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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 1917)
THE BEE: OMAHA,- THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 191. Kelly Defense Introduces Testimony to Show Little Minister Mentally Unbalanced at Time the Ax Murders Were Committed Was STENOGRAPHER TELLS HOW KELLY . MADECONFESSIOH Minister Declares Murderer Must Have Been Insane to Commit Such a Horri ble Crime. (Continued Croat Pas Om.) sound mind when you got there?" asked Mitchell. "Decidedly of unsound mind," was the reply. Jackson testified Kelly appeared ill and acted ike! a wild man. . J. J. Ferguson of Council Bluffs, court reporter, who took the conver sation between Havner, Hess and Kelly at Logan during one of the meetings the latter par of August, read the transcript of his notes. I would hardly say he was entirely fcound." was Ferguson's answer when questioned by Judge Mitchell at the conclusion of his reading. Following are exclamations made by Kelly dur ing the Logan jail session reported by Ferguson and as read by him in court: : : , "I am in an awful fix, Mr. Havner. I will get down there and I won't have any attorney." "Oh, dear, my poor wife and moth er. It will have to be a fight on sen timent." "I mean if I did it, I wasinsane." "What are you going to do with me, Mr. Havner?" ' 'Ohl Mr. Hess, you don't realize my position. You don't claim any .sane man would do a thing like that, do you?" : - "I have felt my mind was wrong all of the time." V "I thought I was going in there to preach a sermon." (Meaning the Moore home.) "I came back here because Sutton told me to do so." Doubti About Wilkerson. ,"Ohl God, my poor wife and moth." i , . , .' "Honestly,! don't know where I am." "You have got me in an. awful po sition," : , .-, .. -, "Look at the mental shape." '"Oh, dear; oh, God: you are talking to a man in an awful physical condi tion." ' N S ' v "Oh, 'God! You can hang me and I have no defense." ?. "Take me, kill me, that is all." "Oh, men I I have been suffering five years." - , , "I am an insane man and have been insane for five years and I know it." "Wilkerson didn't do me any harm." "I am without any attorney." "I am at the mercy of Havner. If Sutton were here he would guide me. Havner has the power to put me where I can be taken care of. Characteristic remarks by Attorney General Havner, as read by Ferguson: "Haven't you preached, a sermon on the subject of not punishing insane people for murder?" lift'- v. . '4 "Tell me the truh about Wilkerson." "You are pretty foxy, all right." "Don't ytu tear that letter up." - "Do you want a doctor to come here and examine you?" "Don't get excited. Just tell me how you got out of the Ewing home." "I cannot help you until you have told the truth." . , "And you killed them with an ax?" "We don't want a word that is not the truth." "Do you remember burning build ings at Sutton, Neb.?" , "Do you think you were Insane when you did it?" " "Do you remember following the' ' shadow around the house?" Told to Tell Truth "I think you are playing all the time to protect yourself. ' "Has anyone in this room been un kind to you?" "Could you swear God told you to slay utterlyf'" y v . Ferguson s transcript now Is a mat ter of court record. It shows that Kel ly sent for Havner and that he was warned many times during the meet : ing to tell only the truth. The reading by the court reporter revealed a weird scene in the Logan jail during the hours of the night. The defense intends to show that severat sessions with Kelly in the Logan jail ' preliminary to the confession, which was received in evidence on Tuesday, , were attended by third degree neth ods and that undue suggestion was used by the prosecution, . Havner already has contradicted that charge in positive terms and the lawyers for the state still maintain that even Fergusons' transcript as read does not reveal any third degree treatment. Following are t few con nected excerpts from the transcript read this afternoon: - ' . t Kelly: "You are talking to a man in awful physical condition." Havner: ''That won't prevent you from telling the truth." : , Kelly: "1 have been talking all right." . " , . Havner: "How do you know that?" Kelly: "I heard my own voice. Oh, Godl You are going to kill me." . r Havner: "How do you know we are going to kill you?" s Sheriff Meyers: "I am in favor of taking him back to the jail and let it go at that." ;.'; .. Never Have Money. Asked if they paid his fare from Illinois to Red Oak when he re turned last May, Kelly said: "Preach ers never have any money." 