WEBVTT

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Paul Feuder got calm Riley, Ohio. June one, nineteen forty eight.

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Morris Rowland Abbot, aged forty six, was last seen at ten thirty pm

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Monday at Buell's Lake, a small
fishing pond in the neighborhood. There he

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was with Ben Mussy and other friends. Abbot left in his truck and apparently

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drove directly to his barnyard, where
he had been accustomed to park his truck.

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When following this procedure, he walked
to his home along the quarter mile

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lane. There was no evidence of
a struggle. Blood soaked soil showed where

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he had been struck over the head
and killed. The slayer carried the body

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to the truck not far away,
and then returned to move some loose soil

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over the bloodstains on the ground.
The slayer then took the wheel of Abbot's

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truck and, without using the lane
to the house, drove to Hart Road

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and along this road to the railroad
crossing estimated less than two miles away.

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There, he parked the truck just
off the roadway and dragged the body to

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the tracks placed between the rails of
the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad line. Where

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it was found at five thirty a
m. Tuesday. The body was twenty

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feet from the crossing proper, with
face upward. Relatives became alarmed when Abbot

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failed to return home for the night, and several neighbors were notified. Early

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in the morning. These men began
a search of the neighborhood. Harry Schwab

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and Ray Khan, both of nearby
Peoria, discovered the tragedy after touring a

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number of roads in the vicinity.
Their attention was attracted to the abandoned truck,

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which they had identified. Further search
brought them to the victim. Although

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several trains passed over the body in
the five or six hours it was between

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the tracks, officials believed these trains
had no part in the fatality. Motive

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of the slayer was not fixed.
True Crime Historian presents yesterday's news tales of

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classic scandals, scoundrels, and scourges
told from historic newspapers in the golden age

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of yellow journalism. Episode one hundred
and ninety eight is centered on one of

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my favorite murder tropes, the so
called eternal Triangle between the cranky old farmer,

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his fading wife, and the handsome
young farm hand. Yeah, you

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know that's not gonna end well.
But they might have gotten away with it

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if they had just put the body
across the tracks. It's all in the

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details. I'm true crime historian Richard
O. Jones, and for your horror

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and indignation, I give you a
body between the rails. The Riley Mattock

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murder. Morris Rowland Abbot was born
December twenty fifth, nineteen o two,

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in Indiana, not far from his
recent home. He was the son of

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the late Ellis Abbot and Edith Abbot, who survives. He leaves besides his

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mother, the widow Marie Kahn Abbot, a son Dale, and daughter Phyllis

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and Pearl MacCready of California, and
a brother, Carl L. Abbot,

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Cincinnati. The deceased was chairman of
the Riley Township Bureau and held the highest

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esteem of the entire community. He
was graduated from Riley High School and entered

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immediately on his vocation as a farmer. Until a few years ago he served

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as Democratic Central Committeeman for his township. Few residents of his section of the

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county have a wider acquaintance or drew
to himself closer friendships. The gators were

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checking over clues with theory that the
trail might lead to someone who may have

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bitterly quarreled with the victim. Enough
evidence was obtained so that doctor Garrett Jay

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Boone, Butler County Coroner, and
Lewis Fritz, Deputy sheriff, were able

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to reconstruct in some detail the happenings
of the night. The officials believed they

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found evidence of a pedestrian's trail from
the crossing through fields of the barnyard.

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One theory was that the slayer had
come to the barnyard by automobile. Killed,

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Abbot took his truck to carry the
body to the railroad crossing, and

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then returned to the scene afoot to
retrieve his automobile for the flight. Officials

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found no evidence of robbery. Abbots
billfold, small change, and watch were

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intact. Deputy Fritz ordered the truck
involved in the case towed to Hamilton,

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where an attempt will be made to
get fingerprints of the murderer. Doctor Boone

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announced Tuesday afternoon that an autopsy disclosed
Abbot's skull was fractured and that the nature

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of the wound tended to discount any
theory that injury was caused by trains.

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June second, nineteen forty eight.
Aid of experts employed by the state was

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sought Wednesday by Butler County officials and
an effort to solve the murder of Morris

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R. Abbot, aged forty six, prominent Riley Township farmer, whose body

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was found Tuesday morning. These experts
will be asked to obtain, if possible,

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fingerprints from the track in which the
body of Abbot was carried to a

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nearby railroad crossing, where the body
was placed between the rails in an effort

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to cover up the plot. Abbot
was slain by a blow on the head.

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Other experts, laboratory technicians, light
detector operators, and others also will

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be utilized whenever deemed feasible. Investigators
work patiently all of Tuesday and well into

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the night in dissembling bits of information, searching for clues, questioning anyone who

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might have a little to add to
the solution of the case. Developments included

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the finding of a spade in the
Abbot barn which apparently had been used to

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throw dirt over blood at the scene
of the killing in the barnyard. They

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included a report that a stranger had
been seen in Riley between ten and ten

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thirty pm Monday, a time shortly
before the agreed hour at which Abbot was

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fatally beaten. The officials called in
for questioning a man who served several years

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as a farm hand on the Abbot
place, leaving in February. He failed

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to throw light on the case.
He had been out of the county until

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Tuesday evening. In attendance at the
Indianapolis Memorial Day races, he told questioners

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one phase of the inquiry turned toward
a hunt for the weapon with which Abbot

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was struck. Disposal of the weapon, a club or some other blunt instrument,

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was undoubtedly one of a series of
acts by the slayer to cover his

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trail. All were convinced that the
plot called for the placing of the body

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between the rails of the Chesapeake and
Ohio railroad line, so that the fatality

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would be considered suicide. Abbot's truck
was abandoned near the crossing, and in

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line with other details of the plot, the slayer had attempted to wipe blood

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from the truck. Use of a
spade to throw dirt on the blood at

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the scene of the murder was another
act in the same program. Investigators agreed

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these acts, in an attempt to
be cloud the case, were done with

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deliberation. After leaving the truck at
the crossing, about two miles by roadway

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from the Abbot farm, the slayer
returned by a short cut across the fields

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to the barn yard. According to
the trail discovered Tuesday morning, probably during

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this return visit to the scene,
he took the spade from the barn and

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replaced it after use. There were
tracks of an automobile, possibly one used

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by the slayer, leading into a
lane which connected with Hart Road. By

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using this route, a person avoided
passing near the Abbot home, located at

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a distance from the barn yard.
Doctor Garret jay Boone, Butler County Coroner,

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held to his original contention that trains
which passed the Hart Road crossing until

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the body of Abbot was found at
five thirty a m. Tuesday, had

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not contributed to the tragedy. Residents
of the neighborhood estimated that ten trains had

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passed in the five or six hours
after the murder, none mutilated the victim.

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The tragedy might have been discovered earlier
because relatives and close friends had begun

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their search at about one thirty am. Missus Abbot became thoroughly alarmed when Abbot

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had failed to return by that time. She notified her parents and the search

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began. One of the places visited
was Buell's Lake, where Abbot was last

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seen alive at ten thirty PM.
As the hours wore on and he failed

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to reappear, the help of Harry
Schwab, a close friend, and Ray

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Khan, a relative, was sought. They toured the countryside and had just

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about abandoned hope of picking up the
trail when they decided to drive along Hart

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Road. There they discovered the tragedy. Several residents of Riley Township offered their

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assistance in an attempt to solve the
case. Officials who have been active so

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far include doctor Boone, Prosecutor Paul
Baden, Sheriff Charles B. Walkee,

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and three deputies Lewis Fritz, Markder
and John Cleaver. Prosecutor Baden indicated the

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fact that the family was absent from
the home Monday night may have been a

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factor in attracting would be thieves or
marauders to the farm. Missus Abbot,

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her children, and other relatives had
gone to Hamilton for a recital at the

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YWCA, and did not return home
until after eleven pm. Officials therefore sought

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to answer the question did Abbot see
a light or other activity in the barnyard

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which caused him to drive back to
the barnyard to investigate? In other words,

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Abbot returned home in his truck from
Buell's Lake before the family returned.

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He drove down the lane to the
old barn and there met his death.

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No one was in the house to
hear if someone earlier used the lane to

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the barnyard, a route which passes
close to the dwelling which faces Dunwoodie Road.

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The murder stunned all of Riley Township
and other communities of the county.

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Abbot, as a former Democratic leader
in this township and recently chairman of the

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Riley Farm Bureau, was exceptionally well
known. He had no enemies, his

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neighbors repeated over and over June third, nineteen forty eight. Solution of the

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mystery surrounding the murder of Morris r. Abbot, aged forty six Monday night

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at his farm home on the Dunwoody
Road, appeared today to be within the

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grasp of the investigating officials. More
clues have been found and further information obtained

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during the intensive inquiry, which has
pressed continuously since the tragedy was discovered.

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Sheriff Charles B. Walkee disclosed that
question of a former farm hand on the

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Abbot farm would be continued. The
announcement was considered significant when linked with the

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aura of confidence with which officials proceeded
with the inquiry. The farm hand is

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Cyril Scotty Gordon, aged twenty six, who is now employed on a farm

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in Oxford Township near the Indiana line. Gordon has been held since Tuesday night

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as a material witness, and it
was reported likely by officials that some type

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of charge would be placed against him
later in the day, at least to

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make him available for further questioning should
it be considered necessary. One of the

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reasons for holding Gordon, officials said, was that he had been an employee

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of Abbots. Gordon was employed for
nearly three years on the Abbot farm.

