The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-11-14
BUILD MURDER
CASE AGAINST
ACCUSED Wife
Mrs. KiIner lingering Gun
When Found, States
Witness Says.
TELLS GREWS0ME TALE
Defendant Faces Sentence
of Life Imprisonment for
Mates Death.

Grewsome details of the scene in
the bedroom Of Mrs. jeanette Kill
ner, Sd, the morning her husband,
Edwin Kilner, Ga, was shot through
the head as he slept, were related
today in criminal court by Fred
Phillips, 1865 Goodlet avenue, star
witness for the state.
Charged with second degree mur-
der, Mrs. Kilner is alleged to have
shot her husband in their home near
Speedway City, May 1, and then to
have fired shot into her head in
suicide attempt.
Phillips, neighbor, who was the
first person at the scene of the
shooting, declared Mrs. Kilner was
conscious when he came into the
room.
lingering Gun
He told jurors he was positive Mrs.
Kilner was lingering the revolver
that lay under the bed covers be-
tween her and her husbands body.
Phillips said Mrs. Kilner asked
for water and answered all ques-
tionS with the one word, Nothing"
Mrs. Kilner indicted for second
degree murder and facing sentence
of life Imprisonment upon convic-
ton, will testify in her own behalf,
probably Friday morning, her at
torney said today. She previously
had said she would not take the
witness stand.
Mrs. Oma Phillips, wife of the
states star witness, who was with
her husband when he entered the
room in which the tragedy was COM
mitted, was the states third witness
today. She gave, in substance, the
same testimony as her husband.
A worn and nervous woman, Mrs.
Kilner watches the trials ebb and
flow with glances first at the jury,
then the judge, then the witness.
She persistently has denied her
guilt.
Since the tragedy she has been
under nurses care. A nurse sat
OCOlOC llCl III OOGIO bOQdYs Oh41Cb
lodged in her skull necessitating
medical attention States attorneys
charge the bullet is the result OF
her attempted suicide.
Body Positions Basis
T. E. Maholm, defense attorney,
declared that an ulterior motive of
some one closely connected with
the Kilners was responsible for an
attempt to murder both of them.
Police records show that the body
of the husband was found uncov-
cred on the bed, while the uncon-
scious form of Mrs. Kilner was
found beneath the covers. The
murderer's gun was found beneath
the covers near the foot of the bed.
Maholm said he would prove Mrs.
Kilner could not have shot her hus-
band and herself and then secreted
the weapon beneath the covers.
States first witness, Mrs. Carl
Hague, daughter of Kilner and STEP
daughter Of Mrs. Kilner, testified
that her father and stepmotller
quarreled frequently about money
matters, and that the latter repeat
edly attempted to make her hus-
band give her a deed to his real
estate and change his bank account
to joint account with her.
Tells of Hospital Visit
Mrs. Hague told of her visit to the
hospital after Mrs. Kilner had been
removed there.
Detectives were questioning her
when 1 went into the room. They
told her they were going to arrest
me for the crime" she said
my stepmother told them not to
do it, because her stepdaughter
knew nothing about it,"
Maholm said in his opening state
ments he would prove that the last
thing the aged couple did before
Kilner met his death was to clasp
hands and repeat the Lords prayer
together.
Members Of the jury are: Edward
". Carson. Lawrence; Norval Hemp
hill, 2606 North Harding street; John
L. Dove, Castleton; Linford Ander-
son, e. E. De Hart, Clyde w. Jones.
l11o North fremont avenue; Hiram
Denny, Beech Grove; Andrew j.
Garrison, Lawrence; Benjamin F.
Jones, 1925 Dexter street; Jesse P.
Wallace, 1943 Ashland avenue:
Charles G. Sensel, 1880 Wade street.