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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 4, 1925)
9 \ "sccoz^i^im | The Omaha Sunday : Bee I j ^_. V , J . P A R T T W 0 * OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 4, 1925. 1—B , _—— OMAHAN HELD FOR AX MURDER OF WIFE • __ Woman in! . House for Less Laws Mrs. Mabel A. Gillespie Willi Eight to Eliminate Many Now on the Statutes. Seek Committee Jobs I5.v P. C. POWKIX. ««off f orrmpnmlfnt The Omnlm Upo. Lincoln. Neb.. Jan. 3.—Mr*. Mabel A. Gillespie, Sarpy county representa tive, was the first of the three women legislators to take an active part in milling In legislative halls. By her side was her husband, W. C. Gilles pie, a cattle man. In face. Mr. Gillespie will remain In Lincoln all during the winter. It will he his longest sojourn off the farm in many years, and he expresses doufit as to whether he will enjoy urban life. Mrs. Gillespie announced she hadn't n single bill for introduction. In stead, she intends to take a hi nd in hilling a number now on lh« statute lioiiks, "I expect to be a murderer when it comes to handling legislation,” she confided to friends. Mrs. Gillespie is a political protege of llarohl Seeord. Gretna editor, and will not maid* any attempt to obtain oomfnittee appointments until Seeord appears In Lincoln Tuesday, the day the legislature convenes. Seeord is a strong goods roads advocate, and it i» expected that Mrs. Gillespie will niil in a fight for better roads this! • winter. For Women’s Lights. Saraji T. Muir, Dlneolh high school 'English teacher, another woman member, always has taken an active part in woman suffrage, she intend.-' to fight for more equal laws for he: s'*x during the session. Mrs. Clara c. Humphrey, representing the short grass counties of Grant. Loup. Hook er. Thomas, Blaine, Ix>gan, McPher son and Arthur, has not yet put in on appearance. Omaha members are expected in Lincoln tomorrow to login thejr scramble for committee assignments. Undoubtedly, George B. Dybnll will receive any house committee assign ments he wants this year because of ^HasC.iis seniority. Dybnll was on the im portant cc *mlttop on committees Inal year and it Is taken for granted he, will he given the same potitlon this year. This committee comprises a tnpmber front each of the six con gressional districts. All committee assignments are made by this com mittee, which will be elected Monday. Dyball selected chairmanship of the cities apd towns committee two years auo and he is expected to take the Kama post this year. The house judiciary committee promises to have more than the ordi nary number of Douglas county mem her? this year nr. a glance at the ton ter of Douglas county solons shows that 10 out of the 13 members are listed as attorneys. Tills unusually large num'icr of attorneys is taken by nutetatp members to indicate mimrr nits salary hike bills for Douglas county officers. A bill stripping the legislature of the power to regulate r.ilnries will be Introduced at this r.i *sion, according to reports current lt< re. No .Municipal Light Bill. The H<>\vell municipal light bill, which made the cities and town* committee the center of much tur moil in past yearth will not be intro duced at this session, according to word received by a friend of Senator Howell in a letter which the senator peijdtted to be made public. "Does anyone think I would permit an innocent habe like the muny light Pill to go to a legislature without being on hand to protect It?" Howell wrote. in the senate It Is expected that ^ Senator John W. Robbins will ask for "^HH^hairman ship of the cities, and towns ' Toinmlttee if he is defeated for spejik rr, pro tern. He was chairman of this committee two years sgo. Senator John W. Cooper will re fpicst, chairmanship of the senate judiciary committee again, while Sen •Itor William N. Chambers will seek chairmanship of the ' committee on manufacturing and commerce. Sena (or T. R. Dysart, jvho #cas chairman ot the house judiciary committee at the last session Is known to desire n berth on the semUc judiciary com mittee. Other rdWimlttee assign ments desired by Omaha members have not b~cn made public. FOND FUNERAL Fun*ral service* for Frank M I'l.ii l. Insurnnce mnn. who illeil New V. r s eve at Ills home, will be belli | Monday at 2::I0 p. rn.. at the Kent-1 iib Rite cathedral Capitol lodge ;jn of Masons will he In charge. ISurtul will he in West Fawn came ler>. Honorary pallbearers will be T. I«. Comb*, <1. W. Creene, ,1. S. Davis. K I., Hoag. A. C. Pancoant, (1. W. 1'iatner, Alba M. .Smith, .1. It. Stine, ti. F. West, Victor White, ('. K. Her ring and C. F. Huntington. Beatrice Hoads Blocked. Beatrice, Neb., Jan. 3.