Evening star., 1931-12-12
ACCUSED SLAYER'S
F|ANCEE TEST|F|EESs
Nephew of Wolfenden Also
Aids State in Trial for
Mil|er's Death.
Special Dispatch to The Star

| MANASSAS, Va, December 1.-THE
trial OF Walter Wolfenden on the charge
| OF murder IN the death Of three near
| kopp, Prince William County. which
| soI under way yesterday, last night
went INTO session, with questioning of
prosecution witnesses lasting until 10. 40
| o'clock
A nephew of wolferNien and Marv
carter Thomas, f1ancee of the accused
/ were the trump cards forAthe prosecu-
ton yesterday, and both gave damaging
teSumony, which the defense was un-
| sole 10 break down on long and vigor-
Gus crosS-exsmination.
| Inc nephew, Joseph Wolfenden. who
! lived at his unCles home, testified that
! ne heard his aunt question his uncle at
! breakfast about his whereabouts when
she saw him coming in early on the
! morning OF September 25. The witness
SAID that his aunt asked what he was
! dolng around 2 am. that morning, and
| WoHenden explained his absence bv
saying that he had heard cows in the
yard and had gone out to put them in
| the pasture
Real drama entered the case when
Mary Thomas Carter took the stand,
! as she and the defendant have been
close friends for several years and had
! expected to be married early next wear.
IL was she who could have furnished
| the alibi for the defendant, who spent
the week end after the alleged murder
at her home in Middlesex County, 100
miles from the scene. A perfect alibi
could have been established If she had
SAID. he arrived on Thursday night.
| September "a, but she set the date of
his arrival as the afternoon of Sep
| tember 25
Fiancee Testifies.
1t was during Miss. Carters testi-
mony that the insurance angle was
brought out as she testified to Wolfen-
! dens discussions relative to making
| the payments on the farm mortgage.
| She also told of her visits to Fredericks-
! burg when the insurance policy was
paid, of her receipt of the check by in
| dorsement from the defendant and of
deposit of the amount of S740 in a
| Fredericksburg bank. She explained
| that this arrangement was made be-
| cause of Wolfenden's involvement in
other matters and that she looked upon
| it as his money. She accounteds for
a check of s5l8.02 to Manassas bank
as first payment on the Wolfenden
| home, which he was about to lose;
| S26.I9 was paid on insurance premiums,
$50 for a secondhand tractor, SIS cash
| for the defendant, $40 to his sister
Bertha, with unexpended balance still
| in the bank
Judge Walter T. Mccarthy ordered
| the jury locked up for the night and
| they were taken to Metzs Inn in Gus
| tody of Sheriff John P. Kerlin. Pros
poets that the jurors will pass tonight
and tomorrow night in the local mn
seemed likely, as several more witnesses
| for the Commonwealth remain to be
heard. The defense expects to use some
| 10 witnesses.
The case was resumed this morning,
| with B. H. Hoover prosecution witness,
under cross examination. The defense
seemed bent on showing that the wit
ness was unfriendly to the defendant
because of Hoover's failure in an al
| legged attempt to purchase the Wolfen-
den property Hoover was questioned
closely on his testimony that he had on
| several occasions discussed with the de-
fiendant the effect of burning on human
| bones and had been asked by the de-
fendant whether human bones burned
| beyond recognition, or. If not, whether
it could be distinguished whether the
bones we're those of white or colored
| man. s1tA ..
Revolving Crime.
The crime of which Wolfenden stands
accused is one of the most revolving in
the crime annals of Prince William
County. The State charges that VOL
/ fenden on September IS murdered
Goodwin Miller and his wife, Virginia;
placed the bodies on their bed and then
| set fire to the home to prevent dis
| covery of the crime. The charred re-
! mains of the victims, with those of an
infant son, were discovered in the ruins
in the late afternoon OF September 25.
The separate charge Of numbering
Virginia Miller awaits the outcome of
! this trial, while an indie. .ment for
! chicken stealing, which first led to the
| defendants arrest, is. SCI for hearing
at the February term OF court.
Wolfenden, despite his alleged almost
total deafness, smiled frequently dur
| ing the testimony.
The motive for the CRIME is given as
Wolfenden's desire to collect on an insur-
ance policy, which he carried on Miller
so that he could buy the property on
which he and his sister, Bertha Wolfen-
! den lived, and which was due to be
! forecloSed.
Thirty-four prospective jurors were
! questioned in selecting the jury yestsr-
| day. Several were thrown out bscause
of having taken part in discussions on
| the case others because of fixed opin-
! ions, three due to objection to capital
punishment, one on faulty hearing, ami
| one because he was a brother Of the
county sheriff
! Following luncheon adjournment,
| Thomas H. Lion, commonwealth attor-
: ney, made the opening statement in
| which he told the court that he ex-
| pected to prove by a complete chain Of
circumstantial evidence, substantiated
by creditable witnesses, that the de-
fendant murdered and burned Miller for
the purpose of collecting insurance
money.
Flynn Opens Defense.
Frederick L. Flynn of defense counsel,
in opening said he would prove that his
client was in bed on the night of the
burning of the Miller home, and that
Miller was horelesSly drunk in Triangle,
several miles from his home near Kopp,
shortly before his home is alleged to
have been burned; that suicide pact
or an accident, the result of Miller's
condition, might have caused the trag-
edy, and that Wolfenden took out in
surance policies on Miller at the latter's
request for his own protection while
employed by the defendant to drive
tractor, Wolfenden becoming beneficiary
only after Miller left his employ.
DR.. E. H, Marsteller, county cor
oner, told of having viewed the charred
remains of the three victims on the
evening of September rs and despite
tItOCdFOlo II CUuIlStl 10 nave
him admit that Miller and his wife
might have suffocated or burned to
death, declared that in his opinion
both were dead before the fire
Objections of defense counsel to the
line of questioning and numerous un-
dertone arguments between the prose-
cutor and Defense Counsel Flynn were
heated and frequent. Defense twice
moved for mistriaI on the grounds
that the Commonwealth attorney was
permitting improper information to be
heard by the jury, but In both pleas
the court overruled the motions, with
Defense Counsel Didlake noting ex-
ceptions.
Members of the jury are C. J. Gillis.
z all +, r.