Evening star., 1948-01-16
WonlanCharges
Laughin Threat
AgainstHusband
MRS. Hobbs Completes
Testimony in Triol
Of Former Fiunce

Mrs.. Esther Pickard Hobbs, 20,
testified under cross-examination BY
James j. Laughlin In District Court
today that MIR. Laughlin had made
i, threats against the man she mar
ried, George Hobbs, saying he could
have Mr.. Hobbs removed without
q trace"
The statement came Just before
her testimony was completed in the
trial of Mr.. Laughlin, attorney. who
is conducting his own defense, and
DR.. Henry L. Peckham, jr., in Chief
Justice Bolitha j. Laws court.
DR.. Peckhan, q physician, Is
charged with having performed an
abortion for Mrs. Hobbs, and the
Government has said 1t considers
Mr.. Laughlin an accessory, although
he is named in the indictment as
equally responsible with DR.. Peck
ham. Both men have denied the
charges.
Married Last May.
Mrs. Hobbs first testified Tuesday
afternoon and had been o witness
almost continuously during court
sessions since then. She appeared
today In q powder blue costume
which replaced the gray suit OF yes
terday.
Mrs. Hobbs, who was referred to
In the indictment by her maiden
name of Esther Pickard, married
Mr.. Hobbs last May, soon after the
alleged operation.
Her testimony about the alleged
threat was given with considerable
heat. It came up as Mr.. Laugflin
was pressing her for information
regarding any telephone calls she
had made to him from Raleigh,
N. c., where she now lives.
Mrs. Hobbs, who was formerly en-
gaged to Mr.. Laughlin, said the
threat had been made between the
time she underwent an illegal oper-
alton In March, 1947. and her mar
riage to Mr.. Hobbs May 2.
Tells Of Calling Laughlin.
She, said he had told her and
other persons that he could have
her husband removed.
Just before this testimony, she
said that after her marriage she
returned late one night to the
Hobbs apartment in Raleigh. She
said she knew a man named STAN
ford Carrier was in Raleigh and
identified him as man for whom
Mr.. Laughlin had obtained an
acouittal of a murder charge. She
said she then called Mr.. Laughlin
by phone.
"You said he (referring to Car
rier) could make my husband dis
appear without leaving trace and
! was worried" she testified.
After the testimony concerning
Carrier and the statement that he
could make Mrs. Hobbs husband
disappear, n. Mason Welch, attor-
ney for Or. Peckhan, moved for
n1istrial on the ground that the
witness, in effect, had testified on q
murder threat, prejudicing the de-
PENDANTS position. After confer
ence ut the bench, the cross-exami-
nation continued.
Carrier Was Boxer.
= Carrier, 80, former Silver
Spring boxer, was represented by
Mr.. Laughlin when he was ac-
Quilted by District Court jury
OF q first-degree murder charge
In the death of Paul Higgins, IS.
Mr.. Higgins, whose body was
found in an alley January !,
1943. had been beaten, robbed
and run over by an automobile.
George X. Burton, tried sepa-
rately on the same case, was
convicted Of second degree muir
der. The jury which convicted
Burton five months before the
Carrier trial, found him guilty
of having aided and abetted Car
rier, named as the driver OF the
car that fatally injured Mr.. Hig-
gins0
Continuing her testimony, Mrs.
Hobbs, in answer to question by
Mr.. Laughlin, denied that her hus-
band had threatened to kill her
with O. pair of scissors. She said
that last April Mr.. Laughlin and
her sister had urged her to leave
Washington for rest and said Mr..
Hobbs thought she was going away
from him.
She said her husband picked up a
pair of scissors but did not touch
her. MIR. Hobbs was taken to CAL
linger Hospital, she said, and later
Mr.. Laughlin took her to the train
so she could 60 home. She said her
husband was a veteran and still Is
suffering from wounds.
She consistently has denied that
she asked Mr.. Laughlin for money
or accepted money from him, but
under cross-examination she ad-
mitted that he had bought the
ticket for the train trip home.
Denies Sister Got Money.
Mr.. Laughlin, during his cross
examination, asked:
did you know that your sister
Marybelle, in June-say June 10
and June 30-asked me for $50 on
each occasion and that the money
was sent?"
my sister and brother in law
never got any money from you" the
witness said.
The next witness was Hubert L.
Stottlemyer, $40 Van Buren street
NV, who works in his brothers
radio shop at 2116 Pennsylvania
avenue NV. Mrs. Irma Petrain
conducts . nursing service office in
the same building.
Mr.. Stottlemyer testified he had
asked DR.. Peckham to perform an
Illegal operation, saying it was for
. young woman in whom a friend
was interested. He said he did this
after . conversation with Mrs. Pc
train In March, 1947.
Shortly after making the request
Of DR.. Peckhan, he testified, Mrs.
Petrain gave him q sealed envelope.
He testified he had no idea what
1t contained.
Can't Recall Mans Identity.
Several days later, he said, he
went to Mrs. Petrain's residence at
2215 H street NV, where he was
introduced to Mrs. Hobbs, who then
was Miss Pickard. A man was pres
- L.xk T. NJ