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He and Abbot quarreled last February and
Abbot fired Scotty. Gordon maintained during the

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initial quiz that he had no information
which might clear the murder case. He

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said, on questioning by Walkee Prosecutor
Baden and others, that he left Oxford

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Township last Friday to go to Indianapolis
for the five hundred miles Memorial Day race.

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There, that he registered at an
Indianapolis hotel at five pm Monday and

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checked out at seven am Tuesday.
The fact that Gordon was missing from his

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place of employment on Monday was an
added factor in the desire of officials to

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quism. Gordon returned to Oxford Village
by bus seven pm Tuesday and was immediately

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taken into custody by sheriff's deputies.
The search for clues in the case has

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been unusually thorough. Late yesterday,
on Summons, the Mobile Crime Laboratory of

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the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and
Investigation arrived in Hamilton for application of scientific

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aids. The staff of the laboratory
included E. L. Mcsavny and William

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mcfatridge, investigators and EE Galloway,
laboratory technician. They took fingerprints from the

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Abbot truck in which the body was
hauled from the scene of the killing in

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the barnyard of the farm to the
railroad crossing and went over the Barnyard thoroughly

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taking bits of evidence for analysis.
The mobile laboratory completed a tour for display

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purposes throughout the state two weeks ago
and then was put into service with London,

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Ohio as a home base. Galloway
said, quote. This is the

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third murder case in which the laboratory
has had a role, but the first

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time we have been called since going
into official service. In the previous cases

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at Brian and Madina, the laboratory
was in the vicinity during the demonstration tour.

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In those cases, the slayers confessed
after being confronted with the facts.

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We had a part in preparing of
the investigators as outlined Wednesday night, called

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for a trip, possibly Thursday,
to Indianapolis so that the details of Gordon's

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account could be checked over. The
plans also called for a trip, possibly

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on Friday, to Columbus, where
Gordon could be submitted to questioning under the

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lie detector. The case has brought
ever since the alarm Tuesday morning, an

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unusual response from the general public,
interest and attempts to cooperate with bits of

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information of one kind or another,
some useful and some discarded. As the

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inquiry developed, officials were able to
reconstruct the details of the crime from the

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findings. Tuesday morning, June fourth, nineteen forty eight. The eternal triangle

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played a leading role in spoiling the
perfect alibi, with the result that a

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Butler County farm hand and the wife
of his victim today faced charges of premeditated

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murder. A joint warrant was signed
at ten thirty a m Friday by Sheriff

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Charles B. Walkee against Cyril Scotty
Gordon, aged twenty seven, most recently

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employed on an Oxford Township farm,
and missus Marie Kahn Abbot, aged forty,

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widow of Morris R. Abbot,
aged forty six, Riley Township,

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who was slain Memorial Day night.
The joint warrant charges deliberate and premeditated murder.

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After signing the warrants, Sheriff Walkee
said the case would probably be taken

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directly to the grand jury. Gordon
signed a detailed confession taken by Prosecutor Paul

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A. Baden Thursday night. Earlier
in the day, he had admitted a

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part of the slave and his statements
so involved Missus Abbot that she too was

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taken to the County jail for questioning. She disclosed some details in the case,

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but did not give a formal confession, thereby acting on advice of her

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attorney. The confession by Gordon and
other information uncovered by investigators gave the story

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of the murder. According to officials, Gordon and Missus Abbot had become friends

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while he was working on the Abbot
farm located on Dunwoodie Road, and they

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had continued this friendship even after he
was discharged by Abbot last February and went

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to Oxford Township where he was employed
on the farm of Eugene Derrickson. Gordon

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and Missus Abbot discussed many weeks ago
the possibility of a divorce by her to

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clear the way for their marriage.
Last Friday, Gordon left the Dereckson farm

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for Action with the intempt to attend
the five hundred mile Automobile races in Indianapolis.

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On Monday. Missus Derrickson took him
to Brookville, Indiana, and he

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was to go by bus to the
Indiana capital. On Monday morning, Gordon

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rented a U drive it truck no
passenger cars were available to drive to nearby

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Franklin to see a woman friend.
He failed to find her. He bought

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a ticket to the races, thought
the crowd was too large and decided not

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to attend them. Returning to the
city from the track, he telephoned to

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the Abbot home and talked with Missus
Abbot. She confirmed his belief that she

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was to attend on Monday night to
recital in Hamilton. Also confirmed the belief

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that Abbot would not accompany her to
Hamilton. Thereupon, Gordon left his rooms

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in an apartment and checked into the
Brevort Hotel, leaving instructions that he becalled

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the following morning. Again, he
obtained a truck from a rental agency and

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left Indianapolis for Riley Township about six
thirty or seven o'clock and took his time,

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so the confession reads. On the
trip again, he obtained a truck

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from a rental agency and left Indianapolis
for Riley Township about six thirty or seven

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00:20:26.720 --> 00:20:30.240
o'clock, and took his time on
the trip, so the confession reads.

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00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:36.119
There were several delays as he hunted
up in an acquaintance near Brookville, and

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00:20:36.200 --> 00:20:41.279
he arrived at the Abbot home about
ten PM. Abbot was not at home,

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00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:45.640
and Gordon waited on the porch after
placing his rented truck in the barnyard

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00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:52.720
a quarter mile away. Gordon explained
that he wanted to conceal this truck lest

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00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:59.359
he be discovered by Missus Abbot's mother, as that would quote cause trouble unquote.

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00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:03.839
Arrived at his home between ten thirty
and eleven PM, and Gordon asked

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00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:07.759
him to go to the barnyard,
and they drove there an Abbot's truck.

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00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:14.480
Quote. We talked about a divorce. I told him she wanted me to

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00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:18.640
talk him into a divorce. I
was aiming to talk him into it or

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00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:23.359
scare him into it. Unquote.
Abbot answered no to the appeal, and

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00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:29.920
an argument started. The two men
started to walk toward the Indianapolis truck.

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00:21:30.839 --> 00:21:33.960
Quote. Abbot made a lunge at
me and bumped me in the eye,

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00:21:34.279 --> 00:21:40.119
either with his elbow or fist.
I lost my head. There was a

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00:21:40.160 --> 00:21:44.519
mattock there near the watering trough,
and I hit him. I hit him

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00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:51.400
twice, maybe more. I was
mad, sort of lost my head unquote.

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00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:56.920
The confessions brought a surprise to investigators. Gordon told officials before he removed

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00:21:56.920 --> 00:22:03.160
the body from the barnyard, he
to the house Missus Abbot and the children

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00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.640
had returned from Hamilton in the meantime, and he summoned her by getting her

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attention at a window. She met
him on a rear porch and Gordon told

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00:22:12.119 --> 00:22:18.400
her it was quote all done with
unquote. She said she was sorry that

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00:22:18.480 --> 00:22:22.359
it had to end that way,
and she was hysterical, Gordon told questioners

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00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:27.960
thereafter, Gordon returned to the barnyard
and placed the body on the Abbot truck

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00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:33.480
and hauled it to the Heart Road
crossing of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad.

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00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:37.759
The truck was found parked along the
road the next morning and the body between

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00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:44.559
the rails. The farm hand carried
a can of gasoline from the barnyard and

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00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:49.759
used this in wiping blood off the
truck bed. Quote. I got scared

230
00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:56.000
and tried to make it look like
an accident unquote. He returned by a

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00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:00.079
shortcut to the barnyard and performed other
acts and trying to cut up the murder.

232
00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.799
He shoveled up some of the blood
stained dirt and carried it with him

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00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:08.960
in a pan, later disposing of
this along the route to Indianapolis. He

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00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:15.079
took with him also the mattock and
sacks which had been used in wiping off

235
00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:19.359
the truck. On the way back
to Indianapolis, Gordon tossed away the murder

236
00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:25.160
weapon and the blood soaked dirt.
He bought gasoline, which he used in

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00:23:25.279 --> 00:23:32.440
burning along side roads his stained coat
and tie. He arrived in Indianapolis before

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00:23:32.519 --> 00:23:37.839
five am and retired in his room. After returning the truck. The next

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00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:41.160
morning, he answered the call which
he had placed the night before, and

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00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:47.759
again hired a vehicle to go outside
the city, where he burned stained trousers

241
00:23:47.759 --> 00:23:52.720
and shoes. He used a bus
to return to Oxford, where he was

242
00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:57.400
taken into custody. The finger of
suspicion pointed to Gordon from the time last

243
00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:03.519
Tuesday morning, when doctor Garrett jay
Boone, Butler County Corner, gave a

244
00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.440
verdict that the case was murder.
One of the first acts of the sheriff's

245
00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:11.559
deputies was to hunt for the man
who had been employed on the farm.

