Evening star., 1943-09-16
Brother Takes
Stand in Trial
0fC|atterbuck
Pictures Defendant
In Murder Case as
Deeply Religious
BY A Star stan Correspondent

By Star stan Correspondent
LEESBURG, Va, Sept. 16.-The
defense of Thomas william Clatter-
buck, on trial in Loudoun County
Circuit Court for the murder of
Walter Russell, tenant farmer, on
June /, began today with an older
brother picturing the defendant as
deeply religious man and one wor-
ried over debts in his business and
on his home.
The brother, Meredith Clatter-
buck, testified that his brothers
debts amounted to nearly So 300, ex-
elusive of interest. These debts in
volved the trucks he used in his
stone business and $2,850 which he
owed on his home, sold about six
weeks ago. the brother said.
Asked by defense counsel, Maj.
Robert A. Mcintyre, If he had noted
ANY differences in the activities of
his brother since the first of Feb
ruary,' Meredith Clatterbuck said
that he noticed that when he visited
the defendant, in his house, when he
was suffering from bad knee, he
noticed that he wouldn't stay on
the subject" of the conversation.
Worried Over Business.
The witness said that their mother
offered to pay for an examination of
the accused, but that he, Meredith,
did not feel that Thomas was dan
gerous and thought he would be all
right once he was out Of debt.
Attempting to drive home the
point that Thomas Clatterbuck was
worried over business, Mai. McIn-
tyre brought out from the witness
that at one time only one OF the
four Clatterbuck trucks was usable.
that one truck had burned up and
that Thomas had lost a number OF
good employees in the draft and had
difficulty with gas and tire ratiol,ing.
Earlier in his testimony Meredith
said his brother had been very active
for the last four or five years in the
Nazarene Church, OF which he had
been a member for about eight
years. He said Thomas made week
ly contributions to the building of
church in Leesburg and sang in
the choir.
Defendant Was Quiet.
The witness said his brother was
the most quiet and obedient boy I
ever knew to get along with"
Maj. Mcintyre has said that he
Will call q surprise expert" to testi-
fy that Clatterbuck has pro-
nounced case of dementia prae-
cox. He told Judge J. H. r. Alexan-
der that he expected to complete
his case by tonight.
Yesterday the prosecution COM
pleted the presentation of its case
after Judge Alexander admitted
into evidence, the signed confession
OF Clatterbuck telling of the mur-
ders on June ] Of Morris Love,
Loudoun County farmer; his wife,
Mrs. Love: their son, James Rus
sell, who lived as a tenant on the
Love farm and Mrs. Russell.
Confession Read to Jury.
In brief this was the story that
Clatterbuck told in the confession
signed by him In the Winchester
jail.
On May 81 of this year Clatter-
buck called Mr.. Love by telephone
and talked to Mrs. Love saying
that he would call on her husband
the next day to make arrangements
on notes on which he had borrowed
$2,5O0. He had not kept several
previous appointments.
On the morning of June 1 the
defendant went in his car to the
Love farm and parked in front of
the house. He entered through a
gate headed for side porch, sight
ing Mr.. Love and James coming
into the yard through lower gate.
He Joined the two Loves and the
three of them went to the porch
by the dining room.
Going To Get Some RAIN
Il believe we are going to get
some rain," he quoted Mr.. Love as
observing.
AS Clatterbuck waited on the
porch the Loves entered the house,
the father going to get his glasses
and the notes. The defendant
played with the family dog.
When the elder Love came out he
suggested to Clatterbuck that they
go to the front porch where it
would be cooler" The defendant
said he didn't remember much of
the conversation except that Mr..
Love threatened to prosecute him
II the notes were not made good.
Clatterbuck, pleading for more time,
said he had money coming in
shortly from contracting Job.
James, who had gone out to the
family car, returned to the side
steps but Clatterbuck did not know
whether he entered the house or
not. Frightened when told he faced
prosecution and realizing that Mr..
Love had two notes with three
forged signatures, he picked up a
mallet from croquet set nearby
and drove 1t down on Mr.. Loves
head.
Grapples With Son.
Clatterbuck then walked down
the porch steps, threw the mallet
away and walked toward the din
ing room porch. There he was met
by James who cried: What have
you done?" Clatterbuck grappled
with him, taking away a rifle that
James held. He struck James who
fell back to the dining room door
where Clatterbuck shot at him.
James staggered and fell in the
room.
Mrs. Love entered the room, saw
Clatterbuck and the body of her
son and uttered a scream. Clatter-
buck said nothing but shot her