New Britain herald., 1929-07-24
BEGIN SHOOK CASE;
 DEFENDANT UNEASY


 at the court, but his attitude gen erally was calm anda7depressed.
 Judge Scarlett outlined the duties of jurors and impressed the parti- .cular responsibility in a murder | case. The business of selecting the ! jury began immediately.
 Trial Is Begun ,
 Columbus. Ohio, July g UP)-| The honorable court of common pleas of Franklin county today got down to the somewhat sticky busi- ness of looking into the romance of Dr. James H. Shook, unimpressive appearing. bald headed professor of veterinary medicine at Ohio State university, and Theora Hix. attrac- tive coed, whom Dr. Shook is al legged to have murdered. '
 At 3. a. m. the work began. Judge Henry scarlett, gentleman of cuI- ture and an aristocrat, called court to order and the task of selecting a jury began.
 After days of evidence which is expected to reveal how shocking tragedy suddenly involved a group of people who seemed destined to live unimportant lives punctuated by no event more unusual than a wed- ding a birth or a funeral. thi5 fury will have to say whether pr. Shook killed Miss Hix: if he did. whether he was sane when he did it: and what is the price society should ex- act.
 City Widely Interested
 Columbus, which is an orderly city where elderly people still can De seen driving electric automobiles. can hardy wait for the evidence to get under way. Newspapers with new stories of the Snooks case in them sell almost as fast as printed. | Everyone seems to have an opinion and attorneys have given up hope of getting a jury which has no knowledge of the case. They thought some Of transferring the trial 10 another county. but defense lawyers felt that probably there was no county in Ohio where conditions would be better. so widely has the story been publicized.
 Shook is being defended by three attorneys, F.. 0. Ricketts, his chief counsel, is man of middle age grey haired+ portly, and dignified.
 John F. Seidel is a former local magistrate and is addressed as Judge Seidel." Younger than Rick etts, he is more aggressive Of man ner and has some repute hereabouts as criminal lawyer. Max H. Sey- fert, Circleville, tall, thin. quick speaking, completes the trio.
 John Chester, prosecuting attor- ney, is one of the youngest occu- pants of that position in Ohio, be- } ing not yet out of. his twenties Tall , slender, athletic appearing he has } fighting face, and a pleasant man : ner. He is said to be bit explosive in court. Paul Hicks, Myron B. Gessaman and Robert J. O'Dell arc associated with him. as are also a staff of detectives. There is no : lack Of legal talent on either side. } Shook Hates Reporters LII. DllOOh Has uSNtIOptu an dn- } tipathy towards newspa permen. and last night refused to talk when re- : porters visited the jail
 r ''1 have nothing to say to you fel-
 lows he said testify I'll tell you : nothing more. Let my attorneys do
 the talking if they want to-" r He was reading in his cell from current magazines. It was learned l that he had digested eagerly the r recent writings in magazines of Cal
 vim Coolidge. His cell mate is 8
 convicted forger who will be remov. : ed to the state penitentiary in a few 5 days, To .Iilers he has expressed . regret that his cell mate must leave = saving he has developed a real lik Q ing for the fellow. Unlike so man, Il prisoners awaiting trial for murder = Dr. Shook has given no particula