246
00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:18.400
They went to the Derrickson farm and
the suspect was gone. When first questioned

247
00:24:18.440 --> 00:24:23.200
after his return Tuesday night, Gordon
presented his alibi, and his calm attitude

248
00:24:23.400 --> 00:24:30.680
was convincing. More clues were sought. The mobile crime Laboratory was called from

249
00:24:30.799 --> 00:24:37.720
London. Investigators looked in vain for
the murder weapon. Officials repeated over and

250
00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:44.160
over Scotti had a motive. They
studied his alibi. The time element was

251
00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:49.480
most important. The racing ended shortly
after three pm Monday. Abbot was last

252
00:24:49.559 --> 00:24:55.480
seen alive at a fishing lake near
his home at ten thirty pm. Gordon

253
00:24:55.559 --> 00:25:00.599
said he had registered at an Indianapolis
hotel at five pm and was akened the

254
00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:04.720
next morning at five o'clock. Data
was gathered for the questioning, which was

255
00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:11.640
begun Wednesday. Shortly before midnight.
Gordon's fingerprints were taken by the experts from

256
00:25:11.720 --> 00:25:18.720
London. Two investigators with the crime
Laboratory aided in the intermittent questioning. Gordon

257
00:25:18.839 --> 00:25:22.519
was fingerprinted and returned to his quarters
in the jail, then recalled for another

258
00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:29.279
test. He was asked about missing
clothing. Blood which proved to be that

259
00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:33.680
of a human, was found under
his fingernails. He mumbled, that's where

260
00:25:33.720 --> 00:25:40.160
I made my mistake. Bit by
bit, the plot was pieced together,

261
00:25:40.640 --> 00:25:47.960
the alibi cracking wide open. Eventually
the case was solved. Gordon, known

262
00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:52.960
widely as Scottie, is a native
of Pennsylvania. He came to Butler County

263
00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:56.319
in nineteen forty five and worked about
seven months in the building of the Fisher

264
00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:02.440
body plant south of Hamilton. In
the spring of nineteen forty six, he

265
00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:07.240
took employment on the Abbot farm and
worked there until August, when he quit

266
00:26:07.319 --> 00:26:11.079
to take a trip to the east. He returned last February eighth to resume

267
00:26:11.119 --> 00:26:15.200
his farm work on the Abbot place
and remained for eight or nine months.

268
00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:21.640
Left for a time, and returned
until January twentieth, nineteen forty eight.

269
00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:26.480
On his departure, there was ill
feeling between him and Abbot. At this

270
00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:33.559
time, Missus Abbot was in a
hospital. Gordon told questioners he visited Missus

271
00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:38.440
Abbot there. Gordon possessed a twenty
two caliber target pistol, which he took

272
00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:44.079
with him to Indianapolis. He confessed
he had this in his pocket when he

273
00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:48.039
accosted Abbot Monday night. It was
in a suitcase when he was taken into

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00:26:48.079 --> 00:27:10.759
custody the next day. Here's a
helpful hint. You can easily avoid the

275
00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:17.640
advertising by listening to True Crime Historian
at the safehouse register at www dot patreon

276
00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:33.440
dot com. Slash true Crime Historian. June twelfth, nineteen forty eight arraigned

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00:27:33.599 --> 00:27:40.480
separately. Cyril Scottie Gordon, farmhand
and Marie Kahn Abbot, widow of a

278
00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:47.119
slaying victim, entered the simple please
of not guilty when arraigned Saturday before Judge

279
00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:52.920
Fred B. Kramer of Common please
Court on a joint indictment charging first degree

280
00:27:52.039 --> 00:28:00.240
murder. The arrangment was followed immediately
by emotion by counsel for missus Abbot making

281
00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:04.680
her release from the County jail on
bail. Judge Kramer denied the motion,

282
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:11.279
holding that the seriousness of the charge
led him to require that she beheld in

283
00:28:11.359 --> 00:28:17.559
the jail. Gordon was brought into
the courtroom first he did not have benefit

284
00:28:17.640 --> 00:28:22.680
of counsel. Judge Kramer ordered that
a plea of not guilty be entered.

285
00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:29.240
On questioning, Gordon said he does
not have money to employ counsel. Thereupon,

286
00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:33.799
Judge Kramer appointed J. Joseph Marr
and Theodore I. Weiss, both

287
00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:41.119
of Hamilton, as attorneys to represent
this defendant. The surprise of the morning

288
00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:45.240
was the placing of missus Abbot on
the witness stand. The court permitted her

289
00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:51.559
to testify, but only after counsel
promised to confine questioning to a few brief

290
00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:57.200
facts in her background. Missus Abbot
testified in a low voice. She gave

291
00:28:57.240 --> 00:29:03.759
her age as forty and said she
had two children, was never before arrested,

292
00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:10.200
had attended Miami University for one year
and thereafter went to business college,

293
00:29:10.440 --> 00:29:15.920
and had later worked for seven years
in the Oxford National Bank. She left

294
00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:19.960
the bank because she was expecting a
child, she testified. Asked of her

295
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:26.240
connection with organizations, missus Abbot replied
that she was a member of the Order

296
00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:32.160
of the Eastern Star. In his
arguments for fixing a bond, the attorney

297
00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:36.079
contended, quote, we have every
reason to believe that she will be present

298
00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:42.440
at trial. Nothing to hint otherwise
unquote. Prosecutor paul A. Baden opposed

299
00:29:42.519 --> 00:29:48.400
the granting of bail. Quote the
state expects to prove a conspiracy to bring

300
00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:53.359
about the death of Morris r Abbot
unquote. He promised proof other than that

301
00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:59.759
contained in the written confession of Gordon. Baden further reported that never in the

302
00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:03.559
h the history of Butler County has
liberty on bail been allowed to a defendant

303
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:10.519
accused of first degree murder. Quote, we shall agree to an early trial

304
00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:15.119
unquote, he said, in announcing
that he will ask for a joint trial

305
00:30:15.200 --> 00:30:19.480
of the two defendants. When presenting
a motion for bail for missus Abbot,

306
00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:25.880
her counsel also entered a request for
copies of the written confession made by Gordon.

307
00:30:26.839 --> 00:30:34.119
On the request of Baden, the
arguments on this motion were deferred June

308
00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:42.279
sixteenth, nineteen forty eight. Cyril
Scotty Gordon and Marie Cohn Abbot will go

309
00:30:42.359 --> 00:30:48.720
on trial at the same time.
Judge fred B. Kramer today granted the

310
00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:55.079
application of Prosecutor paul A Baden for
a joint trial, despite the vigorous fight

311
00:30:55.160 --> 00:31:00.599
of missus Abbot's counsel for a separate
trial. The trial date will set for

312
00:31:00.680 --> 00:31:07.559
July twentieth. Judge Kramer's opinion reads, quote, exercising what we believe is

313
00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:11.319
a sound legal discretion, we are
of the opinion that the application for a

314
00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:18.240
joint trial should be and therefore is
granted, unquote. The opinion noted that

315
00:31:18.279 --> 00:31:23.960
the state will have to establish quote
that the defendant Marie Abbot conspired with the

316
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:30.680
defendant Cyril Gordon to commit the crime
charge, and that such conspiracy cannot be

317
00:31:30.759 --> 00:31:34.160
made out by confession of or co
defendant. In other words, the confession

318
00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:40.279
of Gordon cannot be used by the
state to show that missus Abbot conspired with

319
00:31:40.359 --> 00:31:45.759
him. If the only evidence of
a conspiracy is that which might be shown

320
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:49.160
through the confession of Gordon, it
would be insufficient as a matter of law

321
00:31:49.359 --> 00:31:55.079
against Marie Abbot, And in the
absence of any evidence as to Marie Abbot

322
00:31:55.119 --> 00:32:00.319
actually and manually participating in the homicide
itself, or being present and aiding and

323
00:32:00.359 --> 00:32:07.640
abetting such homicide, a dismissal of
her as such defendant would be required unquote.

324
00:32:07.400 --> 00:32:12.119
Hearing late Tuesday on the motion,
which was made by the state for

325
00:32:12.160 --> 00:32:16.400
a joint trial, brought several highlights, though most of the hearing was devoted

326
00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:23.480
to dull recital of legal phases.
Prosecutor Baden stated that the trial would disclose

327
00:32:23.519 --> 00:32:30.319
intimacy between missus Abbot and Gordon for
eighteen months to two years. Defense counsel,

328
00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:37.240
through William Hopkins, agreed in this
accusation, saying his client had quote

329
00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:45.880
sinned unquote, had registered at hotels
with Gordon and committed adultery. Prosecutor Baden

330
00:32:45.960 --> 00:32:50.960
disclosed that missus Abbott had made an
oral confession to E. L. Mcsaviny,

331
00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:58.119
investigator for the Ohio State Bureau of
Criminal Investigation. Hopkins said, we

332
00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:02.680
know of this. We also mcsavney's
interpretation of her statements, and we have

333
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:10.400
our own interpretations. Another surprise was
the action by counsel for Gordon, Theodore

334
00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:15.200
I. Weiss and J. Joseph
marr Is the support of Baden in the

335
00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:22.119
plea for a joint trial. Two
score spectators were drawn to the hearing.

336
00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:27.519
It was the first time Gordon and
Missus Abbot had appeared together publicly since the

337
00:33:27.559 --> 00:33:30.519
slaying of her husband. It was
probably the first time they had been in

338
00:33:30.559 --> 00:33:37.640
the same room since the discovery of
the tragedy. During arraignment last Saturday,

339
00:33:37.720 --> 00:33:42.440
Gordon was taken to the courtroom and
then returned to the jail before Missus Abbot

340
00:33:42.480 --> 00:33:47.400
was brought before the judge. There
was no exchange of glances. The defendants

341
00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:52.480
apparently ignored each other. Missus Abbot
took a position so that her back was

342
00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:58.079
turned to Gordon, even though he
sat only a few feet away on opposite

343
00:33:58.119 --> 00:34:02.359
side of a table. Arguments on
the motion for a joint trial brought from

344
00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:08.360
Prosecutor Baden. A veritable outline of
the state's case against Gordon and against Missus

345
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:14.320
Abbot. Quote. We intend to
prove that they were scheming together. We

346
00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:17.719
have evidence to show the relationship between
these two for the last two years.

