The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-04-07
DEAF MUTE CHIEF WITNESS IN
TRIAL OF PAIR ON Staying CHARGE
Superintendent of State
School Acts as Interpreter
in CandO CaSe-COnditiOn
of Baby's Crib Advanced
by State.

Cando. n. D.. April 7.-Ophelia
Reid, deaf mute, one of the chief
witnesses for the state in the case
of Mrs. Clara Horn. charged jointly
with her husband with the murder
of the Reid girls infant daughter,
gave her testimony in district court
here through an interpreter.
Vis;bly agitatcd during the testi-
mony, the girl deaf mute answered
questions by use of sign language,
and B. W. briggs, superintendent of
the state school for the deaf at Dew
lis Lake, repeated them to the jury,
court and attorneys.
The prosecution devoted much time
to the condition of the crib which the
infant slept. Miss Reid told of leav
ing the baby in the Horn home on
the night of February Is last. The
crib in which the baby was put to
sleep was in good condition, she said
Miss Ried was the frs witness
called. On direct examination by
States Attorney Charles II. Houska
she testified as to the circumstances
attending the leaving of her baby in
the care of Mr.. and Mrs. Horn on the
night Of February Is last. She stated
that the crib in which the baby was
put to he'd was shown her by Mrs.
Hor nand that at that time it was in
good condition.
After the death Of the child it was
found that the spring of the crib was
broken. 1t will be the contention Of
the defense that it was in that con-
dition.
Miss Kiefer, through whose testi-
mony the state evidently sought to
prove that no. other member OF the
Horn family, save Mr.. and Mrs. Horn,
could possibly have committed the
crime, told of the incidents of the
evening before the morning after the
child's death.
Miss Kiefer's Story.
According to Miss Kiefer's testi-
mony Miss Ried was invited to the
Horn home by Mrs. Horn who told
her that she might leave the baby
with her until she found work, Miss
Ried, according to her own story, hav-
ing been denied home with her par
ents following her return from the
Florence >Crittenden home at Fargo
"a few days earlier. Miss Kiefer said
that she went down town with Miss
Ried after supper where they pur-
chased some things for the baby, she
returning later with the things and
Miss Ried going to the Leland hotel,
owned by Frank Good.
She last saw the baby alive at 10
o'clock or later, she said, when she
went to bed, the baby having been
put to bed in crib in the kitchen.
About 6:45 in the morning she was
called by Mrs. Horn who told her that
the baby was dead, but that she did
not know how the child had come tc
her death.
Note Is Read. -
The following note Miss Kiefer
testified, written by herself but die
tated by Mrs. Horn, she Immediately
took to Ophelia at the hotel:
"Ophelia, your Maybell. is gone
She Is dead y, we are SO sorry for
your. When i came home last night
she started to cry awful. She just
kept on crying all the time. She
must have cried an hour or more as
hard as she could. We gave her
Castoria and creased her with Peck S
salve because she could not get her
breath. That is good for cold.
Then she fell asleep. We didn't hear
any more and in the morning when
we got up she was dead. Mrs. Horn
is sick in bed. am SO nervous
can't hardly write. The baby is still
warm SO she only went . couple of
hours afo., What will we do, Ophelia
MARTHA"
Mrs.( Horn, who has been married
twice, is the mother Of seven children
all of whom live with her and her
present husband. The older children
bear the name of Kiefer. All Of the
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