Evening star., 1949-05-22
DR.. RuiIedge Denies
Hate for Hatiman,
Victim Of Stabbinq
BY the Associotsd Press

CEDAR RAPIDS. Iowa, May
IA firm denial that he hated
the man he is accused of killing
was made today by DR.. Robert
c. Rutledge. jr., %. Of st. Louis.
DR.. Rutledge underwent relent-
less cross-examination by the
State during his second day in
the witness box. He is charged
with killing Byron c. Hattman.
29-year-old st. Louis engineer, IN
hotel room here last December
II
| 'nty Attorney William Criss-
man asked the pediatrician If he
didn't form a hatred" for HIATT
man after DR.. Rutledge's blond
wife, Sydney. %. told him last
August 10 that Hattman had been
"forcibly intimate" with her
few days earlier.
Says He Felt Resentment.
mo, sir, I didn't" DR.. Rutledge
replied.
You were feeling resentment,
weren't you?" Mr.. Crissman asked.
Yes. sir. Very strong resent
ment." DR.. Rutledge said.
The doctor testified this re-
sentiment continued until HIATT
mans death. The State claims
DR.. Rutledge struck Hattman
from ambush and deliberately in
f1icted a fatal knife wound from
motives of Jealousy, extortion
and robbery"
r. Under prosecution questioning,
Dr. ;Rutledge continued to main
tain he fought Hattman lin self
defense to save my own life" after
the young engineer drew a knife. !"
He insisted he met Hattman by
appointment to try and pay him
money to get him to leave Mrs.
Rutledge alone. They fought a
bloody battle, he said. and he left
the hotel room thinking Hattman
was only stunned.
DR.. Rutledge's wife again re-
mained away from the court
room as she did yesterday when
he spent nearly all day giving his
version of Hattman's death and
the events which led up to it.
DR.. Rutledge was still on the stand
when court adjourned in early
afternoon until IL am. Monday.
There were frequent clashes
between opposing counsel. The
defense objected to nearly every
question Mr.. Crissman asked and
frequently was sustained.
There was heated furry when
Mr.. CrisSman three times asked
DR.. Rutledge where. on Hattman's
head, the blows fell when DR..
Rutledge claims he struck the
engineer with pocket knife he
had wrested from him.
Counts Of Replies.
Each time DR.. Rutledge said,
II don't recall and each time the
prosecutor counted off the reply
on his fingers.
This is one of the things that
MFR. Barngroyer says only you and
God know and you don't re-
member. eh?"
Defense Counsel w. J. Barn
grover had said early in the
trial that only God and DR..
Rutledge know what took place
in that hotel room and DR..
Rutledge will tell about 1t on
the witness stand"
When Mr.. Crissman posed the
question the defense objected
violently and District Judge J. E.
Heiserman ordered the jurors to
disregard the remark. 1t was the
first time he had done this dur
ing the trial. Mr.. Crissman tried
in vain to shake DR.. Rutledge's
contention that he left the hotel
room not knowing Hattman had
been stabbed and thinking he was
merely stunned from the pocket
knife blows.
Glad to Be Alive, He Says.
Did you make any effort to
ascertain how badly he HIATT
mani was hurt?" Mr.. Crissman
asked.
"At the moment I was glad to
be alive myself and I was worried
about my own injuries" DR.. Rut-
ledge replied.
Later on, after DIR. Rutledge
stuck to his assertion that 1t
wasn't until after he was back in
st. Louis that he learned HIATT
man had died, Crissman asked:
Did you have no thought of
remorse over Hattman having
died after the struggle?"
Il don't believe in taking lives"
the young doctor answered. I've
devoted my life to saving lives"