347
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:23.880
We expect to bring out facts indicating
the gradual development of an attraction one for

348
00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:29.559
the other, and also the attitude
they had for mister Abbot. There is

349
00:34:29.599 --> 00:34:34.760
an overall pattern brought to a climax
by their movements during the fateful weekend.

350
00:34:35.480 --> 00:34:38.480
We shall show that there was a
telephone call on the afternoon of Memorial Day

351
00:34:38.920 --> 00:34:45.480
and what was done after that call
unquote. He said the jurors could be

352
00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:49.840
given a clearer picture of the whole
case through a joint trial, and best

353
00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:57.000
interests of the public served thereby without
prejudicing the rights of either defendant. Attorney

354
00:34:57.039 --> 00:35:02.400
Hopkins, Cincinnati and ge Conda,
co counsel for Missus Abbot, fought bitterly

355
00:35:02.480 --> 00:35:09.079
on behalf of separate trials. Hopkins
repeatedly cited the written confession given by Gordon

356
00:35:09.400 --> 00:35:15.800
as something which would possibly bring prejudice
by a jury toward his client. Quote,

357
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:19.400
in the interest of justice, there
is only one way to be safe

358
00:35:19.440 --> 00:35:25.199
inshore by separate trials unquote. He
had cited Ohio cases in an effort to

359
00:35:25.239 --> 00:35:30.679
show that a joint trial in first
degree murder cases could be subject to error,

360
00:35:31.159 --> 00:35:38.320
especially when one defendant had confessed and
another had not. Condo spoke also

361
00:35:38.559 --> 00:35:44.440
of the effect of a confession on
the jury and urged that separate trials be

362
00:35:44.519 --> 00:35:49.599
allowed. Quote that is the only
way to fully protect the rights of missus

363
00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:55.239
Abbot unquote. Baden promised counsel for
missus Abbot that if a joint trial were

364
00:35:55.280 --> 00:36:00.440
scheduled, he would provide them with
a copy of Gordon's written conf profession.

365
00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:06.719
Another disclosure came at the close of
the hearing. Prosecutor Baden reported that missus

366
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:12.119
Abbott had been told what Scottie said. The prosecutor also hinted at the blocking

367
00:36:12.199 --> 00:36:16.239
by her attorneys of an attempt to
gain a written confession from her. He

368
00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:27.400
recalled, quote, we were interrupted
unquote. July fourteenth, nineteen forty eight,

369
00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:35.719
preparations were going forward steadily Wednesday for
the joint trial opening next Tuesday,

370
00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:42.440
of Cyril Scotty Gordon and Marie Abbot
on an indictment charging first degree murder.

371
00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:46.000
Much of the evidence in the hands
of the state has been disclosed to the

372
00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:52.639
public. Some has not been disclosed
pending the hearing to be conducted before a

373
00:36:52.719 --> 00:36:59.280
Jury and Common Police Court of Judge
Fred B. Kramer. A recent development

374
00:36:59.400 --> 00:37:02.840
was the fine of love letters,
two or three of them which had ostensibly

375
00:37:02.920 --> 00:37:08.840
been written by Gordon to Missus Abbot. Finding of these letters was surrounded by

376
00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:16.119
odd circumstances. Personal assets in the
estate of Morris Abbot were offered at auction

377
00:37:16.320 --> 00:37:22.960
sale at the farm recently. A
huge crowd was there. Tragedy in the

378
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:29.719
family had probably worked against careful sorting
of many smaller items. One bidder obtained

379
00:37:29.719 --> 00:37:35.440
a small purchase an assortment of items
in a basket. Several days later,

380
00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:40.280
it is now disclosed the purchaser found
letters which had been retained by Missus Abbot.

381
00:37:40.760 --> 00:37:46.079
He turned them over to the office
of Prosecutor Paul Baden. Prosecutor Baden

382
00:37:46.159 --> 00:37:51.400
said, quote, we are not
certain whether these letters or a few others

383
00:37:51.480 --> 00:37:57.079
previously obtained, will be introduced in
the trial unquote. He indicated that the

384
00:37:57.159 --> 00:38:01.079
messages had to do with the friendship
between the two dants and were not considered

385
00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:06.480
essential in the attempt of the state
to prove that they had plotted against the

386
00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:10.320
life of Abbot. Climax by the
blow with a Mattock, which caused his

387
00:38:10.519 --> 00:38:17.280
death on the night of Memorial Day. Judge Kramer consulted with county commissioners Tuesday

388
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:24.440
regarding arrangements for the trial. Commissioners
promised funds with which to hire guards to

389
00:38:24.519 --> 00:38:31.079
handle the expected crowds of spectators.
The way has been cleared also for engaging

390
00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:37.360
two Hamilton City firemen as guards.
Judge Kramer said, quote, the firemen

391
00:38:37.599 --> 00:38:44.440
carry more authority unquote. He also
proposed that some form of air cooling be

392
00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:49.280
installed for the trial, but commissioners
could not act in such short notice.

393
00:38:49.960 --> 00:38:53.519
Prospects of hot weather next week brought
from Judge Kramer the plan to change the

394
00:38:53.559 --> 00:39:00.719
hours for court, with only one
session a day nine am to one pm.

395
00:39:00.960 --> 00:39:06.719
Speculation was advanced as to the time
required for the trial opening Tuesday.

396
00:39:07.159 --> 00:39:10.239
First requirement will be the seating of
a jury from a special veneer of one

397
00:39:10.320 --> 00:39:15.800
hundred and fifty prospects. Selection of
a jury will likely consume one day,

398
00:39:15.880 --> 00:39:22.840
perhaps longer. On Wednesday. Undoubtedly
the jury will be taken to the Abbot

399
00:39:22.880 --> 00:39:31.320
Farm so that they may better understand
testimony referring to places there. July twentieth,

400
00:39:31.559 --> 00:39:42.039
nineteen forty eight. First spectators began
arriving at the courthouse before six am.

401
00:39:42.239 --> 00:39:46.559
Several had brought their lunch. There
was a crush of fifty persons,

402
00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:52.079
mostly women, at the doors of
the courtroom before it was unlocked at seven

403
00:39:52.119 --> 00:39:58.559
am by Fred Willer, courthouse custodian. One girl fainted and was given first

404
00:39:58.599 --> 00:40:02.400
aid in another room. Others who
sought a place in the courtroom arrived later

405
00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:07.519
in the morning, saw there was
no seats, and many of them departed.

406
00:40:07.079 --> 00:40:12.639
About fifty remained in the corridors to
await the arrival of the defendants.

407
00:40:13.079 --> 00:40:17.239
The largest crowd, estimated at several
hundreds, assembled on the south side of

408
00:40:17.280 --> 00:40:22.719
the courthouse lawn to see the two
defendants when they were brought from the county

409
00:40:22.800 --> 00:40:27.840
jail, where they had been awaiting
trial. Bail had been refused them.

410
00:40:28.400 --> 00:40:34.760
The murder trial defendants, missus Marie
Khan Abbot and Cyril Scottie Gordon, were

411
00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:40.280
escorted into the courtroom shortly before nine
thirty o'clock. The defendants were not talkative

412
00:40:40.480 --> 00:40:46.000
as they prepared for their first day
in court. Deputy Sheriff Lewis Fritz,

413
00:40:46.079 --> 00:40:52.360
who serves as jailer, was the
authority Tuesday for a report that the strain

414
00:40:52.480 --> 00:40:59.599
of the impending trial has not affected
the appetites of either defendant. Both defendants

415
00:40:59.599 --> 00:41:05.400
had the normal prison fare for breakfast, three rolls in a coffee. Fritz

416
00:41:05.440 --> 00:41:10.719
declared, quote, they got away
with it all too unquote. Deputy Fritz

417
00:41:10.840 --> 00:41:15.159
is placed in a more or less
curious light by the trial. He was

418
00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:20.199
one of the principles in the investigation
of the slag which was brought to light

419
00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:24.280
on the day after Memorial Day.
He put in long hours on the inquiry

420
00:41:24.320 --> 00:41:30.000
and was one of the key men. Now, except for the probable testimony

421
00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:34.039
which he will be called on to
give, Fritz is on the sidelines as

422
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:38.559
far as the actual trial is concerned. As jailer, his duties keeping pretty

423
00:41:38.559 --> 00:41:45.960
well confined unless something big breaks which
requires the services out of town. Newspaper

424
00:41:46.039 --> 00:41:52.760
representatives included reporters from Dayton, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Middletown. The Abbot

425
00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:58.880
case was the twenty fifth homicide trial
in which Judge Fred B. Kramer has

426
00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:04.239
been on the bench, and four
of these a woman was defendant. The

427
00:42:04.320 --> 00:42:08.519
record showed that in none was the
verdict affected by appeals to higher courts.

428
00:42:10.159 --> 00:42:15.840
The task of qualifying jurors was delayed
for an hour after court was opened by

429
00:42:15.840 --> 00:42:21.480
a motion of Council for Gordon,
they attacked the manner in which the special

430
00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:27.239
veneer of one hundred and fifty names
was prepared and drawn. Judge Kramer overruled

431
00:42:27.239 --> 00:42:31.599
the motion, holding that the list
was properly prepared. After hearing testimony by

432
00:42:31.719 --> 00:42:37.440
Edward Antrim. One of the two
jury commissioners, Theodore Weiss and J.

