Defendant on
Stand in Hanion
I Murder Trial
Clara Smith Relates Events
Leading Up to Fatal Shoot
ing Which She Claims
Self-Defense.
(I'outinuttd from I'mf One.)
t noticed that the lights in the car
! were on and I said 'wait a minute,
I wait to turn the lights of iny car
off.' lie turned nie loose and I
walked to the car and switched off
I the lights. '
f "When I passed by him. and
turned to get through the door he
again grabbed ine by the arm and
i. jerked me down on , a chair, and
v cursed me. I said 'go to the room
f Mr. Hanion, if you vvant to abuse
"i me. there are some men ' standing
there; you must not talk that way
I here in public,' so he got up and I
? went up stairs to my room.
Was Afraid of Him.
' "I was afraid of Mr. Ilamon, very
; afraid of him. I saw a look on his
j face that I had never seen before.
V, He was drunker than I had ever
1 seen him in all the years I had
known him. He was drunk and
"crazy. I don't think the whisky
was good red whisky as Mr. Nich
''s ols said. He usually drank good
whisky and lie was not usually crazy
like that. He was crazier and
. drunker than he had ever been in
';aU the years I had known him.
. When I got to my room the doors
'.'were locked between our ' rooms,
y that is the bath room door was
' locked. 1 rang for Bill, the porter.
. I thought I had better eat sonie-
thing. I had not had anything to
' ' cat all day. At breakfast I could
j not eat.
"I seldom ever eat any breakfast
' and when Bill came and knocked on
the door he came in with ice water
and Mr. Hanion slipped ip with him.
' I had to unlock the door for Bill. I
Was afraid of Mr. Hanion.. I wanted
'to keep away from him for 24 more
!r hours so I could go to California
i'and wait for him to sober up and
Hconic to me, looking the sweet, kind
plover he liad been before,
j' Sneaked in Room.
;j "So he came in as Bill came in.
Bill poured the ice water in the
',; pitcher. Mr. Hanion paced up and
Jdown, running his hands through his
(ihair as he did when he was agitated,
. and the minute Bill went out and the
i door was closed Mr. Hanion said
.with an epithet. 'Where have you
been,' and grabbed me and at the
1 same time he choked me and he
f thoked me until I was blind and I
, could not seem to think."
y "Now, Miss Clara, "interrupted W.
j,P. McLean of her counsel.' "Just a
; minute. I -will finish the story, Mr.
McLean," she said.
! ' "He choked me and hit me and
f somehow he threw me over on the
bed by one of hik licks, and after he
irot me on the bed ha- beat me and
j s'apped me and hit me two or three
;times and took me by one foot and
jerked me off the bed on my back,
j I had been operated on in the back
f snd it hurt me extremely; .and he
: tuuiv plains iu uik .jne in luc uai.lv
ana ne kickcq. me ana cnoKea me,
.'. nd I struggled to get up and he
j' choked me again and backed me up
, igainst the window ana cnoked me
Rgain and again and slapped me; and
! then he was' not satisfied with that
; and he twisted the skin on my hand;
i he twisted and he was not satisfied
t with that; he bent my fingers back
j md tried to break them, and then he
'said I will cut vour throat, and he
reached for his knife.
Knife Was Missing,
j',' "The knife had. fallen out pf his
? pocket in the afternoon while he was
lying on the bed and I picked it up
and put it over on the table after he
i, walked out of the room; then when
. he did not have the knife in his
pocket he reached for the knife I had
I given him on a little gold chain, and
I somehow, some way, that knife was
t not there. He looked around and
Vmeanrime he was choking and beat-
irg me very bad. I cannot remem
; ber all of it, it fs too much for any
','body to remember." 1
t, "Did he make any remarks to you?"
) .McLean asked.
f "Well, I am getting to that, Mr.
v McLean," she replied, continuing:
H "I am getting to that. He said,
'you have been riding with somebody,
'..haven't you?' and I said, 'no, you
; i know I have not.' I knew that he
;knew I had not.' He was crazy
- !drunk. When he did not find his
igold knife, he saw a knife over on
j the dresser he had given me a long
' time ago, an old knife of his, just
'to sharpen pencils and use around the
f room, and I had it sharpened. It
v Swas very, very sharp. He reached
. for that knife and said, 'I would just
. jas soon slit your throat as .draw on
this cigar.' Anyway, when he
j reached for that knife I knew the
time had come. I unconsciously or
i consciously or somehow reached back
, . , - - - . . . j -I,
,ancl in my purse on inc winaow sm
got my little gun. I asked him to
stand back and let mc pass."
