Evening star., 1923-08-14
GRUESOME EXHIBIT
At KEPNER TRIAL
Courtroom Turned Into
MOrgue With Skull and
Death Evidence.
BY 4 stan Correspondent.

FREDERICK. Md. August II
Gruesome relics Of death-the grin
ming, hollow-eyed skull OF a man long
dead. a cleaning surgeons scalpel and
bit4 OF bone saved from the heads of
unfortunate persons who had suffered
violent ends = converted the county
circuit court here into an alI-too-
realistic nightmare this morning when
the trial of +. Evard Kepner for the
murder of his wife was resumed.
1t was a day of narrowing testi-
mpny. of eerie details and sickening
descriptions offered by surgeons and
antopsists, who sent cold chills down
tile spines of spectators with the awful
nJinuteness of their statements. And
az the end of it all there remained the
Prospect of an even more revolving scene
1.-THE possibility of the murdered wom-
ans body once more being torn from
lis grave to settle points on which med
l2al experts have failed to agree.
: Many Leave Courtroom.
Long before the hour for luncheon
recess arrived men. women and
young girls who had filled every seat
in the little chamber, where kepner
is fighting for life and yfndication
departed hurriedly. weak and sick
from the things they had heard and
seen. They had gone there expecting
y sensation, the scene of n human
being on the wrack: They found
themselves in what looked more like
:he autopsy room of u chill morgue
In desperate effort to break down
q q ir11n N vol v
prominent medical experts. that the
wound which destroyed Grace Sim
mons kepner's life could not have
been inflicted by herself. the defense
equally prominent doctors who at
tempted to prove that suicide was
not only possible but quite likely.
And to lend weight TO their argu-
ments they brought with them the
relics of their profession.
DIR. ]. Ramsay hewitt. city coroner
of Washington. and DR.. Joseph d.
Rogers, q former assistant coroner
For the National Capital, were the
first two surprise witnesses sprung
by the defense. While DIR. Ramsay
would not unqualifiedly swear that
he believed Mrs. Kepner had COM
mitted suicide, DIR. Rogers was posi-
tive in that belief. and offered as
proof of his theory the heads Of three
sheep he had shot.
bT. ROGERS dSSeTttu lIldl he nau
made at least thirty tests to deter
rAine whether a pistol held close to
a: living head would make a large
hole at the point of ingress and a
small one at the point of egress, or
VICE versa. The test showed the
former to be the case. he said, and
attempted to prove his statement by
showing the effect pistol bullets had
ON the heads of the sheep.
.Dr. Ira J. McCurdy, one of the best
known surgeons in this section of
over the body of Mrs. kepner. was
the first witness called by Leo Vein
berg, counsel for the defense. Under
his arm he carried a small package
carelessly wrapped in newspaper.
Taking his seat, the surgeon slowly
unwrapped the package and a mo-
ment later produced shining, brown
tsh-black object that sent gasp Of
herror around the crowded court
room.
Autopsy Declared "Bungled.,
It was a human skull. A single
tovth remained in the upper jaw. and
ass the surgeon placed the gruesome
object on the narrow rail of the wit
ness box it began to slide off toward
this floor. Two women in the crowd
of spectators left precipitately, their
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