The Washington times., 1931-05-20
SELF.DEFENSE
IS BEAUTY'S
PLEA
Cannot Remember What Hap
pened After Rich Husband
Assaulted. Her, She Asserts

Continued From First PaGe)
my throat" she cried. After &C
cusing Nixon Nirdlinger Of as
sauIting her in a fit Of violent jeaL
OusIy. She sank her head in her
arms on q table in front Of her
chair and sObbed bitterly.
Charged with murder with pro
vocation" Mrs. Nixon-Nirdlinger
showed she had shot her husband
In self defense.
Mrs. James B. Nash, of Over
lard, No, mOthe of. Mrs. Nixon
NirdIinger, took the stand as one
Of tn, principal witnesses for the
defense.
Opposed Marriage
She startled the courtroom by
the revelation her daughter had
married the theater magnate
without her knowledge and over
her opposition.
A French detective then was
summoned to the stand. He tes-
titled that the defendant had
spent much time" in the COM
pany Of o professional dancers
in the various cabarets and res
taurants Of the Riviera.
j.. Says She Had Affair
Graham Scully, Nixon -Nirdlin-
gers secretary. took the witness
stand and charged Mrs. Nixon
Nirdlinger had an affair with an
Egyptian two years ago." The
witness said:
nixon -Nirdlinger was not
Jealous"
The theatrical magnate wrote
to his friends about his wife's al
legged action, Scully said, declar
ing she was causing scandal"
They'll take me home in a
wooden overcOat," he was
quoted as saying.
Judge HerWards, the examining
magistrate, subjected the beauty
to a barrage of questions con-
cerning her married life with the
Philadelphia millionaire.
He riddled her contention that
Nixon-Nirdlinger was insanely
jealous with questions concerning
her own behavior, but remarked
that an investigation of her
morals had resulted in her favor
He asked:
"Did you and your husband
lead separate Iives?- If not, why
did you always go dancing and
neglect your home and your
chiIdren?"
Sitting her emotion. Mrs. Nix
on-Nirdinger Indignantly denied
the inference that she had a
lover.
"Did your husband accuse
you? Why was he SO jealOus?"
To these questions, Mrs. Nixon
Nirdlinger could only shake her
head. Pale and tired-hardly
recognizable as the daShing beauty
who had won a national prize
and the heart Of Nixon-Nirdlinger
at the Atlantic City beauty pa
geant q few years ago, the de-
fendant's evident grief and re-
morse aroused the sympathy Of
the courtroom.
Called Her Flighty
Accusing the defendant Of
being "fIighty in your thoughts,
too much occupied with pretty
dresses and dancing" the mag.
lstrate introduced two pieces
Of evidence designed to show
her interests were not confined
to her husband and her home.
One was a photograph of the
defendant in bathing suit and
the other a letter alleged to have
been written by her to a friend.
This the Judge read in the court
room.
"There are nothing but con-
slant rows" Mrs. NixOn:Nird-
linger was quoted as writing.
'fBut I'll be damned if I'll stay
home and sit in a corner read
ing. / am still young. Maybe
when I'm his age I'll do that"
The second witness was a
young swimming instructor who
testified Nixon-Nirdlinger created
q violent scene on a beach one
day because I was giving lessons
to his WIFE"
Nurse Takes Stand
The next witness was Irma
Stolt, the nurse employed by the
Nixon -Nirdlingers to take care of
their two young children.
Nixon-Nirdlinger, she charged
under questioning by Defense At
torney Jose Bonifacio, often was
''ca1mly dangerous" She testi-
fled:
"He called his wife dirty
names in = matter Of fact
voice.
zone time while at st. Mo
ritz, Switzerland, he struck
Mrs. NixOn-NirdIinGer on the
head md knocked her down."
Woman Hangs Self,
TIo:p,n Sill QfocE.iDn