Evening star., 1936-03-17
TESTIMONY BACKS
UP CONTENTION HE
PLANNED SUICIDE
Describes How Husband
Drank Night and Day and
of Hiding Bottles.
SAYS SHE SAW GUN
SEVERAL DAYS BEFORE
Notes Found in Accused Mans
Possession Support Defense He
Planned to Kill Himself.

4OooCcsAOA SOppOAt OCASAoC &4S
Planned to Kill Himself.
The wife of Charles Frederick Hisey
went on the witness stand today to
defend her husband against a first
degree murder charge and described
his heavy drinking prior to the shoot
! ing last August of Miss Virgie Rosella
Lyttle, 26-year-old department store
clerk and a roomer at the Hisey home,
4l4 Rittenhouse street.
| Mrs. Eunice Alice Hisey, 36-year-old
buyer for a downtown department
store, told a jury in District Supreme
Court her husband had been away
from work and ION a spree" for at
least a week before the shooting. Miss
Lyttle was found dying from two bull
let wounds in the body after she was
persuaded to go into an upstairs bed
room with Hisey on the morning OF
August 20.
Wife Tells of Drinking.
J Mrs. Hisey, the first witness for the
defense, supported the contention OF
Hiseys counsel that the 52-year-old
! printer was in crazed condition from
! drink and had intended to commit
suicide The shooting occurred behind
a closed door, the defense insisting
it was an accident which happened
while Miss Lyttle sought to wrest the
gun from Hisey.
The wife of the accused man told
how he had drunk whisky night and
day and how she hid the numerous
bottles he purchased and tried to
pursuade him to sober up. She denti-
fed the death gun as one she saw
first in her husbands possession sev-
eral days prior to the shooting.
The prosecution. which rested its
case this morning, had introduced un-
contested evidence to show Hisey
bought the .22-caliber gun at a pawn
shop in Rosslyn. Va.
Mrs. Hisey testified Miss Lytt!e
found the gun on a front seat beside
Hisey as they we're driving downtown
to a beauty parlor Miss Lyttle had
persuaded Hisey to give up the gun
and handed it to his wife, who took it
home with her and later returned it to
her husband because she was con-
vinced he meant no harm.
Wrote Two Notes.
The Government insists Hisey
bought the gun while premeditating
murder, while the defense contends he
obtained it to commit suicide. The
latter is borne out by two notes found
on Hisey's person, in which he willed
property to his wife. One of the notes
was addressed to Mrs. Hisey and the
other to three of Hisey's man friends.
The latter note explained. II am fed
up, so why not? The rest is none Of
your damn business. Savvy?"
Refused to Answer.
Before the prosecution rested. three
policemen testified Hisey had refused
to answer when asked if the victim
of his gun we're a Catholic and should
receive the church's last Sacraments.
At the time, it was testified. Miss
Lyttle was dying in an emergency
room at Walter Reed Hospital, and
the printer and Policeman Robert I.
Talbert, whom he had shot in the
arm, were being treated in an adjoin-
ing emergency room.
According to Policemen Harold E.
Moore, James J. McAuliffe and John
L. Bocina, No. precinct, an orderly
entered the room and inquired If any
one knew Miss Lyttle's faith. The
officers said they passed the query
on to Hisey.
Hisey, they testified, replied in a
profane manner: LET her diei"
This testimony was admitted over
the objection of Defense Attorneys
Neil Burkinshaw and Nugent Dodds.
The defense then attempted to show
Miss Lyttle was dead when the ques-
ton regarding final rites was put to
Hisey.
Army Physician Testifies.
Maj. Norman Scott, U. S. A., testified
he examined Miss Lyttle shortly after
her arrival and found she was dead.
The Army physician said he also
examined Hisey and founi no evidence
the printer was intoxicated. The de-
fense is basing its case on claim
Hisey was in a "crazed" condition
after protracted and inordinate drink
ing.
Mai. Scott declared Hisey was "ori-
ented and conscious" but said no
tests were applied to determine his
condition as to alcoholism. The ply
sician said he smelled no liquor on
Hisey's breath, and there was no OUT
ward indication of drunkenness.
The death penalty was asked for
Hisey in the opening statement by AS
sistant United States Attorney Irving
Goldstein. The prosecutor told jury
In Justice Daniel w. O'Donoghues
court he expected to prove Hisey had
shown particular attention to the girl
and at the time of the shooting was
attempting to force 5000 loan on her.
Sister Found Letter.
The dead girls sister. Miss Esther
Lyttle. told the jury yesterday she
found a letter in Virgie Lyttle's
hand as the latter lay dying in the
second floor bed room. The two sis
ters and Miss Girlie Mae Garrett
shared q room In the home Of Hisey
and his wife.
All three young women were de-
partment store clerks, who had
known each other before coming to
Washington from their homes In
Hopewell, Va.
Miss Garrett testified she borrowed
5000 through virgie Lyttle from the
| latter's fiance in Hopewell to finance
a beauty specialist course Of train
ing The Government contends