433
00:42:37.719 --> 00:42:44.519
Joseph Marr, Council for Gordon by
court appointment, contended the jury commissioners had

434
00:42:44.519 --> 00:42:49.119
failed to certify the list of names
placed in the jury wheel and had failed

435
00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:53.360
to use a method by which the
prospective jurors were fairly chosen from all parts

436
00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:59.960
of the county. In the court
room, special arrangements were made because of

437
00:43:00.159 --> 00:43:04.360
the nature of the case. One
table was reserved in front of the bench

438
00:43:04.400 --> 00:43:09.199
for missus Abbot and her attorneys William
Hopkins Cincinnati, g E. Condo and

439
00:43:09.280 --> 00:43:15.119
Herbert Walsh of Condo and Walsh,
Hamilton. Immediately adjoining was the table at

440
00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:21.519
which sat the other defendant, Gordon, with his attorneys Missrs Weiss and mar

441
00:43:21.840 --> 00:43:27.119
both of Hamilton. A third table
was for the state's representatives, Prosecutor Paul

442
00:43:27.199 --> 00:43:32.599
Baden and assistant Jackson Bosch. Carl
Abbot, Cincinnati, brother of the slaying

443
00:43:32.679 --> 00:43:38.400
victim, was seated at this table. Thurman Khan, father of Missus Abbot,

444
00:43:38.440 --> 00:43:43.599
was in the courtroom, seated near
his daughter. Missus Khan, was

445
00:43:43.639 --> 00:43:50.079
not present. By special arrangements,
two Hamilton City firemen in uniform were at

446
00:43:50.119 --> 00:43:54.320
the doors of the courtroom to see
that the crowd was held within prescribed limits.

447
00:43:55.599 --> 00:44:01.480
Two innocent little children not present in
the courtroom were brought into the picture

448
00:44:01.599 --> 00:44:07.079
for a brief moment, injecting a
pathetic note into the trial of Missus Abbot

449
00:44:07.119 --> 00:44:14.719
and Scottie Gordon. Missus Harry Rife
Riley, called for jury duty, seemed

450
00:44:14.800 --> 00:44:19.199
quite nervous as she took her chair, and when asked by Judge Kramer if

451
00:44:19.239 --> 00:44:22.400
she had formed an opinion, she
replied, in a clear voice, which

452
00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:30.239
however quivered noticeably quote, my little
girl and missus Abbot's little girl are the

453
00:44:30.280 --> 00:44:35.239
best of friends, and I don't
think I could. She broke off and

454
00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:40.199
was at once excused. Missus Abbot's
little girl mentioned as her daughter Marie,

455
00:44:40.519 --> 00:44:46.000
age eleven, who with her brother
Dale, aged seven, lost their father

456
00:44:46.159 --> 00:44:53.360
and the slaying Missus Abbot's apparent stoicism
seemed to break at this point, and

457
00:44:53.480 --> 00:45:00.320
she surreptitiously wiped away a tear stairs
and nudges of a c Whirout Avid with

458
00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:07.000
curiosity greeted missus Abbot and Gordon as
they were taken from the County jail into

459
00:45:07.039 --> 00:45:12.440
the courtroom, throngs being lined up
as if for a parade outside the jail,

460
00:45:12.840 --> 00:45:21.000
and both inside and outside the courthouse
predominantly composed of women of varying ages.

461
00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:27.239
The spectators were no doubt greatly disappointed
when the major proceedings of the morning

462
00:45:27.639 --> 00:45:32.239
consisted in an effort by the defense
attorneys to secure a ruling on improper selection

463
00:45:32.440 --> 00:45:38.840
of a jury. The spectators inside
the courtroom and many who stood outside the

464
00:45:38.880 --> 00:45:45.440
doors hoping for an occasional glimpse,
were very quiet and intent on not missing

465
00:45:45.480 --> 00:45:51.840
a word. Missus Abbot, pale
and slim, looking far younger than her

466
00:45:51.880 --> 00:45:58.199
reputed forty years, was soberly gowned
in a tailored dark blue frock with dark

467
00:45:58.320 --> 00:46:04.119
hose and black slippers. She appears
almost numb, as though it were someone

468
00:46:04.159 --> 00:46:10.119
else besides herself touched by all this
horrible tragedy. Scottie Gordon looked cool,

469
00:46:10.239 --> 00:46:15.280
and calm his looks, belying the
alleged crime for which he is on trial.

470
00:46:16.679 --> 00:46:22.239
Quite a few of the persons called
for jury duty definitely stated they had

471
00:46:22.280 --> 00:46:27.480
formed opinions in the case through newspaper
accounts and through discussion, and that they

472
00:46:27.480 --> 00:46:36.159
could not be swerved no matter what
the evidence offered. July twenty first,

473
00:46:36.639 --> 00:46:44.840
nineteen forty eight. Any evidence display
of interest or emotion among the spectators at

474
00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:51.480
the trial was quickly and definitely squelched
when counsel for the defense in no uncertain

475
00:46:51.639 --> 00:46:58.039
terms requested Judge Kramer to instruct the
audience to refrain from comment which might have

476
00:46:58.119 --> 00:47:05.199
an influence on prospective jury. The
request probably was justified, for when the

477
00:47:05.239 --> 00:47:10.480
first three persons were summoned after the
first peremptory challenges, the stir among spectators

478
00:47:10.480 --> 00:47:17.559
and audible remarks were made. The
endless challenging of the jury with the repetitious

479
00:47:17.599 --> 00:47:24.159
but necessary questioning, offered little interest, so your reporter's attention was mainly focused

480
00:47:24.239 --> 00:47:30.280
upon the spectators. Roe after row
they sat, some stolid and indifferent,

481
00:47:30.719 --> 00:47:37.199
others alert and keen eyed, some
whispering to each other, but all careful

482
00:47:37.280 --> 00:47:44.320
and subdued. After the judge's caution
again, as on Tuesday. The audience

483
00:47:44.440 --> 00:47:47.320
was composed, for the most part
of women, but it seems there were

484
00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:52.800
a few more men, probably farm
folks for whom the rain checked field work.

485
00:47:53.599 --> 00:47:58.519
A few men looked as if they
might perhaps work on some night shift,

486
00:47:58.840 --> 00:48:01.880
and were devoting a few hours of
the usual sleep to get a look

487
00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:06.760
in at the court. The women, for the most part, appeared to

488
00:48:06.760 --> 00:48:10.559
be housewives who hurriedly got their washing
and ironing out of the way on Monday

489
00:48:10.960 --> 00:48:15.639
so as to devote the rest of
the week to attending the trial. There

490
00:48:15.679 --> 00:48:21.599
were young women and women who looked
like sweet grandmothers, but a far cry

491
00:48:21.719 --> 00:48:27.719
from the lavender and old lace grandmothers
of another era. Styles were many and

492
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:32.039
varied, most of the women being
hatless and devoid of the new look.

493
00:48:32.400 --> 00:48:37.440
There were upswept hairdos, there were
short and long bobs. In short,

494
00:48:37.559 --> 00:48:43.239
you could find almost anything in the
way of looks that you could ever imagine.

495
00:48:43.280 --> 00:48:46.920
Several sedate looking women they were hatted, seemed as though they might be

496
00:48:47.119 --> 00:48:52.519
rural women who came in with their
husbands. Naturally, rural interest is great

497
00:48:52.639 --> 00:48:59.599
for the defendants are both rural people. One woman kept nervously rubbing her chin

498
00:48:59.719 --> 00:49:04.719
with her handkerchief rolled up in a
small ball. Some sat and gazed straight

499
00:49:04.760 --> 00:49:10.519
ahead, maintaining their interest even as
the monotonous proceedings continued. One young girl

500
00:49:10.599 --> 00:49:15.480
in the first row kept on yawning
and made no endeavor to stifle or even

501
00:49:15.559 --> 00:49:21.800
cover the fact of her boredom.
Several persons left the court. Most of

502
00:49:21.840 --> 00:49:25.719
the women were chewing gum, and
as their interest in the trial or unconsciousness

503
00:49:25.760 --> 00:49:31.880
of others grew, their jaws kept
pace. Juveniles are not permitted at the

504
00:49:31.960 --> 00:49:36.960
trial, but there was at least
one boy and several young girls as looked

505
00:49:36.960 --> 00:49:42.480
as though they might be under age
or concealed their years beautifully. The scene

506
00:49:42.599 --> 00:49:46.000
was shifted yesterday, and while the
principles of the drama of life and death

507
00:49:46.119 --> 00:49:52.400
still maintained, the audience was for
the most part new and will continue to

508
00:49:52.559 --> 00:50:02.280
change always with some repeaters, as
long as the absorbing drama unfolds. Here's

509
00:50:02.320 --> 00:50:07.760
a helpful hint. You can easily
avoid the advertising by listening to True Crime

510
00:50:07.920 --> 00:50:14.760
Historian at the safe house register at
www dot patreon dot com slash true Crime

511
00:50:14.960 --> 00:50:32.400
Historian. July twenty second, nineteen
forty eight. It was a grim pilgrimage

512
00:50:32.440 --> 00:50:37.559
they made this morning, that small
band of men and women, the jurors

513
00:50:37.960 --> 00:50:44.719
in whose hands rest the fate of
Marie Khan Abbot and Cyril Scottie Gordon,

514
00:50:45.320 --> 00:50:50.679
as they visited the scene and retraced
the path where had occurred the murder of

515
00:50:50.800 --> 00:50:57.239
Morris r Abbot. Taken first to
the railroad track where the dead farmer's body

516
00:50:57.280 --> 00:51:01.920
had been placed, the pilgrimage continue
to the farmyard where the actual crime had

517
00:51:01.960 --> 00:51:08.559
been committed. There was nothing here
to suggest viciousness. It was just an

518
00:51:08.679 --> 00:51:15.719
ordinary barnyard with its implement shed.
The watering trough, the rumble of thunder

519
00:51:15.760 --> 00:51:20.360
in the distance, the rustle of
leaves fanned by the ever rising wind,

520
00:51:21.079 --> 00:51:25.039
the faintness of the sweet bird notes
as the gathering storm brought with it a

521
00:51:25.119 --> 00:51:32.760
sense of restlessness and impending discomfort were
the only sounds to disturb the brooding stillness

522
00:51:32.800 --> 00:51:38.320
of a lazy summer morning. It
was hard to believe that here, in

523
00:51:38.400 --> 00:51:45.000
this peaceful setting, quiet and remote, just a few brief weeks before,

524
00:51:45.639 --> 00:51:51.000
a man, father of two children, a man respected and well liked in

525
00:51:51.039 --> 00:51:54.920
the community, a man in the
prime of life, had been murdered.

