Evening star., 1952-06-17
Mrs. kornarens
Takes Stand in
Own Defense
Her SIuin Husband
Dragged Of Bieomy,
Model Tells Court
By ChorIes l. Hoffman
Stur Stuff Corresnondenf

who Dragged about his marital
exploits and choked, beat and F
kicked his pretty wife, a Circuit a
Court jury was told here today. y
Mrs. Dorothy Gaskins Kornar- C
ems, 25-year-old Washington fash
ion model on trial for murder in S
the fatal shooting of her hus- t.
band, so, described him on the F
witness stand today. 4
The brunette sobbed frequently
during her testimony and at ID
times the questioning was stopped Il
to let her regain her composure. o
Court Record Entered. . .
The defendants testimony be- =
gan with her childhood and car 9.
ried up through the shooting last
February II at the Kornarens' =
home, 401 Leighton avenue, Sill =
yer Spring. h
Defense Attorney Vivian v. =
Simpson presented in evidence a r
certified copy of District of "
Columbia court record showing =
Mr.. Kornarens had been convict
ed of bigany and given sus- =
pended one-to-t -three-year SEN :,
tence. 6
Mrs. Kornarens said her hus- =
band at one time Dragged to her \
that he had been married to three
girls at the same time. She said
he called them Jane, Elsie and O
Vivian. q
Mrs. Kornarens told the jury il
that her first two marriages had a
ended in divorce. She was his a
fifth wife.
Says She Loved Him. r
Asked why she hadn't left her !. :
husband if he were so cruel to :
her, Mrs. Kornarens: II was con-
fused. 1 didn't know what to do. :.
/ loved my husband very much"
When questioned by Mont y
gomery County Assistant States =
Attorney Thomas M. Anderson as =
to why she had not gone to stay
with her parents, she said:
MY mother has been sick for
many years. try never to bother : :
my mother with my own prob v
lems." ,
Mrs. Kornarens said, however,
that she had left Mr.. Kornarens
with whom she had been living
before her marriage when he had
said there was no reason for them +
to be married. She said he called
her about a week later. promised
to marry her and begged her to
return. They were married on ,
April 80, 1851. !
Talked With Minister. Il
She said that at various times Ic
when she had threatened to leave q
"he begged me to- stay" She
added she really had not wanted a
to leave him. She wanted their t
marriage to work. she said. t
When MIR. Anderson asked her
why she had never got a warrant r
for Mr.. Kornarens' arrest, she i
said that police had told her 1t
would be a "very nasty, ugly t
mess" She said. however, she ID
had called her minister and asked 6
him to talk to her husband.
The State was unable to cause q
Mrs. Kornarens to waver in her >
earlier testimony that she had e
bought the gun to commit suicide. Il
She repeatedly insisted she could /
not remember many details Of the Ic
day Of the shooting. Il
In its cross-examination the
State submitted in evidence a t
note Mrs. Kornarens had written t
from the Rockville Jail to her t
41ospitalized husband. In it she Is
referred to him as dearest Jack" l.
Ends Three Hours on Stand.
The note read in part: |
"All that can say is that I
am truly sorry for all that has
happened. Please try to under e
stand. No matter what happens y
I'll love you always. God bless &
you. Dorothy" S
She left the witness stand at 4
1910 pm, after nearly three Ie
hours of testimony. Ir
Mrs. Kornarens told the. jury r
that she twice had taken over q
doses Of sleeping tablets in an
attempt to kill herself. She also \
said that at one time she had ]
jumped from a window Of the lr
home where she and Mr.. Korna- '
rens had lived. t
Mrs. Kornarens broke down &c
when asked why she had leaped S
from the window. Ic
II was living with him and we
weren't married. 1t was wrong, S
wrong" she sobbed. t
Says He Stayed Drunk.
She said that from last July c
until the shooting he had been /
drunk most of the time. She i
added he beat her, argued with 4
her and often kicked her when :
he was drunk.
She said that last January Mr..
KornarenS told her they were notll
legally married because their we'd II
ding date came IA days prior to 4
the issuance of their final divorce !
DEGREES. At that time, she said
he told her he would never letl
her go.
HE said he would make me So 6
no other man would ever look atlc
me-" she testified. |
Mrs. KornarenS said she had :
bought the gun with which her
husband was killed with the in
tention of using it on herself.
Asked by Miss Simpson why she {
had not contemplated using sleep !
ing tablets again, she replied:
They never worked" (
The State yesterday rested it's
case after eight witnesses testified.
Defense Attorney Joseph B.