. -' "Well, what did you do with the
gun, with. the pistol, when you got
hold ot.it. viat did you do with it."
McLean asked. ,
Shot in Self-Defense.
.?.'"W!iat did I do with it? What
would anyone do with it if they
thought their life was in danger?"
she replied.
"Never mind that, what did you do
with it?" her counsel asked."
"I held it on him," she went on.
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I "Did he back awa, sort of tietiind
a chair and put his hand on the back
! of the chair?" McLean asked.
"He did not raise his hands. I did
not ask him to. I passed him, too.
lie backed around to the door be
tween our rooms and then I went to
the door to get ou. holding my hand
like this, (indicating), to back up to
the door to unlock it. He had locked
it when Bill went out. I could not
sec him. for he was a little back of
the corner of the bath room, so when
1 unlocked the door I had to let him
out of my sight.
Raised Chair, to Strike.
"4md. understand when I tn
locged the door to go, in that instant
he turned off the light and raised the
chair to strike me and did strike me.
I could see from the light of the hall
through the, transom. He struck me
with that chair and the gun went
off." ,
The defendant left the stand and
walked before the jury box to illus
trate her version of it.
"And I was unlocking, the door
like this and holding the gun on
Mr. Hanion, but he was just out of
my sight for a minute and he got
around the corner and the chair
Came down on mc and it knocked the
gun out on the floor like this and
it weuft off as it fell or I pulled the
trigger, or something as he hit me.
I. don't know. The' gun went off.
"I had the pistol in my hand when
Mr. Hamon hit me with the chair
and it went off, I did not mean to
shoot him," she continued, closing
her story and getting back to a
question and answer basis.
Finishes Her Story.
Court recessed at noon Nmtil 2
p. m. with the young woman Still
on the stand.
Defense counsel requested the ex
tra 30 minutes so that the state could
read 56 letters written to the defend
ant by Colonel Hanion and which it
desires to read into the record.
Immediately upon rfecess Mrs. Ha
nion, the widow, joined Attorney
General Frceling in the task of read
ing the letters.
"They are all old letters," the
widow said, after having read a half
dozen or so. "They were written a
way back in 1914 and 1915 when he
really was infatuated with her. There
are none written lately "
Marriage of Convenience.
Before leaving the stand at noon
Clara said her marriage to Colonel
Hamon's nephew was for the for
mer's convenience and that she never
lived with him a minute, "and it was
not supposed they would live to
gether." "I went under the name of Clara
Smith part of the time and also un
der the name of Hamon," she said.
"I used the name Hanion for . Mr.
Hamon's convenience. I have given
checks signed Clara B, Smith when
I had the money in the bank as Clara
Hamon."
She told about having purchased
the pistol with which Mr. Hamoii
was killed.
. She said: '
Mr. Hamon gave me the money
and told me to buy it."
Hamon Was Sorry.
"Upon the day Mr. Hamon was
shot, after the pistol was fired what
took place, what did you say to Mr.
Hamon, if anything, relative to the
light in the room?" queried her coun
sel. Clara replied:
"He said 'Clara, you hit me; or it
hit me' something like that, I don'ri
remember positively.' 1 said Air.
H'amon' I am sure I did not hit you';
I Said 'lie on the bed and I will call
Dr. Hardy.' I think I said Dr. Hardy;
he was. always our best friend. He
said 'no. 'don't: I can walk to the
hospital.' . I said 'but I must call the
doctor if you are hit; 1 must call the
doctor'; he said, 'yes, I am hit, Clara.
I will go to the hospUal myself; he
raised his vest to show me where he
was hit; there was a spot of blood
about that hie around, (and she
curved her fingers to illustrate)
"breaking down at this point and
crying. He left the room, she said.
I will say it was an accident; it
anyone asks you about this tell them
it is all right, I will make the ex
planations" she quoted him.
She Changed Clothing.
She said after the shooting she
changed clothing, which she said
had been torn badly in the fight,
went out and put away her motor
car and returned to her room where
she spent the night.