4 Hess: "I have told yon time and time not to say anything but the truth. All we want is truth.? Mitchell examined Ferguson briefly as to Kelly's, condition during the night at the Logan jail. , "He was nervous, under apparent ucai nu awcai. i neira nun sob bing at least once because I put it in my notes. ; His speech varied between low and loud." "Tell the jury in your best Judg ment whether Kelly at that time was of sound or unsound mind " asked ' Mitchell "He was rather nutty at that time." "What do you mean, sound or un : sound?" ; ?. r , , . "I would hardly say he was entirely sound." HOW CONFESSION WAS MADE. The feature' of the morning session waa the testimony of J. J. Ferguson of Council Bluffs, a court reporter who was present when Kelly made Witnesses for Defense in Ax Murder . Case; Bots Who Last Saw Victims Alive . Mr , his confession. He read from his transcript -of the proceedings of Au gust 31 taken in the office of the sheriff in Logan, la. Ferguson testified that he reached Logan at 2:30 in the morning and found Attorney General Havner, Special State Agent. Risden, Sheriff Myers, Deputy Sheriff Atkin, Kelly and a woman stenographer in Sheriff Myers' offiice. He read for an hour and a half from his notes taken at this meeting. He stated that he took down the entire conversation. Thl Is what his notes showed: "Havner: 'Kelly, of course, if you want your lawyers I will not deny you that right, but you sent for me, didn't you?'" i - - "Kelly: 'Yes. Someone told me that whatever you said would be alright.' " Havner: 'Don t get excited, Kelly, ust tell us how you got out of the wing home that night when the Lord told you to go on. . , "Kelly: JIf I could see Sutton or Mitchell they would say that any man who did that was insane.' " , , Heart Voice Calling. ; "Hess: 'We don't want you to say anything that is not of your own free will.' "Kelly: 'I know Havner has been most kind to me. . I want to be tried on insanity. What are you going to do for me?' "Havner: 'I cannot help you until you have told me the truth.' "Kelly i 'You are lawyer enough to know a preacher would not do that unless he was insane.' " Referring to the night the crime was committed Kelly said he did not speak to Anyone in the Presbyterian church. After he went to the Rev. Ewing house and was shown to hit room he heard a voice saying: "Rise, Peter, slay and eat." He heard this voice in the house. He became hot and the room seem ed to be hot so he went to the road. He again heard the voice while in the road. - . , "Kelly: 'I think I entered the Moore house by the front door, be cause I followed a shadow and the shadow entered there. I heard another voice saying, "Let there be light and there was light."" . Killed All of Them. Kelly continued telling about find ing a light when he entered the house. "My head was in a whirl," he said, "and it was hot." "Kelly: 'I hard scripture pas sages everywhere I went. One said, "I am the door," and another voice said, "Hurry up." Another voice kept calling me by name.'" ' V "Kelly: 'It seemed like Sunday and the Lord said, "Suffer the little -children, to come unto me." The voice kept saying it over and over and I suppose the Lord wanted me to do it.'" . - "Havner: 'And you killed them with an ax?' - "Kelly: 'I ' suppose so. When I thought I was done I went down stairs. I was very tired and had to sleep. Then I Slew two more be cause I thought the Lord wanted me to do that. I had to do exactly as the Lord wanted me. I have worried five years because I could not see how I could have done it I was in sane that night I was the Lord's grandson.' I did as nearly as I could what the Lord told me and have been doing that ever since. " Havner inquired about the bloody shirt, but Kelly said he could re member nothing about it t May Be Delusion. "Kelly: You do not want to kill an insane man do you? l am tell ing what I believe to be the truth, but if it is a delusion I cannot help if v "Hess. We do