526
00:51:58.159 --> 00:52:02.679
It was a subdued group, thoughtful
and serious that followed the chartered path,

527
00:52:04.199 --> 00:52:07.920
and, as if in keeping with
the mood, just as the party set

528
00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:13.039
out for the Abbot home, the
gray skies parted, sending down a heavy

529
00:52:13.119 --> 00:52:19.519
downpour, as if the heavens too
were weeping. Missus Abbot and Gordon were

530
00:52:19.519 --> 00:52:22.800
in the group, and they were
taken into the home. Stepping on the

531
00:52:22.840 --> 00:52:29.159
porch, Missus Abbot lost her composure
as she gazed about her at the surroundings

532
00:52:29.159 --> 00:52:35.559
where she had once spent happy hours. She broke down completely and wept soundlessly.

533
00:52:36.760 --> 00:52:42.159
The empty rooms, only curtains and
colorful drapes at the windows to suggest

534
00:52:42.320 --> 00:52:47.800
the earlier occupancy. An old house
standing empty, a house that had once

535
00:52:47.880 --> 00:52:53.360
been lived in, that had echoed
and re echoed to childish shouts, now

536
00:52:53.519 --> 00:53:00.880
forlorn. What could be more eloquent
of tragedy. A sandile outside with a

537
00:53:00.920 --> 00:53:07.159
few toys left rusting, But above
all the awful stillness, the feeling of

538
00:53:07.320 --> 00:53:16.079
doom that pervaded Scene three in this
grim pageant. This trial with two lives

539
00:53:16.119 --> 00:53:23.599
at stake was not played inside a
courtroom, but was nonetheless compelling A powerful

540
00:53:23.679 --> 00:53:31.000
build up to the dramatic climax still
to come. Neither missus Abbot nor Gordon

541
00:53:31.119 --> 00:53:36.159
left the cars in which they were
taken to the farm under guard at the

542
00:53:36.159 --> 00:53:42.039
barnyard. When the rain had slackened, the jurors alighted and visited the home,

543
00:53:42.480 --> 00:53:45.960
with particular stress placed on the rear
part of the home, where Gordon

544
00:53:46.079 --> 00:53:52.920
told officers he discussed the tragedy with
missus Abbot. Soon after the killing,

545
00:53:53.039 --> 00:54:10.000
missus Abbot wept copiously. If you
feel like this episode has been entertaining enough

546
00:54:10.039 --> 00:54:15.480
to reward the podcaster with a refreshing
beverage, point your browser to www.

547
00:54:15.599 --> 00:54:22.039
Dot Buy me a coffee dot com
slash crime historian, though I can't promise

548
00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:47.000
my coffee won't be a bourbon.
July twenty third, nineteen forty eight,

549
00:54:50.079 --> 00:54:53.960
The prologue ended, the curtains part, and the real show has begun.

550
00:54:55.159 --> 00:55:01.639
The principles, Marie Khan Abbot and
Cyril's Scotty Gordon have made their entrance,

551
00:55:02.079 --> 00:55:07.760
and the great supporting cast awaits its
cue. It is a stark drama.

552
00:55:07.840 --> 00:55:14.159
We are about to witness a gripping
drama based on the eternal Triangle, and

553
00:55:14.239 --> 00:55:19.239
the audience is all a quiver holding
to the edge of its seat with bated

554
00:55:19.360 --> 00:55:24.800
breath. No figment of an author's
brain, no concept of a playwright's vivid

555
00:55:24.840 --> 00:55:30.559
imagination. No pawns to be pulled
hither or pushed jonder at the command of

556
00:55:30.599 --> 00:55:37.920
a stage director. No. The
actors in this drama are real, disordinary,

557
00:55:37.119 --> 00:55:44.440
everyday persons. No ending, favorable
or unfavorable has been planned. Only

558
00:55:44.599 --> 00:55:50.639
time and the relentless wheel of fate
can determine this. It is somber,

559
00:55:50.920 --> 00:55:57.000
real drama with the lives of a
man and a woman at stake. The

560
00:55:57.079 --> 00:56:01.719
first speaking role was handled by doctor
Garrett jay Boone, the Butler County Coroner,

561
00:56:02.519 --> 00:56:08.199
and his were not pleasant lines,
no airy flights of fancy, just

562
00:56:08.320 --> 00:56:14.960
grim, brutal facts, but the
audience eagerly hung upon his every word.

563
00:56:15.960 --> 00:56:20.880
Perhaps the most tragic figure in the
courtroom is the sister of the slain man.

564
00:56:21.920 --> 00:56:28.519
Slight, attractive, clad and somber
black. She listens intently to every

565
00:56:28.559 --> 00:56:34.840
word, every syllable, her mobile
face registering the emotion she has under such

566
00:56:34.920 --> 00:56:39.920
stern control. We have no comment, was her reply when approached by a

567
00:56:40.000 --> 00:56:46.119
reporter. Morris Abbot's brother, too, looks on stoically. The mark of

568
00:56:46.239 --> 00:56:53.239
sorrow on his face once again.
The spectators have been cautioned by Judge Kramer

569
00:56:53.320 --> 00:57:00.519
to betray no reactions. This when
an outburst of laughter greeted and una expected

570
00:57:00.599 --> 00:57:07.440
perry to a lawyer's question, interested
unmindful of time or place, the audience

571
00:57:07.519 --> 00:57:15.760
becomes so engrossed in the proceedings entire
restraint is almost impossible absorbing dramas unfolding with

572
00:57:15.920 --> 00:57:23.119
startling de numis still to come.
The principles have not as yet spoken their

573
00:57:23.199 --> 00:57:37.199
lines. Three distinct versions of the
slaying May thirty, first of Morris r

574
00:57:37.320 --> 00:57:43.400
Abbot will be placed before the jury
trying Abbot's widow and his former farm hand

575
00:57:43.880 --> 00:57:50.920
on a joint charge of murder in
the first degree. Prosecutor paul A Baden

576
00:57:51.119 --> 00:57:58.440
contended Cyril Scottie Gordon killed Abbot maliciously, deliberately, and with intent to free

577
00:57:58.559 --> 00:58:05.199
Missus Abbot so that the two defendants
could wed continuing. He said, quote,

578
00:58:05.800 --> 00:58:09.519
she aided by suggestions and by other
ways, so that she is equally

579
00:58:09.559 --> 00:58:16.360
guilty unquote. Theodore J. Weiss, of Council, defending Gordon, said

580
00:58:16.400 --> 00:58:22.440
the evidence will show that Scotty several
times sought to break his illicit ties with

581
00:58:22.519 --> 00:58:25.840
Missus Abbot that she wrote to him
when he was in a reformatory and went

582
00:58:25.920 --> 00:58:30.840
to see him when he was working
at other farms in the county. Weiss's

583
00:58:30.920 --> 00:58:36.239
contended evidence will show the killing was
done in the heat of a quarrel.

584
00:58:36.559 --> 00:58:42.199
Quote. Gordon did strike the fatal
blows. This homicide was never the result

585
00:58:42.239 --> 00:58:50.559
of a plan, conspiracy, or
premeditated malice unquote. William Hopkins, counsel

586
00:58:50.639 --> 00:58:54.360
for Missus Abbot, said that Gordon's
return to the Abbot farm on the night

587
00:58:54.400 --> 00:59:01.039
of Memorial Day was his idea solely, presumably reached suddenly while Gordon was in

588
00:59:01.039 --> 00:59:07.079
Indianapolis on a vacation. He contended
Missus Abbot had discussed the tangle with her

589
00:59:07.159 --> 00:59:13.559
husband early in May, and on
May fourteenth, went with his consent to

590
00:59:13.639 --> 00:59:17.119
see Gordon, telling him that she
had decided to stick with her family.

591
00:59:19.039 --> 00:59:23.360
Quote. There was a surprise party
for Morris on May fifteenth, a party

592
00:59:23.480 --> 00:59:29.840
to celebrate the reunion. Abbot became
the happiest man in the United States,

593
00:59:30.360 --> 00:59:37.960
thrilled because domestic conditions had been straightened
out. The statements by Wyss and Hopkins

594
00:59:37.239 --> 00:59:44.639
indicated that both defendants would take the
witness stand during the trial The opening statements

595
00:59:44.760 --> 00:59:50.480
lasted in Toto nearly two hours,
after which a recess was called until Friday

596
00:59:50.559 --> 00:59:55.920
morning, when introduction of testimony was
to start. Prosecutor Baden was the first

597
00:59:57.000 --> 01:00:00.800
to offer a statement. He sketched
what he called a prolog of the murder.

