Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-12-18
BATTLE FOR LIFE
Of GIRL 6 SLAYER
To START JAN. I
Defendant Insists He's Sane.
Is Questioned in Cell
by AIienist

Claude A. Roark, slayer of Miss
Vena Moore, twenty -one-ye ar-old tel.
egra ph operator, will go on trial for
his life i'll the Fulton superior court
or Wednesday, January z. An in.
ciictment charging him with murder
was returned Tuesday noon by the
Fulton county grand jury, and his
trial date was Immediately set by
Solicitor General john A. Boykin.
Cross currents developed Tues
day in the projected defense to be
advanced in Roarks behalf. with an
examination Of the prisoner at police
headquarters by DR.. NewdigatS
OWensby, well-known nerve and men,
tai specialist, although Keark him.
self insists that he is perfectly SANE
and rational.
DR.. Owensby's visit was taken to
indicate that a plea of insanity will
| be advanced for Roark, since the
alienist made his examination at the
request If Attorney William SchIey
Howard, of the firm of Branch &
Howard, with whom relatives of
Roark have been negotiating look.
ing to engaging their services as
counsel.
Roark's attitude, however, indi.
cated that he did not coincide with
the theory that he is mentally ire.
sponsible. He denies that he is in.
SINE, but refuses to disclose his mo.
tive N the killing.
While the defense laid prelimi.
nary grounds for its expected plea
of insanity, the state set in motion
the machinery of prosecution. "A
bill charging murder was returned by
the grand jury after Mrs. Annid
Norris, an eyewitness to tho
crime, which occurred in the main
operating room of the Western
Union Telegraph company, in the
Brown building, in full view of some
sixty operatives, had given testi
mOny.
ROark Promises Surprise
Roark, in Il laxative mood
Tuesday, seemed to consider his in.
dictment as q matter of course, and
said he would be glad when he was
removed from the police station and
confined in the Fulton tower.
II am not insane" he said. II
am no crazier now than | have ever
been. I will neither deny nor af
firm any statements that have been
made about this affair, but at this
propert time will make a statement
that will throw an entirely different
! light on it.
81 do not know whether or not
my act was justifiable in the eyes
of the law, but in the eyes OF God
/ know l was justified. I am sorry
that I killed Miss Moore. and If !
had it to so over again I wouldn't
| do it. If nobody was concerned but
myself wouldn't care what became
of me, but must live for my wife
and two children. They are the only
ones of whom l am thinking.
81 have lived clean life and
| tried always to make man of my
self, but the cards have been stacked
against me. never had a chance.
All my life have had one bad break
after another. L have been unsuc.
cessful but / am not crazy"
Bride Breaks Silence
Mrs. Roark, youthful bride of the
slayer, also broke the silence she has
maintained since few minutes after
the shooting, when she issued a for
NAL statement to the police, and
made public a note which she re-
ceived from her husband few min-
utes before Ire fired the five pistol
bullets that snuffed out Miss Moore0
life.
1t was note written in pencil on
! a pink Western Union form sheet,
and was sent to Mrs. Roark while
she was in the woman's rest room at
| the Western Union offices through
the matron. 1t said:
1T has been SO long since I wrote
you a note that / just thought I
would write you and tell you how
much l love you and how sweet you
/ are"
| Mrs Roark was confined to her
! bed at the home Of relatives at 467
Bass street, and did not talk per-
sonally with the reporter. She an
sWered questions, however, through
a woman who went back and forth.
A question as to whether she in.
tended to stand by her husband in
his trial for the Staying OF Miss
Moore was not answered. Explains
ing the note, Mrs. Roark said that
her husband must have thought she
was Ill when she went to the rest
room and simply wanted ito let me
know he loved me-"
Miss Moore Is Buried
The body OF Miss Moore. riddled
with five pistol bullets that were
fred into her back by Roark as
she sat at her keyboard in the tele-
graph office Saturday night, was
laid to rest in the family burial plot
at west View cemetery Monday aft.
ernoon, after brief but impressive
services at the chapel Of FL. NJ. Pat.
terson G. Son.
More than 200 officials and EN-.
ployes of the Western Union. TO-
gether with scores Of her friends.
packed the chapel the adjoining
corridors and nearby ante-rooms. 1t
was an impressive sight as these
frlenus, most of them girls, flied
slowly past the white, fIower.barEed
casket with tears streaming down
their faces
The aged mother, Mrs. Aubrey
Moore, whose already feeble health
suffered such a severe shock from
her daughters death that fears have
been felt for her life, was present at
the funeral services at the chapel
and at the grave, dressed entirely in
black and leaning heavily on the
arms Of two of her daughters.
The Rev. Il. K. Redwine, pastor
OF the Woodward Avenue BAPTIST
church, of which Miss Moore was a
member, officiated, and pallbearers
included close friends OF MISC Moore
"mong the employees of the Western
Union. A musical program also was
rendered by employees OF the com.