- Farmers mining to the city report that ihe ighwd.vs In places Hie filled willi 'sf^inniv, and It will tie some diva before they ate opened for trattlr. n*be main traveled highways are re ported gynd, although In some places fiey have been worked a* . uooth «» y~— -~x j 1 Hahne Confined in State Asylum in October, 1919 Records at the courthouse show ! that charges of insanity were filed i against llaline by his wife in dis trict court August 1, 1919. He was examined by a commission consist ing of Alvin Johnson, Robert Smith and Dr. C<. A. Young on August 4 and adjudged insane. He was left in custody of his wife until October'53 when he was taken to the asylum at Lincoln. Mrs. Hahne told Robert Smith lie called up from the station as he was about to he taken on hoard the train, telling her not to come and see him because he was going to escape and come bark and kill her. Mrs. llaline testified at the hear ‘ iug he was suspicious and accused her of trying to get rid of him by poisoning him and that she was "an agent of confidence men.” She said he had attacked her several times. Dr. Young’s report of the hear ing states that Hahne was quiet and good-natured then, willing to be examined, provided his wife was also. \-/ Slaver Suspect’s Actions in Jail Point to Insanity • - kdioas Authorities Pile 1 |» K\ ideure for McMahon Hearing to Lie Held 'litis Week. , Washington, Kan., Jan. 3.—Jark McMahon, alias Olcn Ireland, hold hero In connection with the slaying of Owen Brown, whose charred body n'as found under his wrecked auto mobile on a highway south of here Tuesday night, has apparently be come violently Insane while waiting for the preliminary hearing to be held early next week. His violent, actions have forced au thtritles to strap him to his Jail hunk to prevent him from injuring himself. Doctors cannot agree as to whether or not he is really insane nr merely feigning. The county authorities are complet ing their investigation of Brown’s death and believe that they will he able to. present a complete rase against McY.fthon when he is placed on trial. In a statement to officials. Mc Mahon is said to have admitted that he and Arown quarreled on the night when the latter was killed, as they were re timing In Brown’s ear from Beloit, where they had gone to get some money owipg to Brown from McMahon. McMahon dentes, how ever. that he attacked Brown. He asserts that they had had several drinks in Concordia and that Brown was unable to control the car when It came to the slippery turn where It overturned. Indications that the car may have been pushed over deliberately have le.l authorities to doubt McMahon's story. Stains on the spokes of the wheels are believed to he blood stains left by the Angers of the slayer. ■Brown’s skull has been sent to a Kansas City medical college, where surgeons will attempt to ascertain whether the Injuries which caused death were delivered by a weapon or were received in the automobile crash. #1 n an effort to identify McMahon as the man who robbed the* Barnes State hank at Barnes, Kan., Decem ber 3, the pashier of the hank was brought to Washington Friday, hut he was unable to identify the man positively.. COOLIDGE NAMES DAKOTA MARSHAL Washington, Jan. 3.—President Conlidge sent to the senate today the name of John rtnnka for I'nlted States marshall for South Dakota. /-“---- N Hahne’s Statement: In a statement to police Hahne detailed his move ments Friday as follows: • Is-ft hoiiuCat 10 in the morn ing ami got a slmve In a barhrr shop at Twenty-fourth and F streets. Took Crosstown ear and trans ferred, arriving al First National hank. Went to .laenlisnn .lew ejry store in World-Herald build- * ing and bought wrist w.it* It for wife for 330. Consulted attorney, Wayne Suvtell, in Oin:'!ia Na- , (lima! Hank building at noon. Transacted business at Hull Coal company oilier. Paid hill at The Omaha lire oflire. Paid lit* insurance premiums at Omaha National hunk. Iteturned to j South Omaha by street car and paid hill at 0. It. hardware store. Started home. Mel Thomas Prouder, a plumber, and asked him to come to the house mid look for a leak in a |>i|M\ lie said lie had to go to 2B0I Frskine street and I rode with him to lliat place and returned with him to my house. I hollered (wire for my W Ife ns we