Evening star., 1923-08-07
KEPNER ON TRIAL
FOR LIFE TODAY
Frederick Architect Faces
Charge of Having Muir
dered His Wife.
by a staff Correspondent.

affairs of this thriving little Maryland
city, went on trial for his life today
in the county circuit court here,
charged with the murder of his
wealthy wife. Mrs. Grace Simmons
kepner. a daughter of one of the old
est families in the state.
Surrounded on all sides by fashion
ably dressed women and the social
elite of Frederick. Mr.. kepner sat be-
side his counsel and unwaveringly
heard himself branded by States At
torney Aaron r. Anders as "a modern
Jekyl and Hyde. a master of women,
who for the love of siren had slain
the little wife who had been his loyal
companion for more than score of
years.
Hundreds Flock to Trial
Business was forgotten in Frederick
this morning and before o'clock the
hundreds of men and women who
rounded at the courts doors all day
for admission began to form in long
queues, awaiting their turn to slip
in and watch one of their leading
citizens battling for life and free
dom. Half an hour before the Judges
entered and convened the court, the
$50 seats reserved for spectators had
been filled and twelve special police
rnen We're required to maintain order
in the corridors, which were crowded
with a pushing, perspiring mass of
persons
For every man in the crowd there
were at least two women. From ey
cry walk of life and every hamlet in
This section. one of the wealthiest
agricultural counties in the United
States they came by the hundreds.
There were women of wealth. Gowned
in the finest silk. their throats and
And there also were Sunbonneted
farm women in their stiffly starched
blue, pink and white gingham dresses.
The more favored socially elite
were seated within the rail where the
attorneys battled; the others were
obliged To take turns on the long
straight back benches in the rear of
the somewhat smaller chamber.
kepner Arrives.
1t was just exactly O'Clock when
Sheriff James A. Jones and Mr.. KEEP
uer drove up in the formers mud
shattered car of popular make. Mr..
kepner had hoped TO avoid the
crowd by arriving early, but he was
abliged to run the gauntlet of a
veritable lane of curious persons who
thronged the walk through the yard
u the tbuItIopHl ne "tTe ISnt
grey suit and showed plainly the
strain of his ten days in the county
jail while waiting to be tried.
Immediately before the judges en-
picture hat, held both of the prison
men and women came through a
rear door and took seats in the front
row directly before the judges
bench. Each shook the prisoners
hand warmly they passed. One
an attractive young woman. who wore
nd hi Il
picture hat, held both of the proson-
"r's hands in her own and kissed
him warmly. None of the party
was a relative of the accused man.
and no one recognized thar young
woman in particular.
Father Listens Attentively.
Neither Miss Eleanor nor Miss Eliza
beth Houck, sisters of the slain wom-
an. was present in the courtroom.
Their father. in whose old country
home Mrs. kepner was murdered las
June IS, occupied a seat among other
witnesses and quietly listened to the
proceedings. Mrs. Ezra Houck, jr. a
sister-in-law of Mrs Kepner. and a
party of young women dressed in the
seasons latest fashion, sat well be-
hind the unused jury box. where they
heard everything that went on, but
were carefully concealed from the
crowd in front
Immediately after entering with AS
Sociate Judges Glen H. Worthington |
and Edward c. Peter Chief Judge
Hammond Urner announced that the !
court would adjourn during the period |
that the funeral train of the late |
President Harding was passing over
the soil of Frederick county. He then !
ordered the trial opened
The atmosphere was tense as the |
clerk called upon kepner to rise and
read him the Indictment that charges !
him with "wilfully, maliciously and /
foloniously aSsaulting and numbering
his wife"
How plead you. Benjamin Evard !
kepner. guilty or not guilty the !
clerk demanded.
Pleads "NOt Guilty"
Not guilty" the prisoner replied in
Il hollow voice, and Immediately sat
down without waiting to be told to
do so by the court.
states Attorney Anders retraced
history in his opening statements. and
told the court of Kepner's courtship; |
how he was then a mere clerk and
how his suit for the hand of the
wealthy Grace Houck was frowned
upon by her aristocratic parents.
Even for years after the wedding, the
states attorney said, the Houck fam
iiy refused to accept or receive KEEP
in the past ten or twelve years, after
the husband had won a reputation for
himself, that he was permitted to en-
ter his wifes ancestral homestead.
But no man or woman stood higher
in our community than Mr.. and Mrs.
Il. Evard kepner, up to the last year"
the states attorney said.
Then this awful tragedy came on
Shock followed shock and finally the
action OF Mr.. kepner, and his actions
alone, have brought him before the
bar of justice, charged with the mur-
der of his wife. She worshiped the
ground he walked on and up to the
day of her death knew nothing of his
double life. But one year ago Mr..
Kepner began to take his meals at a
certain restaurant, where there was a
waitress younger and prettier than
his wife. He grew tired oi the COM
panion who had stood by him for
twenty years, more and more fond of
the siren who had infatuated him
Until the last winter most of his
life was spent away from the home
that loved him. The life OF b Evard
Kepner had turned from thas of the
beautiful sunlight to the darkest sins
of midnight.
Did his wife worry over his alb
sence? Yes, but she never dreamed of
the clandestine life he was leading
While she was yet trusting he already
complain bitterly about her nagging
him and told his sister law. Miss
Elizabeth Houck, several weeks be-
fore the murder, that some day they
would wake up and find him gone"
The states attorney graphically
described the events of the day last
June that Mrs. Kepner was shot to
death. He told how Kepner had
gone to Baltimore to see a dentist.
how he had purchased flowers on