Evening star., 1932-07-06
LONDON BEAUTY
FREED IN KILLING.
Mrs. Barney ColIapses at
Verdict of Jury, Out Less
Than Two Hours.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON. July 6--Mrs. Elvira Dolores
Barney, accused Of numbering her lover,
Thomas William Scott Stephen. was
acquitted by jury today of both muir
der and manslaughter counts against
her.
She also was exonerated on another
indictment charging intent to do
Stephen grievous bodily harm.
The jury was out little less than
two hours.
Accident Defense Plea.
Stephen, son of a prominent finan-
cier, was fatally shot in Mrs. Barney's
apartment on the night of May 81.
The defense was that the pistol was
discharged accidentally as the two
struggled for its possession. Mrs.
Barney testified that she had threat
ened to commit suicide and that
| Stephen, seizing her pistol from its
hiding place, had started to leave the
apartment when she pursued him.
Because of the prominence of both
Stephen and Mrs. Barney, the trial had
attracted great crowds since Monday,
when it began. The spectators for the
most part we're persons prominent in
society and the arts.
The defendant was discharged imme-
diately after the verdict was given, but
Justice Humphreys. who presided, ad-
vised her not to leave Old Bailey until
| the crowds had been cleared from the
streets in the vicinity.
ColIapses at Verdict.
When she realized that the jury had
acquitted her, Mrs. Barney collapsed
and was carried from the court room
practically unconscious Lady Mullens,
her mother, also collapsed, but was re-
Vived.
crowd of several thousand had
gathered outside When the Tumor
spread that a verdict had been re-
turned the throng rushed the police
lines in an effort to break into the
court room. But the police held and
the crowd was never out of control
Mrs. Barney, beautiful daughter of a
baronet, yesterday on the witness stand
revealed the story Of her life as mistress
of the man she is accused of having
murdered
The old Bailey Criminal Court was
surcharged with tense drama this morn
ing when Sir Patrick Hastings, Mrs.
Barney's attorney arose and with O
voice vibrant with suppressed emotion,
began to plead with the jury for her
life.
Counsel Rebukes Gallery.
Sir Patrick Hastings first remarks
we're an outburst of rebuke for the
people in the gallery, who, he said.
have been here the last two or three
days, no doubt enjoying and gloating
over every expression of agony"
we rather despise some of the people
! here and loathe these things" he added
| as he began the defense of his client.
Admitting she was the mistress OF
Thomas William Scott Stephen, 2e-
year-old socially prominent Londoner,
for whose Staying she is being tried,
Mrs. Barney yesterday told the jury,
| sometimes in a calm voice, sometimes
in tears, of the events that preceded his
death in the early hours of May 81 in
her smart West End fiat.
Supported by Her.
Telling how she supported him from
her established income, even to under
writing his gambling debts, some of
them contracted with another woman,
she said, she went on to describe their
passionate love affair, which she said
began after her husband, John Barney,
an American singer. had abused her.
Stephen, son of an eminent family, was
an unemployed dress designer.
She continued to describe the quarrel
on May 81, after a cocktail party in
the apartment, and how she and
Stephen had struggled for a gun after
she threatened to commit suicide In
the struggle. she said Stephen was shot
When she had finished, her attorney
said: THAT is my case"
The prosecution presented brief testi-
mony intended to show that Stephen
could not have shot himself, and that
1t was impossible for a pistol discharged
during struggle to produce a wound
such as the one which caused his death.