taylor's defense is that
Freiden attacked her in her home
July l8 and that she shot him dead
after failing to obtain relief from
county authorities.
Charles f. Swanson, county attor-
ney, to whom Taylor took his wife
to pour our her complaint before he
is said to have bought the revolver
that she might protect herself. views
the women's defense as untenable.
Suffering Hallucination.
"Mrs. Taylor is suffering hallucina-
ton and has built up the story of
the attack from her imagination"
Swanson said. "She told three diff
ferent versions of the attack to me
and to my assistant, Frank F. North
rop, and when we pressed her for
details changed her story on material
points to justify discrepancies as they
appeared We became convinced that
she had imagined the details and de-
clined to file complaint against
Freiden."
Taylor said yesterday morning he
was convinced that his wife was at
tackled. He told how she revealed
her story to him at night four days
after the alleged attack and tof their
visit to the county attorneys Office.
Seek Another Motive.
"They told me my wife's word
wouldn't stand against Freiden's be-
cause he was a big business man."
Taylor declared, "and we left know
ing that the law wouldn't protect
her."
Despite the husbands confidence
in his wife's story, authorities are in
vestigating the strange case for an
other motive.
On one side they have drab little
woman whose history extends back
to a grade school house in Harlan,
Ia, then builds up to an early moth
erhood of two children, and on to
the life Of domestic living rather
colorless existence in little home
here she appeared to be peacefully
content in the apparent affections of
her husband.
Appearing in court yesterday
morning, she did not seem strange to
the role of domestic-the kind Of
woman that Sam Freiden would go
to see about cleaning up house for
new tenants.
Other Side.
On the other side of the mystery
is Sam Freiden. former banker,
successful real estate dealer for years,
a man high up in fraternal circles
esteem, happily married, the father
Of boy of II.
Why the paths of Freiden and Mrs.
Taylor crossed Wednesday is a phase
of the case over which Investigators
are puzzling.
"He went to see her about cleaning
(Turn to Page Two. Column Two.)
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