The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1928-04-12
EX-DRAGON SAYS
KHAN WOMEN
FRAMED HIM

| HHHHN WBHwb
| MICHIGAN CITY, Ind, April II.
In previous installments OF his
deposition, now part of the court
records of Pennsylvania in case
| to bar the Ku Klux Khan from
activity in the state, David c.
| Stephenson, former grand dragon
Of the khan in Indiana, has told
of the origin Of the order, and OF
the subsequent Vaccinations of one
faction within the khan to remove
the founders and others who op.
posed the new regime by character
and actual physical assassination.
Today he covers his own trial for
the murder Of Madge Oberholzer
at Noblesville. Indiana. He charges
| rieriury, Justification OF records, and
| ORGANIZED conspiracy to prevent his
| obtaining a fair trail. He charges
| that he was threatened with death
| as he sat in the witness chair If
he took the witness stand in his
| own defense.
/ His deposition. az taken by at.
| torneys in the Indiana State Pen
| itentiary at Michigan City, con.
| tinues:
Has No Hatred
o.-Mr. Stephenson, do you have
any ennity or bitter feeling at this
time, or hatred?
A.-No. I have no hatred, It is
rather an attitude OF pity and
sympathy.
Q.-Did they tthe Klan) have any.
| thing to do with your present in.
generation and since your imprison-
| ment have they done anything to
prevent you from proceeding with
processes known to the law?
! Ayes. They had everything to
do with my imprisonment In this,
not only are they guilty Of framing
/ most of the evidence that was
4 used against me at Noblesville in
a gigantic school Of perjury but
they also poisoned the minds of
people in the county. by circulating
q great deal Of inflammatory lit
4 erature designed to stir up people
| against me, which was predicated
! wholly on falsehood.
Made Men Promise.
In addition to that they worked
1 through a women's organization
and had the women of that organ.
ization mingle with the men in
Hamilton county where / was tried
and made each man promise them
i that in the event of their being
selected as juror, would return a
verdict of murder in the first degree
and send me to the electric chair.
/ These women were very persistent,
indeed, and they circulated the
hideous story that was proved there
and was alleged to have been the
dying declaration Of a woman named
Madge Oberholtzer. i am I'm 3 posi-
| ton to prove that man from Ne
brasIxa was employed as an attorney
wrote the sO-called dying declaration
of Madge OberholtZer four or five
days or possibly q week after she
was corpse and in her grave.
i AS a matter of fact, everyone
knows that no woman living, sick or
! dying, would attach her name to the
hideous, filthy political speech that
was introduced in the Hamilton Cir
| cult Court as the dying declaration
OF Madge Oberholtzer.
The tragedy of the whole thing is,
that In introducing this filthy thing
attributable to her as dying declara-
ton did not only send me to prison
for life, but It placed the black stamp
Of inferentiaI shame on the brow Of
| the dead woman. It has been my
hope that public opinion would be-
come so aroused over the obvious in-
| justice and obvious irregularity Of
the whole thing that there would be
a widespread demand that be given
my day in court.
Poisoned, He Says
| In addition to what have just ex-
planned to you, surrounding the trial
at NoblesYille, I will add this: That
Miss Oberloltzer, as far as know,
never went to Hammond on the day
the alleged wild party took place in
which was alleged to have partici-
pated; and none Of the facts leading
up to the original cause Of her death
are true.
It is my definite, absolute in.
formation that she did not die from
the cause attributed, but from an
other and a different cause and from
the effects OF q deadly poison.
In addition to what have just
stated, during the trial at Mobiles.
vile. on cross-examinatio of pros
pective jurors, it developed that
one of the talesmen said he had
been approached by a leader Of a
.woman's organization of the Ku
Klux Khan and that the leader of
the woman's organization had in
sisted that in the event he became
juror his vote would be con-
stantly against me. In addition to
this I have absolute proof that at
least two Of the jurors were paid
sum Of money in exchange for
their verdict Of guilty against me.
Threatened In Letters