"Now the next morning what
was the first place you went to the
next morning?" Mr. McLean asked.
"I went to the hospital to see Mr.
Hamon," she replied. "He had asked
the nurse to call me."
She said she remained at the hos
pital only a few minutes and then
went to Mr. Ketch's office.
"Now, you heard Mr. Ketch's
statement on the witness stand as
to what took place there. Was his
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statement practically the same in the
main?" she was asked.
Says Ketch Story Wrong.
"No, I can't remember all of his
statement, but I know much of it
was incorrect," she replied.
Ketch, former business manager
for Hamon and now administrator
for the estate, testified he gave Clara
$5,(KX) on Hamon's instructions and.
had directed that she leave Ardmore
and remain away. The noon recess
for two hours then was ordered.
Clara did not answer questions in
the dramatic tones in which she had
detailed the story of the shooting of
Hamort at the morning session. She
spoke in a full, firm, low voice and
did not waste words in her replies.
Mr. Hamon held out his arms and
pulled me down and kissed meand
asked me to forgive him and said it
never would have happened if he
had not been drunk, she said Hamo-i
told her at the hospital when she
visited him the morning after the
shooting.
Weeps As She Testifies.
Her voice wavered and tears came
into her eyes as she said that.
She said Mr. Hanion told her she
should leave town to save scandal,
but to come back that afternoon.
She described the conference with
Mr. Ketch at which she was given
money with which to leave Ardmore.
She said she motored to Durant,
Okl., intending to return to Ard
more, but changed her mind and
drove on south to Denison.
From Denison she said she mo
tored to Dallas, where she tried to
get an airplane to San Antonio. She
said she could not get a plane for
an hour and that the ship did not
Ipok safe, so she started to motor to
San Antonio.
She said she was acting on in
structions of Mr. Ketch.
Denies She Has Guns.
She said Everett W. Sallis was her
chauffeur Jrom Dallas, as he testi
fied he was, but she denied, she car
ried two pistols, as he had said.
She said she was driven to Cisco,
Tex., where she bought a railroad
ticket for EI Paso, Tex.
She said she went to Juarez, Mex.,
across from El Paso, and remained
three days and then went to Chihua
hua City. ' "
Clara said when she left Oklahoma
she was not fleeing from a crime she
had committed, but left because Mr.
Ketch told her to.
She very emphatically replied, "I
did not," when asked if she had told
Sallis she had shot a man and that
nothing had been said to Sallis about
her haying shot a man andthat no
discussion on thesuhject of wepons
best for killing men was had. - -Hamon
Took Pistol.
"If that is true, I want to kill my
self,'' she said sheuold Hamon when
he said he had been shot and that
Hamon took the pistol from her. She
said she did not want Mr. Hamon
to die. Her voice wavered again.
Mrs. Hamon, the widow, listened
to Clara's testimo.ny .intently, but
without changing expression.
"Leave and never come back,"
Clara said Ketch told her, but that
when her uncle, Ben Harrison, went
to her she decided to return to Ard
more. "While in old Mexico did you meet
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a fellow going uiifM-r the name of
Sam Klair?'"Mr. McLean asked.
"I did," Clara replied. She said
she had read w hat purported to have
been an interview with her and that
it was what she had told the court
this morning.
Hamon Not on Bed.
She said she never had gotten any
money except $125 from her. oil and
motion picture properties, owned
jointly with. respectivelythe Hamon
estate and Ketch.
"He certainly was not," Clara re
plied when asked if Hamon was shot
while lying on a bed.
"I certainly did not." she replied
when asked If she had placed her
hand on Hamon's' head and fired the
shot which killed, him.
On cross-exaniination she said she
was 29 years old and next October
would be 30 and "had been living
with Mr. Hanion eight or nine
years."
"No. sir, not when I began living
with him," Clara said, when asked il
she was 17 when that arrangement
began.'
She said she began working for
Mr. Hamon in 1913 and worked at
least two years.
Clara Breaks Down.
The court room was thrown into
an uproar when spectators started
wild handclapping and the defendant
broke into tears and was led from
the court room with tears streaming
from her eves.
The outbreak of applause and
Clara's breakdown came after V.
