New-York tribune., 1922-12-19
Tried TO Keep Husbands
''ROughncck Friends"
Away From Stepdaugh-
ter, She Says, Amid Tears
Tells of Shaving;
MOhr Tries Alibi
Has Lapses of Memory
and Slips in Testimony
on Dealings With Powell
rrnm a 80 cor,,roresri

MOUNT HOLLY, Dec. ls.--ln an old
and somber courtroom two lonely cir
Gus figures, a sister and brother, took
tho witness stand to-day and sworc
TO their innocence Of completely in the
murder Of "Honest John" Brunen.
With tears on her cheeks. sobs shak'
ing her body and voice shrill with
Indignation, the widow Of JcAn Brunen
testified she knew nothing - f-'-'
der. Her husband WIS G.
she said. For thirteen ytals sns ased
and worked and cooked for him. Blu,
she forgaye him everything because II
was drink that made him treat her
badly.
In the same raw spirit Of self-abne-
CATION she blurted out her professed
love for Hazel. the soyenteen-year-old
stepdaughter, who took the stand last
week and accused her Of the murder.
A food Of tears punetuated every sen.
tence as she said;
Tried to Protect stepdsuEhter
81 kept Hazel from going with her
father 70 the winter quarters at Will
Jamestown because loved her. l was
a good mother to her. ! forgive her
even for everything she said Of me.
was afraid some Of her fathers enc
mics would get her. ! wanted 10 pro-
teet her Like me she had to slave and
cook all her life for her father and
his roughneek friends. That is what Is
the matter with the girl now"
Dcsultory cross-examinaticn by Pros.
eeutor Jonathan Kelsey failed TO shake
the testimony Of either one Of the de.
PENDANTS 10 any material extent. While
Mrs. Doris Brunen swore she never
hinted at the death Of her husband
before IL occurred, or expressed the
wish some one would shoot him
through the window, as charged By the
state. Harry C.. Mohr, less emotional
than his sister, gave calm and EN-
phatic mol" 90 every question devised
10 connect him with the crime.
Except for the most minor contradic'
tions and lapses in memory, Mohr'i
testimony was not shaken. It's chiei
weakness, from his point OF view, lay
In the number Of things he admitted
that corroborated Powell's confession
| duplicating him. He said he thought ht
gave Powell about s400 in all, partly
/ for business interests, partly for Their
personal use. With an impatient shrul
/ he dismissed Powel's confession, say
ing he thought him crazy and not re-
ponsIble for what he said.
Mrs. Brunen Effective Witness
Mrs. Brunen was an effective wit
ness. Her slow, accented syllablei
iolled out whiningly, with occasiona
lapses into slang and loose grammar
There was something labored about bel
delivery, as IL she we're hunting foi
ords. Whenever she spoke Of hei
husbands death she referred 10 "thC
tragedy"
Mrs. Brunen, have you ever done
anything at all 10 assist any one IN
killing your husband = asked Walter
Keown, her lawyer.
"How can you talk that way7' Mrs
Brunen shrilled. as her sobs broke out
afresh. 81 have never in all my life
talked Of killing my husband.
"Did you ever tell Matte Mohr, n
the presence Of Hazel Brunen or any
one else, that she should not be sur
prised IL she got message saying
John was dead?"
81 never said such thing TO my
sister or my daughter"
"Did you ever hear Harry Mohr say
The guy who did this should get
gold medal 2"
mo. In the car heard Harry say
Kenny Franklin said that, and | cried;
Harry, don't say those things. don't
like them"
Husband Short Of Funds
Mrs. Bruncn said her husband was
short of funds at the time Of the mur-
der. At his death she got about SIZE
f1om his pockets and gave Harry
$50 bin, which might or might not Lave
been bloodstsined, she said.
Az the cross-examination began a
LEGAL dispute arose over the propriety
of questioning Mrs Brunen on a former
marriage. which the state claims was
not dissolved when she married
Brunen. Her first husband was Her
bert Ashley. They were married IN
1899. Later she deserted him and mar
red the circus owner. Supreme Court
Justice Samuel Kalisch ruled this tes-
t:mony was inadmissible, saying even
n she was not divorced when she mar
ried Brunen, she lived with him as his
common law wife.
Mrs. Brunen described her quarrel
With her husband last Christmas Day
saving that he threatened her nrst'
and after she had drawn pistol from
a hamper OF dirty linen she shot not
AZ him. but into the pantry, and he shot
,r...i..,.d an oass fiHl