The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-12-23
MRS. WEAVER SAYS
 SHE WASN'T THERE
Not Afraid To Go Back To Atlanta, Declares Woman
 After Arrest


 After Arrest
 Admitting frankly that she was the Mrs. Margaret Weaver and laughing at the tricks she has em- ployed to Keep ner Identity a secret until recognized by city detectives in Birmingham hotel early Saturday morning, the woman indicted in At lanta as an alleged accessory before the fact to the killing of William s. Coburn, klan attorney in Atlanta, November 5, similingly denied to re- porters Saturday night that she was in any way involved in the murder of the Atlanta man for which Philip D. Fox, Ku Klux Klan editor. was, Friday, sentenced to life imprison- ment. She denied that she even knew either Fox or Coburn we'll and ridi- culed the suggestion that she could have been in any way responsible for the murder.
 She had been in Birmingham about eight days, she said Saturday night having come here to await the out come of the trial of Fox. She said she hoped he would be acquitted and wanted to get off somewhere and for get all about it for awhile. Then she said she expected to come back to Birmingham and live.
 She was identited by representa- tive of the Duplex Real Estate com pany as the woman who inquired day or two ago about renting rooms. She was identified by a gold tooth the same mark of Identification that aroused the suspicious of the Bir- mingham police and resulted in her rl,f IIrt ole pf the hotel to which she had moved from another hotel, where she said she was afraid of being recognized
 q started to buy ticket to Dem yer and back so that I could be on a train all the time the trial of Fox was going on," she said. Then would not have had to stop at any hotels and would not have been in any danger of being arrested. I'm darn sorry now l didn't do so."
 Mrs. Weaver denied that she was afraid to go back to Atlanta and face members of the Ku Klux Klan, al though she admitted that she was a Catholic. She said she did not fear any man anywhere. She denied that she knew Cobtrn at all and said she knew Fox only slightly.
 O o O
 Que To Jealousy"
 
 woman's jealousy" she said. That is why I was dragged into the case. I don't believe the ku klux Klan. is responsible for it. The letter that the prosecuting attorney used to get me involved was typewriter and un- signed. And the person who tele- phoned to him that I knew about Fox and the case did not even tell his name. There is no reason to tie me up with complicity in the murder of Coburn."
 q am the Mrs. Weaver the police hunted for in Atlanta" she told the police and later repeated to report CTS who visited her at the city jail. But I did not know anything about the killing, and certainly was not re- sponsible for it. 1 was not even in the state when it was committed. left Georgia August 19. I can prove that 1 was not connected with the case"
 Mrs. Weavers arrest in Birming- ham brought to an end a search for her that has extended over several states. following her indictment as the woman charged with handing Fox the gun used in the n-cder Of Coburn. She admitted having been in half dozen southern cities.
 Acquisition papers were issued for her from Atlanta, but she announced
 
 fight extradition.
 May Ask Hnbeas Corpus.
 Mrs. Weaver said she expected to employ a lawyer but had not done so. She stated that she probably would ask for a hebeas corpus hearing.
 At the Florence hotel where she was arrested at 7:30 o'clock Saturday morning by City Detectives H. E. Morris, B. F. Hubbard, J. L. Huston and Leroy Jones, Mrs. Weaver had registered under the name of Mrs. correct name only to the real estate agent who later identified her as the woman who inquired about a room. The reason she did so, she said. was that she expected to be known to him permanently and did not care to risk using an alias.
 After her rarest, she was taken to police headquarters and later to the bureau of Identification. There it was that she admitted her identity but denied any connection with the murder of Coburn, adding that she was not in Georgia at the time.
 Mrs. Weaver apparently is not much worried about her arrest, although she complained that the city jail was not a nice place for lady to have to stay in. She expressed confidence that she would be able to clear herself of all responsibility. She appeared more concerned over the untidness of her cell than over the charge of mur der entered against her in the war den's office.
 Plans To Go West
 When I get released from here I am going west" she said, and turning to the real estate man added laugh ingly "our deal is off, referring to her negotiations for a room for permanent residence in Birmingham.
 Although she denied she had ever been on the stage. her manner and speech suggested that of one accus- ing before the public. She spoke rapidly and vigorously.
 ' She laughed as she told how she eluded the police in Nashville. "I never was actually arrested" she said, but I was under police surveillance. Everywhere l went there was a cop al my elbow. It was funny to buy a paper with big headlines saying the mystery woman was in Nashville when I was the woman they were talking about. I slipped in the eleva- tor and got out of the hotel where away before they had enough evil dence to show that I was the Mrs. Weaver they were looking for"
 Asked if she had called the klan palace shortly before the murder of Coburn, she said she called for another telephone number similar to that of the klan headquarters and the operator made a mistake and gave her that number. The station was the same, she said, and the number was also the same except for one figure.
 Mrs. Weaver said she was trained nurse and she had never been in any kind of trouble before. She said she had an 11-year- old son in Cleveland, Ohio.
 Another woman found with Mrs. Weaver was taken in custody but