K McLean, of defense counsel, re
plied heatedly to H. H. Brown, spe
cial prosecutor, who had toid the
court:
"Well, we are willing for the jury
to know how they took it, the old
woman arid all."
By the "old woman" Mr. Brown
referred to Clara's mother.
Mr. McLean, prior to Mr. Bsown's
remark, had said that he wanted the
jury to know how the entire Smith"
family took the association of Clara
with Colonel Hamon.
"That old woman, as he calls her,
will he on the witness stand and
can testify, as she is in my judg
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The court ordered the room
cleared after the applause ceased, j
but the spectators were reluctant to
move. After efforts of deputy sher
iffs and bailiffs to remove them,
the court reversed itself, but gave a
lecture on court room decorum.
Clara Hamon could not compose
herself sufficiently to return to the
court room and a one-hour recess was
ordered.
"I don't care what they do with
me." she said as she wept, "but they
must let my poor old mother alone."
After the outbreak had subsided,
Bud Ballew, a deputy sheriff, took
the grown son of one oj the attorneys
connected with the prosecution from
the court room and searched him for
firearms, but found none.
Mrs. V. B. Walling, sister of the
defendant, had just left the witness
stand when the remarks of the coun
sel precipitated the outbreak of ap
plause. Mrs. Walling testified that Clara
Ilamon was born in 1893 and is 27
years old, but a few moments later'
said that sue was aooui
"Did you know Jake Hamon
during his life time?" she was asked.
"Well, I knew him, yes sir. but I
was ntt very well acquainted with
him. I onlysaw him a few times,"
she replied.
"Did you know of the improper
relations existing between him and
yottr sister?" Mc'
"Not for several years after they
began," 'she said.
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the relation which existed between
your fister and Mr. Ilamon, you lc,t
your husband work for him and lived
in his house?" Mr. Brown asked.
"It was not his house," she said.
"It was on the lease."
"Well he controlled it, managed it,
is that right?" counsel asked.
"Yes. sir," Mrs. Walling replied.
"And, knowing those facts, you
continued to live there and work for
him?" the attorneys asked.
"Yes, sir, we did. We were
friendly and he treated us nicely,"
the witness repjicd.
On redirect examination. Mr. Mc
Lean asked:
"Do you remember your fathor
coming up here to kill Jake Hamon
and about the sheriff disarming
him?"
"Yes, sir," Mrs. Walling replied.
The state objected and was sus
tained. Mr. Brown rose and injected the
remark," "well, we are willing for
the jury to kncAv now they took it,
Why
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the old Avoman and all," which lei
to the outbreak.
The court rccutd at this
n'nt i
shows "cheers by the audience."
Phyllis Walling, 14-year-old niece
of the defendant, took 'the witness
stand as the rtrst w itness when court
reconvened after the recess follow
ing the att'-'icys" clash.
She said . . aunt was at Walling
home on Monday, November 22,
after Hanion was shot the night be
fore and that the defendant bore
bruises on her throat and her right
hand was bruised. '
The defendant's mother, Mrs. J. T..
Smith, of El Taso, Tex., took the
witness stand. She testified Clara is
her third child and is 29 years old.
Tears stood in Clara's eyes as her
mother answered questions. Mrs.
Smith's voice quivered at first, but
she spoke in a good voice.
She said Clara came to F.I Paso
on Thanksgiving day, 1920, and that
her daughter's breast was bruised
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j and that she complained of pairs in
1 her biuly.
Mrs. Smith said Clara's right
;i.tn
was skiutieu anu saia tne skin w.is
almost twisted.olT her riht wrist.
She said she had nut Colonel Ha
mon at a hospital where Clara was
undergoing treatment. '
Mrs. Smith said mi one occasion
about six years ago Mrs. Jake I..
Hamon came to her door and asked
her not to let Clara have anything
more to do with Colonel Hamon.
She said she heard of no other il lations
between Colonel Hamon ami
her daughter except that of cm
plover and stenographer on other
occasions than that on which Mis.
Ilamon came to the Smith home,
which then was in Lawton, Okl.
"I love Clara and I can't give her
up. 1 expect to marry her some
day." Mrs. Smith quoted Colonel
Ilamon as having said on one occa
f ion. He said he intended to get a
scnaraf'uii and uiarry Clara, Mrs.
Smith testified.
inc.
CAR GO.
4
a
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i
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