not want anything but the truth. Is this your recol lection of what happened? " "Kelly stated that it was his recol lection, but he was subject to. delu sions. He eaid that . Sutton and Mitchell would say that only an in sane man could do it" "Kelly: I remember hearing the voice say, 'Slay utterly.' It seems as though I did not know what was go ing on until it was all over. It was just like walking in my sleep or a dream. The Lord told me to slay ut terly. I slew the children first be cause the voice said 'Suffer the little children to come unto me.' " "Havner: 'After you did the Lord's work, where did you go and what did you do?'" "Kelly then told of going to the Ewing house, where he packed his S.rip and went to the station where he caught an early train. He told of thinking he was the best detective in the country and talked about the case' " ' 4 . - ' Must Have Been Insane. "Havner: 'Were you insane at the time?'" "Kelly :,'I must have been."' "Havner: 'Do you remember all that happened?'" "Kelly: 'Yes, I do.'" "Havner: 'I think Kelly ' that , you should go before the grand jury that is coming soon because a lot of peo ple think that Jim did that. You yould not want tt put on you if you were innocent would you? " ; "Kelly: 'You have in insane men in an awful fix.'" Havrier: 'Was it a delusion that you followed the shadow, heard the voice and took up the ax?'" "Kelly: 'That was not a delusion.'" "Havner: 'Have any of the men in this room been unkind to you?' " "Kelly: 'No."" "Havner: 'Did you send for me?'" "Kelly: Yes."r "Hess: 'We have told you continu ally to tell nothing but the truth?'" "Kelly: 'Yes.'" . "Havner: 'Are you sure that the Lord told you to slay utterly?'" "Kelly: 'He told me that for sev eral days. I can swear to that fact. Something told me that I was doing the vUl of the Lord.'" "Havner: 'You are the mark who did that?" "Kelly: 'I am the insane man. 0, Godl O, Godl The voice told me to follow the shadow. As long as the voice told me to slay utterly I had to keep going on.' " In a letter written to Horace Houghton, Sioux City, la., and sub mitted by the defense as evidence, Kelly stated that the Omaha tornado and overstudy had contributed to unbalance his mind. Kelly's Mind Unsound. "Basing your judgment on what you have testified here in court do you think Kelly was of sound or un sound mind," asked Judge Mitchell of Horace Houghton, the first witness for the defense this morning. "Unsound," was the reply. Houghton is a probation officer of Sioux City. He told of meetings and conversa tions with Kelly March 10 to August 24, 1915. , "Describe Kelly's condition as he appeared to you,'f asked Mitchell. "He was highly excitable, face h'ag gatd, eyes staring, talked incoherent ly and incessantly. I took him to the Young Men's Christian association mm Alice Willard of Villisca will be one of the star witnesses for the defense when it begins the work of breaking up the state's case, according to state ments of counsel. Mrs. Willard was the central figure before the Montgomery county grand jury two weeks ago when an indictment was returned against Attorney General Havner. - This witness is said to have overheard conversations in Villisca on the night before the ax murder and It is generally understood that her account of those conversations involve one or more prominent Villisca citizens. The de fense has' emphasized the statement that it intends to prove that Villisca citizens were in the murder plot and that a man now living in Kansas City was implicated in the crime. Vina Tompkins of Marshalltown is alleged to have overheard what is known as the "slaughter-house plot" in Villisca months before the ax tragedy occurred. She was a Wilkerson witness in the Jones-Wilkerson slander suit last fall at Red Oak. Ed Landers, now residing at Shenandoah, will testify as to the identity of persons seen near the Moore home on the evening of the murder. The defense is not ready to outline the testimony which Landers will offer, but enough has been told to indicate that he will offer something sensational in connection with the belief that the state is on the wrong track when seeking to convict Kelly of the crime. - Detective Lloyd W. Longinecker ot Omaha, and the two boys who last saw the ax murder victims