opened (lie front door, (lot no response. I.ooked around and saw some tiling al bottom ot cellar steps. Called Prouder, lie said it looked like n head of rags. We went down. It was my wife. Pm)a was found al 2:13 p. hi. v---'i Evidence and Scene of Murder of Omaha Hatchet Victim Bcdy Huddled at Bottom of Cellar Stcpz of Home s_/ The lmd.v was huddled st the Ivottom of the cellar steps. Two dozen gashes were in the head, some so deep that the hrnins were , visible. The Unuekles of the right hand had been scratched and broken as though she had tried to protect herself. Wood was spattered on the'cell ing and walls. The undertaker who took tho body at I p. in., said it hail been i dead several hour*. A hatchet ami hammer, hang ing over a work be mb in the cel lar, had blood and strands of gra> hair on them. A brown flannel shirt, crrrnish brown kalikl trouser* and sus pender* were also taken by police. ^ |)ashe« of blood were on a pair of suspender* attached to the trous er*. Odell Man Dies. ■ Beatrice, Neb., Jan. .1—Alex Arm strong of Odell died at l,o» Angeles, Onl., where be had been receiving treatment. The body was brought to Odell by Ida pa rente, Mr. and Mr* i'h^rlea Armstrong, old residents of that place. Hatchet Victim Keen Student of Religion - I Second Vi ife of Man She Married Might Years \ go. Mis. Hailin' was formerly Mrs. j May llrtmett of Colorado Springs, ! (olo., owner ol a i leaning rstah lisliineiil. She and llalme were I marrieil eight years ago. Relatives say she was highly eriu.ilnl, a graduate of (lie I ill versify of Wist nils III and lhal she stlldi d at (lie Methodic t Theolngi tal seminary in (Tiirngo. In her home Is a large library of works eu religion, poetry and pliilnsophy. It Is said she owns property in Colorado Springs, including a cemetery lot she was llalme's seeniul wife, Friend* ol the family said Ids first wife died suddenly- more Ilian in years ago while the couple lived in Sew \ ork. Tiie ilc id woman is survived hy her husband, a brnthrr. Kilnard sliaelfer, of Tulsa, llkla.. and two •I ters. Mrs. Hetman Rnthroff and til ( limbs I ai ti idv, hotli id llenver, t olo. • I pper right picture: Hammer and hatehet fniinil in cellar with hlinid and trands of hair on them. Blood-stained newspaper al«o found in rellar. I pper rial*!: Tile Hahne home af 3837 Smith Twenty-third street. Middle left: Blood-stained suspenders, with trousers and coat. Middle left: Where the body was found, at the foot of the cellar steps, head resting on IdWer step which was covered with blood. The blood stains m the wall are visible in the picture. Central pielure: .1, Warren Hahne, the husband, held for first degree nurder. I.ower picture: W rist watch bought by Hr.line at a Fifteenth and Famam streets jewelry store .it noon Friday, after she was dead, witli ' Happy New tear, from Husband Warren" card to go with the watch. Murder Suspect Jokes With Police; She Was Best Friend in World, He Says; Husband Is Reported Worth $49,999 J. Warren Hahne, South Omaha real estate man, was placed in a cell in Central police station at 1 :30. following the verdict of a coroner’s jury at the Larkin mortuary, or dering him to be held for trial in the district court on charges of murdering his wife, Mae B. Hahne, in their home. 3837 South Twenty-third street. Never has a man charged with murder been so calm, court officers declare. He talked and joked as though nothing had happened. He smiled, readily. Keels Worse Now. “I felt bail when I found the dead body of my wife," he told Rertillon oficers, “but I feel worse today. This Is a hell of a way to start off the new year, Isn't It, boys?" H» slated he was born In Page coun ty, Iowa, KO years ago. lie has prop erty worth about $10,000, he said, and hi* wife carrip-l insurance of $R,0rt0 or $10,000. Scarred by Wound*. A man of m ddie height, rather heavy and built powerfully with thick hand* and short, powerful fin gers, he ntnde an unuflital appearance, ill* nose i» slightly shortened, the re suit of an operation, he stated Numerous scar* on hi* body wc*. canned, he said, by plumbers’ neb I and by wound* of various kinds. II ttid* Are t a I loused. Ills hands are calloused, caused by tending furnaces In his apartment houses, carrying out the ashes, etc. Asked whether he loved his wife, he smiled and said: "Ortainly. She \s«s the best friend In the world. She could cook fine nnd was accomplished. My f1r**t wife was \ beautiful woman but she couldn't rto anything.