The Omaha guide., 1933-07-29
Negro Maids Head Sever
ed with breadknife Weld
ed by Jealous White I
Woman Employer

ATLANTA, Ga..The cold blooded
brutal murder of an illiterate colored
servant girl about to become the
mother Of a baby whose alleged faith
err was the white sweetheart Of her
white employer and accused slayer,
has stirred this city to a high pitch
of agitation ~sickening disgust and
morbid resentment among both races.
Bertha Virginia Smith, the white
woman who hired the dead girl as
houseworker in her home at 563 Jet
Street, in a colored neighborhood, is
on trial for the heinous crime of kill
ing Clara Wallace, an expectant
mother whose head was severed from
her body win a bread knife. "A white
mar named Jones, reported to be the
sweetheart of Mrs. Smith, and the
father of Clara's unborn child. was
arrested and questioned at the hear
ing, but denied the charge.
Mrs Smith is also accused of Civ
ing Miss w allace some kind of drug
or medicine in order to destroy the
child.
Damning Testimony
The Coroner's Inquest Jury Of Full
ton County ordered the white wom-
an held on a charge Of murder fol
lowing an examination of the body Of
the slain servant girl. In Ease Of an
indictment by the Grand Jury on the
charge of homicide, Mrs. Smith will
claim that the Wallace girl commit
ted suicide, or she will claim self de-
Tense, her attorneys said.
Damning testimony was given at
the hearing by Mamie Murphy, q
next door neighbor and close friend
Of both Mrs. Smith and the family Of
the dead girl. Mrs. Murphy testified
that she heard Clara pleading with
someone, and that about 10 a. M. on
the mornings Of the tragedy. Mrs
Smith appeared in her back door with
her face and arms covered with blood
She said Mrs Smith told her that
Miss Wallace was trying to commit
suicide and was cutting at her. See
ing the blood on Mrs. Smith, Mrs
Murphy thought she was cut and re
fused to go into the Smith home for
fear of bodily harm.
Finally Mrs Smith said, "Please
come in, Clara is dead. She has kill
ed herself" according to Mrs. Muir
ply, who then went into the house
and saw Clara lying on the floor in
a pool of blood, her head severed and
held only by a slender thread of flesh
Mrs Murphy said she then observed
that Mrs. Smith was not cut at all,
and the blood on her face and hands
was that of the poor grill she had an
parently slain in a mad rage Of zeal
ousy.
A Tale Of Woe
AT the c~oroner's inquest Mrs
Smith, Mrs. Murphy and the dead
glrrs sister, Rosa Wallace, were
questioned. They said that Mrs
Smith was the first one to inform
them of the delicate condition Of
Miss Wallace and that Mrs Smith
startled them with the remark. "its
going to be a white baby" Mrs
Murphy said the girls sister claim
de that mrs. Smith accused her white
lover, Jones of being the father of
the unborn child, which Jones later
denied, following his arrest.
Sensational testimony at the hear
ing by Mrs Murphy disclosed the
fact that Clara had taken violently
Ill two weeks before her death Rosa
Wallace, the sister, asked Mrs Muir
ply to have her aged mother 20 tc
see Clara, but inclement weathe,
prevented this, SO Mrs. Murphy went
herself, she testified.
Clara finally confessed that she
was to have a baby within two mon
tbs, and that her illness was due tt
taking something internally in order
to destroy the child. Mrs Murphy
said that Clara finally told her thai
Mrs Smith gave her the drink K
take, and that il had poisoned hel
system and almost killed her. Mrs
Murphy then advised thar Clara b,