Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-02-17
FIELDING, Portla d
Plu m b er, Pleads
Guilty Murder
ing Gorham
Farmer
wife of Slain Man Faces
Charge of Accessory Before
~ Fact-Prosecutor to Put
FIELDING on Stand-Claims
His Story Will Directly In
volye Woman-19-Year-Ol
con to Be Tried Later on
Same Charge

p.-t,.nd. Me-. Feb. 16-One Of the
,r.ueipal witnesses for the state
..,inst Mrs. Lottie Freeman Cote OF
rorham at her trial in the superior
oorrt on a charge Of being an ac-
c,s,ory before the fact in the slay-
i. a. her husband. Alphonse Cote.
November Z. will be Charles Henry
F,sMing. a Portland plumber. who
.oA,y pleaded guilty to an indict-
m.nt charging him with murder OF
Cote.
she State will submit evidence to
,.hov that relations between Mrs.
Cots and Fielding were intimate,
declared County Attorney Ralph NJ.
yrs,ils in his opening. which start
= Il 3.45 o'clock this afternoon.
and will show that fondness on the
part Of Mrs. Cote for Fielding ex-
,rted. and that he was INDUCED by
h., IN kindness and other ways.
.rielding himself. who will take
The stand, will tell why he killed
Cota He will tell Of a talk he had
Win Lottis Freeman Cote. what she
nd Whist she asked him to do. and
vhy she wanted it DONE" Mr.. In
eaIs asserted.
Ma Cote, who pleaded not guilty
b the accessory charge that carries
With conviction the same penalty as
murder. was placed on trial alone.
Her 1s-year -old son, Ralph Barton
sanborn Of Gorham, who was In
dicted on a charge Of accessory aft
!. the fact in the murder. was not
placed on trial, and was not arraign-
q fpr pleading.
Attorney General Raymond Fellows
explained that Young Sanborn Will
have to stand trial later.
There is a possibility that the boy
viii be called with his sister as q de-
Tense witness. but County Attorney
Ingalls, made clear in his opening
that he will not testify for the State.
The jury that will weigh the evil
denee for and against Mrs. Cote was
not completed until after 3 o'clock
this afternoon, although the first
Juror to be accepted was scorn In at
loje o'clock this morning. 1t took
as long to choose the twelfth juror
- To select the other eleven.
Mrs. Cote was next called upon to
plead to the charge OF being an ac-
eessofy before the fact to her hus-
bands murder. Facing the court
room. after being asked to rise by: her
attorney, Jacob H. Berman, and listen
to the reading of the indictment, Mrs.
Cote. in a voice that was plainly au-
dible in all parts of the room, re-
sponded: mot guilty."
MY boy has done the right thing
BY God and by mani" Charles Field
Ing, aged GO, father Of the self-con-
lessed murderer. declared as his son
was being returned to the county jail.
where he has been in almost con-
slant attendance upon him. He had
Just shaken the hand Of his son. who
then turned to kiss his wife.
Fielding and Mrs. Cote, alleged ac-
cessory before the act. have been
neld in Jail without bail since Nov.
- when Cote's body was dug up
AFTER alleged admissions that he had
oeen decoyed into the woods close
~ his farm under the pretext that a
aeer had been seen there and that his
oooy had been buried in the corn
aeid on his farm that night by Field
Mg and Sanborn. Cote's 19-year- old
S.epson. Sanborn, who was indicted
= an alleged accessory after the
aet. has been at liberty under &c.
200 bail.
when asked to plead tc the murder
.noictment. Fielding, half turning
.oxard Judge Lauren M. Sanborn.
sald: Your Honor. I am guilty" He
,nen resumed his seat.
Inc jury was completed this aft
Ws,noon and George w. Waterman Of
man.