alive. : The pictures were taken at the time of the murder and were exclusively furnished to The Bee by Detective Longnecker. for dinner and he appeared sick and nervous." ' Witness referred ! to a visit oi Kelly to a doctor, who advised him to go to a farm to relieve his nervous breakdown. f g r ' "I sent him to Mr. Jekyll's farm in South Dakota and, arranged foe his ticket," said Houghton. - ': "What did Kelly say during a later conversation?" i ; Said He Was Persecuted. ) "He denied having made improper proposals to a girl. He said he was being persecuted by a detective. I suggested he should go to a farm, but he insisted he was innocent and wanted to sue a. newspaper." ' Cross examined by Faville, the wit ness said "Kelly gave me a book he wrote before he was 19 years of age; said he had been expert stenographer and had won a prize. He wanted me to stand by him until he could get on his feet again and wanted me to un derstand he was an extraordinary preacher. He told me of his arrest at Winner, S. D., for writing to girls and was sent to the federal hospital at Washington, D. C. He told me he lost his memory. He referred to charges against him for asking girls to pose in the nude and told me he was a friend of Dr. Edwards of the Christian Advocate, He said he had reported political speeches. I dictated to him three , nights and his work was good." Was in Hospital. - "What did he say about being at Washington?" ( "He said he was in the hospital for eight months, had had nervous pros tration and did something at Winner he could not recollect." "Did he correctly transcribe short hand notes he took from you?" . "He did." , "What else did he tell you?" "He said his father and grandfather were English- Congregational min isters; that his wife was giving music lessons in South Dakota and asked met to get his clothes and watch out of a pawnshop. He said his mother is Mariam Kelly of Hillside, Royston Herts, England." . , "Did you visit Kelly when he opened a stenographic office in the low building at Sioux City?" "Yes, the first time I called he was dictating to a girL He explained that he was writing a novel. The second time I called he was to have been arrested. He told me he had been -1 I !.L t t . cuargcu wiin asKing a gin io pose in the nude, whereas, Ire said, he asked her to pose in drapery. He said a public stenographer in the building wanted to get him out an4 Dick Rich ards of the detective department was persuading him." . r Did he tell you his purpose for Beneficiaries THEwifeorchUdwhosc MMMMMi X inheritance goes into , the hands of an inex perienced, venturesome, or care . - less Executor or Trustee is not a i v "beneficiary." "Victim" would be . . . a better word. Assure the safety . of those you leave behind by V.. v making this conservative Com pany your Executor or Trustee. having the girl pose for him?" "He did not" "Preaching is Blood Shedding." A sermon on "Dynamic Personal ity," written by Kelly and presented to Houghton at Sioux City in 1915, was offered in evidence as exhibit No. 37. Houghton befriended Kelly and the sermon was in token of apprecia tion. It was neatly written. The last paragraph follows- "What is life? It is virtue giving, virtue shedding. It is not to get some thing, but to give something; not to gain, but to be. It is a sacrifice ot blood and tears and sorrow and pain. It is a sacrament of rich, red wine. Dr. Parker said: "Men, preaching Is blood-shedding." And he meant it was the giving of man's whole strength onto exhaustion even ior His mes sage and his master and we are not truly living unless we are giving far more than we are getting. "Sell all thou hast and give." "It is better to give than to receive." As Lowell says: "A gift without the giver is - bare." ( ' Persistent Advertising Is the Road to Success. Sues for Doctor's Bill ' Contracted by His Wife An rnn nf the Distelhurst di vorce case, aired in district court last spring, ws heard in law court. Judge Redick presiding, Wednesday morn ing when the suit of Dr. John W. Koutsky against Leopold J. Distel hurst was begun before a jury. Dr. Koutsky is suing Distelhurst, i well known business man, for a doc tor bill of about $400 incurred by, Mrs. Distelhurst. 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