598
01:00:01.679 --> 01:00:07.039
Gordon, now aged twenty six,
came to Butler County more than two

599
01:00:07.119 --> 01:00:12.039
years ago, worked on a construction
job, then obtained a place as farm

600
01:00:12.079 --> 01:00:15.960
hand on the Abbot farm through the
Farm Bureau. Three months later, the

601
01:00:16.000 --> 01:00:23.000
intimate friendship with Missus Abbot began,
and this relationship continued. There was talk

602
01:00:23.119 --> 01:00:30.880
between the two defendants of a divorce
and of running away together quote five weeks

603
01:00:30.920 --> 01:00:35.199
before May thirty. First the talk
between them was to the effect that they

604
01:00:35.199 --> 01:00:38.280
would have to get rid of Morris, have to have an accident, or

605
01:00:38.360 --> 01:00:45.320
Morris would have to commit suicide.
Several times such subjects were discussed unquote.

606
01:00:45.679 --> 01:00:52.679
Then Baden referred to the Friday preceding
Memorial Day, when Gordon took a vacation

607
01:00:52.880 --> 01:00:59.920
from his work, ostensibly to see
the automobile races in Indianapolis Monday afternoon,

608
01:01:00.039 --> 01:01:06.239
unun he telephoned to Missus Abbot from
Indianapolis, checked arrangements with her and learned

609
01:01:06.280 --> 01:01:09.559
definitely she intended to go that night
to Hamilton, where her daughter was in

610
01:01:09.599 --> 01:01:15.360
a music recital. Quote. Gordon
asked her to leave ten dollars behind the

611
01:01:15.440 --> 01:01:20.719
picture, which was displayed on a
piano in the living room of the Abbot

612
01:01:20.760 --> 01:01:24.760
house, and she did so.
He drove to Riley Township in a U

613
01:01:24.880 --> 01:01:30.239
drive it truck, parked it in
the barnyard, then walked back to the

614
01:01:30.320 --> 01:01:35.360
house and got the ten dollars.
He had a loaded gun and a flashlight.

615
01:01:36.360 --> 01:01:40.079
When Abbot arrived in his home,
Gordon accosted him and in the barnyard

616
01:01:40.440 --> 01:01:47.360
struck him with a mattic unquote.
Missus Abbot returned from Hamilton and Gordon told

617
01:01:47.440 --> 01:01:53.159
her Morris was dead. Quote.
She gave Gordon a blanket to protect his

618
01:01:53.280 --> 01:01:59.719
clothing from more bloodstains, wiped blood
off his jacket, and gave him one

619
01:01:59.719 --> 01:02:05.800
of more Morris's shirts to put on. Thereafter, Gordon hauled the body to

620
01:02:05.880 --> 01:02:09.480
a railroad crossing, walked back to
the farm by a short cut, and

621
01:02:09.639 --> 01:02:15.480
drove the rented truck back to Indianapolis, arriving there at four to twelve a

622
01:02:15.800 --> 01:02:20.480
m. He left to call at
the hotel for six am. When awakened,

623
01:02:20.599 --> 01:02:24.280
asked that he be called at eight
am. Arose then and returned to

624
01:02:24.360 --> 01:02:30.320
Oxford. Quote. We questioned Missus
Abbott on Tuesday. She said she had

625
01:02:30.360 --> 01:02:36.559
not seen Scottie excepting once since he
went to work for the Derricksons in February.

626
01:02:37.400 --> 01:02:42.000
She denied she knew where he was
and denied he had anything to do

627
01:02:42.079 --> 01:02:46.599
with the killing unquote. Baden further
stated that the entire top of the head

628
01:02:46.679 --> 01:02:53.559
of Abbot's was crushed the effect of
five or six blows. Attorney Wise failed

629
01:02:53.559 --> 01:02:59.559
to take issue with Baden's account in
the main, but he stressed contention that

630
01:02:59.679 --> 01:03:04.239
quote Abbott met his death as the
result of a quarrel and a fight.

631
01:03:04.880 --> 01:03:08.320
In the heat of the fight,
Gordon seized a mattock and made the fatal

632
01:03:08.360 --> 01:03:15.880
blows unquote. Weiss described in detail
the defendant's background. He was an orphan

633
01:03:15.960 --> 01:03:22.559
at eight years, his mother dying
two days before Christmas and his father six

634
01:03:22.639 --> 01:03:28.239
months later. He and four sisters
were in a foster home he until he

635
01:03:28.360 --> 01:03:34.400
was sixteen. He attended night school
and worked at various occupations, including that

636
01:03:34.519 --> 01:03:39.159
of a truck driver in Pennsylvania.
He also worked in Indianapolis, where he

637
01:03:39.280 --> 01:03:45.360
was well known and had many friends. Quote, it was nothing unusual for

638
01:03:45.440 --> 01:03:51.159
him to plan a vacation there Unquote. In nineteen forty six, he learned

639
01:03:51.159 --> 01:03:54.960
of job opportunities in Hamilton and came
here to make a record as a good

640
01:03:54.960 --> 01:04:00.559
workman, of good habits and good
reputation. In the spring of nineteen forty

641
01:04:00.599 --> 01:04:05.559
six, Gordon went to work on
the Abbot farm and entered three months later

642
01:04:06.000 --> 01:04:12.920
into an affair with Missus Abbot.
In August, he became restive, thought

643
01:04:12.960 --> 01:04:16.760
he had better leave, and he
headed back to Pennsylvania. There he procured

644
01:04:16.800 --> 01:04:21.320
a job as a helper on a
truck with his former employer and made one

645
01:04:21.400 --> 01:04:26.960
trip between Pittsburgh and New York when
he was picked up by the FBI.

646
01:04:28.559 --> 01:04:32.960
Gordon had failed to give a forwarding
address, a violation of Army draft rules.

647
01:04:33.199 --> 01:04:42.000
Although he was classified for f during
confinement in a reformatory, Gordon corresponded

648
01:04:42.039 --> 01:04:46.400
with Marie Abbot and she sent him
little sums of money. From January or

649
01:04:46.440 --> 01:04:53.800
February nineteen forty seven. After serving
the ninety days sentence, Gordon once more

650
01:04:53.920 --> 01:04:59.079
went to work on the Abbot farm. Quote. He decided to leave again

651
01:04:59.599 --> 01:05:03.880
theref after he took jobs on three
other farms. All this time he and

652
01:05:03.960 --> 01:05:11.000
Marie Abbot had meetings. She prevailed
on him to come back. He called

653
01:05:11.079 --> 01:05:15.960
Morris Abbot, who replied, okay, I need you unquote. He again

654
01:05:16.119 --> 01:05:21.000
left the farm the first week of
last January. About that time, Missus

655
01:05:21.079 --> 01:05:27.760
Abbot was stricken ill, and Gordon
visited her at a Hamilton hospital. When

656
01:05:27.800 --> 01:05:32.519
she recovered sufficiently, the meetings were
resumed, although Gordon had meanwhile gone to

657
01:05:32.559 --> 01:05:39.840
work at the Derrickson farm. Quote. The evidence will show that their last

658
01:05:39.840 --> 01:05:44.760
meeting was May fourteenth or fifteenth.
At the Derrickson farm, the two talked

659
01:05:44.800 --> 01:05:48.639
about divorce, and Gordon told her
they had better break off their relations unless

660
01:05:48.679 --> 01:05:54.679
she got a divorce. People are
talking, he advised her. She told

661
01:05:54.719 --> 01:05:58.000
Gordon that she had already talked to
Morris and he would not give her a

662
01:05:58.039 --> 01:06:03.199
divorce. Thereupon, Marie suggested Gordon
talk to her husband. I don't know

663
01:06:03.239 --> 01:06:09.320
how to get over to see him, Gordon told her unquote. Wise contended

664
01:06:09.440 --> 01:06:14.199
the evidence would show that they talked
of his impending trip to Indianapolis, and

665
01:06:14.320 --> 01:06:17.880
Gordon told Missus Abbot quote, if
I have a chance to rent an automobile,

666
01:06:18.199 --> 01:06:24.559
it would be a good time to
come down unquote. When in Indianapolis,

667
01:06:24.639 --> 01:06:28.360
Gordon met a young lady at a
roller rink and accompanied her home.