** Not |’n lie Qu^limifd. Iluline is in n cell by himself and will not l»e questioned at all, accord Imp to Kritr Franks, acting chief of iletectlvee. 4 "The coroner .* jury has ordered him hcbl for trial for first degree murder and It la now in the hands of the district court." an Id Franks Mis Mahno lived In Denver for a time, despatches from there state ihie of her stater? Mis Charle* A Hecrolx. Wt Denver Saturday after noon for onmha. Son Francisco, Jan. 3 Mis. J. \Y Huhne. who was found killed in Dina Im yesterday, was married to John Warren llnhne. a widower, here. IV enihei 4. lHIT*, a. cording to city record** At that time llnhne pave his ape ih 42 and his residence ns Nebraska. Mr** llnhne gave her name i* Ma\ 8 1 Jennett. widow, ape .IK, and hei resldem e t'olorado Kprimts \ ’«*!•» Her maiden name, ac cording to the records, was Nhuffii, \ HACKED BODY FOUND AT FOOT OF CELLAR STEPS; BLOODY HATCHET NEAR Coroner's Jury Holds Husband, Protesting Innocenee, for Trial for First Degree Murder; Twenty-Four Gashes in Head; Two Diamond Rings Missing; Sus pect Utters Sharp Cry at Inquest. PUTS WRIST WATCH TAYS1W3UBAHCE PREMIUM AFTER CRIME J. Warren Hahne, South Omaha real estate man and apartment house owner, was held without bond on charges I of first degree murder of his wife, Mae B. Hahne, by verdict of a coroner’s jury following an inquest at the Larkin mortu ary at 11 Saturday morning. Mrs. Hahne’s body was found at the foot of the cellar steps in the residence, 3837 South Twenty-third street at - 2:1S Friday afternoon following an unusual series of activi 1 ties by Mr. Hahne as stated by him to police. Though the woman was killed some time in the morning, i her husband bought her a wrist watch about noon and also paid the premium on an insurance policy of $5,000 on her life. Utters Sharp Cry. Hahne was brought to the inquest in custody of De tectives Brigham and Wright. A rather short, heavy-set * man, bald headed and with a small, choppy moustache, he 1 was dressed in a brown checked suit and black overcoat I with velvet collar. He seemed composed but at one point during the testi mony he uttered a sharp cry and bowed his head for a rao jment. This was when Thomas Bronder. a plumber, testified about finding the body. A great crowd attended the inquest. The jury was out just long enough to write the verdict which read* a* follows: "We, the jury* duly impanelled, do find that Mae B. Hahne catne to her i death by wounds inflicted by A. Warren Hahne, stid rec6imnend that A. Warren Hahne he held to the district court for first degree murder.** Spattered With lilood. Jumrs wore O. T. Doerr. 312,1 South Nineteenth street: J. H. Hogan. 42S Lincoln boulevard: F. J. McKeon. -.<35 South Twenty-third street. IV. G. Nichols. 2059 North Kighteenth street; Teter l’alleson, 421 North Kighteenth ■treet, and Frank L. McCabe, 503 North Thirty-fifth street. The lower step of the stair* on which the dead woman's body rested, was covered with blood. The walls were spattered w.th it. Mrs. Fred Wasem. 2315 D street, told detectives that she went to the Hahne home about 10 Friday morn ing and that Hahne came out of the house and told her Mrs Hahne had gone downtown. Two large diamond earrings were In the dead worn in's ears when the body was found. Two diamond rings, valued at M.000 were missing, but Hahne declared they would he found somewhere around the house. Meets Him Again. Thomas A. Brouder. a plumber with a place of business at 4622 South' Twenty-fourth street. Was the first witness called. He said Hahne came tv his ship at 12:43 Friday noon and said there was a leak of some kind at his home which he wanted fixed. I told him I had a Job at 2001 Kr.-kine street and he left In about five minutes. At 12:30 as 1 was driv ing to the Rrak'ne street Job 1 met him at Twenty-fourth and II streets end he asked me where l was going. " hen I told him he Insisted that he would ride up there with me. He did so. After we had been there a short time he said he wanted to look after a furnace in his apartment house and we started back. Door Is las Ui d. "When we arrived he went first to1 his apartment house, the Arcadia,, next to his home wh.le I tried to enter his house to look for the leak But the door was locked and 1 waited till he came. "As w-e entered he calied a couple of times for his wife. There was no answer. After * hit he called me to the cellar doorway and asked me to look down at something he had: caught sight of. 'What Is that?' hei asked. 