The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1922-01-26
THE GUNNER TRIAL
CONTINUED from Page 81

witness left the hotel at II o'clock
and returned to his duties at the store
When he left the defendant was be-
hind the desk in the office. He re-
turned to the hotel between S and 6
o'clock in the morning and stated that
GUNNER was in chair behind the
of the hotel to phone regarding sick
desk when he came in. The witness
further stated that several days later
he made a test of certain sounds al
legged to have been heard by Mrs.
Van Worst. He made this test in
company with Captain WEIGH and an
other man whom he did not know.
Sounds Demonstrated
The tests consisted of Mr.. VanVorst
walking on the roof of the annex
while Mrs. Van Worst, Captain Welch
and the other man stayed in the apart
ment and listened to the sounds pro-
duced. The witness stated that there
was a window in the apartment on
the ground floor which was open. This
was used by Mr.. Van Worst and the
children in leaving the apartment at
times owing to the fact that the out
side door had been padlocked by Mrs.
Lawrence. Under cross examination
the witness stated that this door had
been locked for at least two weeks
prior to the night in question. The
witness also stated under cross exam
ination that when he had returned to
the hotel between 5 and o'clock of
the morning following the tragedy
the defendant GUNNER had been seat
ed in a chair behind the desk and was
apparently doing. Under redirect
examination the witness stated that
when making the experiment on the
roof of the annex he found that the
roof was of graveled construction and
that he had seen no sign Of any tin.
Mrs. Van Worst was next called to
the stand and substantiated her hus-
bands testimony as to his movements
that night as far as her knowledge
went. She stated that on the night
in question she had expected a call
to the home of a sick friend and had
arranged for Jack Smith, taxi driv-
err, to call for her and take her to this
friend. When she returned to the
hotel with her husband about 1925
she had asked GUNNER if anyone had
inquired for her and had left word
that she be notified if anyone did call.
She returned to the lobby from her
apartments within few minutes to
try and phone but the line was busy
and she waited for a few minutes.
While waiting Arnold Rasmussen and
Marie Wick came in and Miss Wick
registered. Mrs. Van Worst returned
to her apartments and had lunch with
her husband and returned to the lob.
by about II 40. She stated that Gum
mer was at the switchboard at this
time but that she paid no attention
to his conversation on the phone. She
was in the lobby about ten minutes
and while she was there Fred Law
renee came in and spoke to GUNNER
She then returned to her apartment
and waited downstairs until IL O.
clock when she took her baby upstairs
and put her to bed, retiring herself a
1890.
Noises Awakened Her
The witness stated that SHE
was asleep within a few minutes but
was awakened shortly after going tc
sleep by some noise that sounded like
a base ball being thrown against the
wall intervening between her room
and room 80. She stated that the
floor Of her apartment was consider
ably lower than the floor in room 80.
after being awakened she heard a
:loise which sounded to her as though
someone was walking on tin and led
her to believe that there was some
one on the roof. She then heard a
sudden noise which sounded like some
one jumping and resembled heavy
thud. She stated that she had taken
part in the experiments conducted by
Captain WEIGH and detective with
Mr.. Van Worst walking on the roof
and that the noises made by Mr.. Van
Worst did not resemble the noises she
had heard on the night in question
She further stated that certain ex-
periments made with Deputy Sheriff
Milligan in room 80 sounded similar
to the noises she had heard resemb-
ling walking on tin, throwing a ball
against the wall and jumping.
Under cross examination the wit
ness stated that she had never been
advised that Jack Smith had been at
the hotel that night. The witness
stated that she told her husband the
morning following the tragedy that