1 answered that It looked like a bundle of mgs. "Then we went down stairs and as we reached the bottom, he cried out: Wouldn’t tall Polite. " 'Oh. my Hod, It s my wife. She looks like she Is dead.' "t wanted to call police at one*, but he said no. Then 1 said we should carry the body up the steps, and finally we did so. I taking the head and going first, Mr. Hahne carrying the feet. \\> laid it in the dining room and he put a pillow under the hand Then I said again we ought to j notify the police. hut he said he want cd to get his lawyer, and he called him up Then ha called the drug store at Twenty fourth and K streets and asked the name of a doctor, and then called l>r N Kvrrett •Police were not called till chut 45 minutes after we found the luslv | They arrived at the house »b>ut S it> ( all* to Neighbor. "Kvrn after wo had brought the body up from the > ellar Mr Hahne thought at suit the look and naked m* to try to find It." lvtnotlve tieorge ltilgham testtftrd that he found blood on the floor, walls and stairway, and on the buffet in the dining room Thomas Payne, who ll»e* on the second floor of the Hahne home, testified that he and Ids wife left early In the morning for their work The first I knew of the murder | was when I rationed nitcut t in the | ifteinoon Ml Hahne railed to me '|g> you kn o what's happnrd" M> I wife is dead Mrs Kuto P i lie '.old how stir Ins* learned of the death of Sira. Hahne. when her husband called her up about 3. She had gone to work at 7:10 in the morning. I couldn't believe It,” she aaid. I returned about 5:43. I did not go down to the mortuary to look at the body, but I went down In the dining room of the Hahne home about K:30 and noticed Mood on the carpet, china closet and buffet. This morning when I looked at it again, it seemed that seme had been removed. There was blood in the basement. “My husband's nose was bleeding the night before and he h“ld it over the tub on the main floor, but did not get any on the towels in the bath room.” i4 Cuts in Scalp. Dr. S. XfeCleneghan, coroner s physician, stated that the cause of Mrs. Hahne’s death was bleeding, shock, concussion of the brain and fractures cf the skull. He found 74 cuts In the skull and scalp, half of them at least made by a sharp instrument such as an ax a fracture in the back of the skull, hemorrhage at the hase of the brain eentuson of the right hand, fracture of one of the bones at the back of the head, abrasions on the right el bow. contusion and discoloiption of the left eye. * She wr.s a well nourished woman, her heart in goo 1 condition, no sign of d;«e-ise end could not have faint ed. ' said the doctor. Dlotsl spots on the carpet In the mum floor rooms led Chief of Police Van Deusen to believe Mrs. Hahne was killed there and then thrown down tho cellar steps. Photographs of the scene were tak en hy the county attorney s office for use in prosecution. Hahne was born In Polk county. Iowa and came to Council Bluffs when he was 13. I.ife insurance to the extent of *3 onn was carried on the life of Mrs. Hahne, according to police. Formerly a Fanner. Tom Payne and his wife live on the second floor of the Hahne home The former Is electrician at Armour* and it he latter employed at Paxton A Gal iaghcr's, oo they were absent from the house all day. The Hahne home stands on the northeast corner of Twenty third and tl streets. Hahne owns also the house to the north and the apartment house on the east. He was formerly a farmer living 1« miles south of Ottawa la., according to Thomas Moore. 4411 Paige street, who brought Hahne s sister to the South Side station with s package of food for him. Worried About Fires He seemed worried during the night for fear the fires In his apartment house would go out. Pete. Uvea found a Mood statne-i newspaper in the house in a search Sat uni iy morning This was added to the evidence In the c««c which now- includes a blondv hammer and hatchet, blood-stained auspendhrs. an Iron bar. ene of the dead woman's shoos, her glasses and a pap of work trousers and brown flannel shirt Head on Step* The he«d of the victim rest .si on the bottom step of the cellar stair* when the body was hound One slipper had come off and her glasses were found some distance away. Chief of Poll.*- Van lVusen himself Inspected the premises Saturdav morn ing Injure*! Skater itrltfr. Hentrn Neb da -1 -la, - HctttrbH* Wav. * ho » f t. .MV of i o !»HUii '♦hi!*' 'kat • £ on thi* HJu«* rtvfr, imi sMeht* \\ a| W*r Ho« r.fi ; • i. 'i •• cut for b * • rtovet l