668
01:06:29.159 --> 01:06:32.079
He rented a truck Monday and tried
to find her home in Franklin, Indiana,

669
01:06:32.360 --> 01:06:36.920
but failed. At three pm,
he telephoned to missus Abbot, who

670
01:06:38.039 --> 01:06:43.360
received the call on the ten party
line. Abbot arrived in his new truck

671
01:06:43.639 --> 01:06:46.679
and was refueling it from a gas
tank in the rear of the house when

672
01:06:46.719 --> 01:06:53.599
Gordon accosted him. They conversed,
and Gordon disclosed he had a rental truck

673
01:06:53.639 --> 01:06:58.239
in the barnyard. I'm going to
put mine away and then we can drive

674
01:06:58.320 --> 01:07:01.960
back to yours, Abbot said.
According to Weiss, Gordon stood on the

675
01:07:02.039 --> 01:07:06.840
running board for the ride, unlatched
the gate to the barnyard and waited for

676
01:07:06.920 --> 01:07:13.679
Abbot to alight from the cab.
Gordon had said earlier he wanted to talk

677
01:07:13.719 --> 01:07:18.159
with Abbot. Abbot queried, now, what's all this about. The former

678
01:07:18.239 --> 01:07:25.000
employee answered, it's about Marie,
about a divorce. Abbot said, I've

679
01:07:25.039 --> 01:07:30.280
made up my mind, no divorce. Gordon said, She's going to leave

680
01:07:30.360 --> 01:07:34.400
anyway, run away and take the
two children. Abbot queried, what are

681
01:07:34.440 --> 01:07:41.119
you going to do? Gordon said, I'm going with her. Abbot replied,

682
01:07:41.760 --> 01:07:46.719
like, hell you will. Weiss
said the foregoing conversation precipitated a fight.

683
01:07:47.480 --> 01:07:51.559
Gordon had a lame arm, and
he doesn't know how he struck Abbot.

684
01:07:53.039 --> 01:07:57.440
He got down on his knees to
listen to Abbot's heart and realized the

685
01:07:57.519 --> 01:08:03.079
victim was dead. Thereafter, in
concert with Missus Abbot, were those of

686
01:08:03.119 --> 01:08:09.079
a terror stricken man who sought to
make the fatality appear like an accident.

687
01:08:19.600 --> 01:08:25.880
The last of the three opening statements
was by Attorney Hopkins, who also sketched

688
01:08:25.920 --> 01:08:30.439
the background of his client, Missus
Abbot. She was born in Indiana forty

689
01:08:30.560 --> 01:08:35.800
years ago. Attended Miami University for
a year, then transferred to a business

690
01:08:35.800 --> 01:08:42.000
college in Hamilton, from which she
graduated. She worked in an Oxford bank,

691
01:08:42.399 --> 01:08:46.399
quitting the job when expecting a child. In nineteen thirty seven or thirty

692
01:08:46.439 --> 01:08:50.960
eight. She and Morris moved to
the farm, the scene of the tragedy,

693
01:08:51.239 --> 01:08:57.560
and were getting along fine. In
April nineteen forty six, Abbot applied

694
01:08:57.600 --> 01:09:01.600
to the Farm Bureau for help,
and gore Goon was recommended. He was

695
01:09:01.640 --> 01:09:06.239
sent there to work and was given
sleeping quarters downstairs in the home, the

696
01:09:06.279 --> 01:09:13.520
rest of the family sleeping upstairs.
About three months later, Marie Abbot became

697
01:09:13.640 --> 01:09:19.279
untrue to her husband. Gordon's employment
at the Abbot farm was intermittent. Quote

698
01:09:19.640 --> 01:09:26.920
all of the time, this defendant
was unfaithful unquote. In January nineteen forty

699
01:09:26.920 --> 01:09:31.000
eight, Abbot called in Gordon and
fired him. Missus Abbot went to a

700
01:09:31.079 --> 01:09:38.960
hospital for a tumor operation, and
Gordon visited her there. Quote He bumped

701
01:09:38.960 --> 01:09:44.479
into Abbot, who warned Scotty to
stay out. Then Scotty wrote her a

702
01:09:44.560 --> 01:09:49.720
registered letter saying that no one could
keep him away from her unquote. On

703
01:09:49.800 --> 01:09:56.880
last February second, missus Abbot went
home and was in bed until March fifteenth.

704
01:09:57.760 --> 01:10:00.960
Gordon sent cards to her, and
as soon as she was physically able,

705
01:10:01.479 --> 01:10:06.600
she and Gordon continued to see each
other. Quote. There was no

706
01:10:06.720 --> 01:10:15.520
scheme, no plan, no conspiracy, Hopkins contended, unquote. Then Hopkins

707
01:10:15.560 --> 01:10:20.680
described the break, which he said
the evidence will prove in the triangle.

708
01:10:20.880 --> 01:10:28.119
Early in May, Missus Abbott and
her husband discussed the possibility of a divorce,

709
01:10:28.600 --> 01:10:32.800
and he gave her a choice,
Scottie or the children. She told

710
01:10:32.880 --> 01:10:36.079
him, I won't give them up. If you leave, you will never

711
01:10:36.119 --> 01:10:41.840
get the children. Hopkins said she
made her decision to stick with Morris,

712
01:10:42.199 --> 01:10:45.840
and on May fourteenth, with his
permission, drove to the Derrickson farm to

713
01:10:45.880 --> 01:10:51.199
tell Scotty that it was all off. At this conference, she learned of

714
01:10:51.239 --> 01:10:56.960
his plan to take a vacation in
Indianapolis, and she gave him thirty dollars

715
01:10:57.439 --> 01:11:02.239
afterward, reporting this gift to her
husband. Quote at three thirty o'clock on

716
01:11:02.359 --> 01:11:08.399
Monday afternoon, May thirty first,
Gordon had a longing in his heart to

717
01:11:08.479 --> 01:11:13.520
see Marie, and he got her
on the phone. Her son answered,

718
01:11:13.560 --> 01:11:17.560
and he called his mother. Perhaps
she was thrilled to hear Scotty's voice.

719
01:11:18.079 --> 01:11:23.239
She was ruled by her body,
not her mind. He asked if she

720
01:11:23.319 --> 01:11:27.760
were going to the recital and if
Morris were going. She said she was

721
01:11:27.840 --> 01:11:31.840
going, and that Morris never did
attend. Gordon then told her I'm going

722
01:11:31.880 --> 01:11:36.239
to see him. It is one
last chance to get a divorce. She

723
01:11:36.399 --> 01:11:42.720
replied, all right, see if
you can sell him. Unquote. Hopkins

724
01:11:42.720 --> 01:11:46.680
continued his account by noting that Gordon
signed his own name when renting a truck

725
01:11:47.159 --> 01:11:51.079
and on arrival at the home,
procured the ten dollar bill and left a

726
01:11:51.159 --> 01:11:56.159
note there reading, if you get
home before Morris does, I'll see you.

727
01:11:57.119 --> 01:12:00.640
Missus Abbott, on arrival from Hamilton, cared for the children and put

728
01:12:00.680 --> 01:12:04.840
them to bed. She came downstairs
to get a glass of water for one

729
01:12:04.920 --> 01:12:10.479
of them, and when in the
kitchen, heard a voice from the darkness.

730
01:12:11.199 --> 01:12:15.840
She recognized Gordon and told him Morris
is not home and I'm worried.

731
01:12:15.479 --> 01:12:21.520
I know where he is. Gordon
replied and related the tragedy. Hopkins said

732
01:12:21.600 --> 01:12:28.960
Missus Gordon became hysterical and in following
acts quote tried to cover up for her

733
01:12:29.000 --> 01:12:34.479
own protection. She was caught in
a vice trying to protect herself. Unquote.

734
01:12:34.520 --> 01:12:40.399
Hopkins told the jury that Missus Abbot
is on trial for a conspiracy and

735
01:12:40.520 --> 01:12:45.560
not on a charge of immorality or
for being unfaithful. Quote. Her life

736
01:12:45.640 --> 01:12:50.840
is at stake. After a thorough
investigation, you must agree that not only

737
01:12:50.920 --> 01:12:57.800
is it your duty, but your
privilege to return a verdict finding Marie Abbot

738
01:12:58.159 --> 01:13:10.119
not guilty. Quote. July twenty
fourth, nineteen forty eight, when missus

739
01:13:10.159 --> 01:13:14.680
Grace Khan, mother of the defendant
Marie Abbott, took the stand. It

740
01:13:14.800 --> 01:13:18.279
was the first news to the public
that she had been ill. Prosecutor Baden

741
01:13:18.359 --> 01:13:23.920
made an apology to her in opening
his questioning quote, I did not know

742
01:13:24.079 --> 01:13:29.439
you were sick when I issued the
subpoena unquote. Missus Khan acquitted herself on

743
01:13:29.479 --> 01:13:34.199
the stand without tears or sobs,
in marked contrast to the emotions displayed from

744
01:13:34.199 --> 01:13:39.760
time to time by her daughter.
Before she took the stand, a prediction

745
01:13:39.960 --> 01:13:45.199
was heard in certain quarters that she
would collapse or faint. She failed to

746
01:13:45.239 --> 01:13:51.279
fulfill this prediction. Missus Khan's testimony
was considered important as to the time element.

747
01:13:53.239 --> 01:13:58.000
The court room, because of the
Friday proceedings, is now well stocked

748
01:13:58.039 --> 01:14:01.880
with exhibits in the case. Doctor
Boone brought in a platte of the neighborhood

749
01:14:01.920 --> 01:14:06.720
to help in an interpretation of the
testimony and help in fixing locations of the

750
01:14:06.800 --> 01:14:13.159
various places involved in the case.
He also brought in a series of photographs.

751
01:14:13.880 --> 01:14:17.640
While Deputy Sheriff Markder was on the
stand, the state introduced as evidence

752
01:14:17.760 --> 01:14:23.800
the mattock which was used in the
slaying. With it were a shovel used

753
01:14:23.800 --> 01:14:27.920
to dig up blood stained dirt and
a feed pan. In which this dirt

754
01:14:27.960 --> 01:14:32.800
was carried away. The mattic shovel
and pan were recovered from a field in

755
01:14:32.800 --> 01:14:40.479
Indiana. The state is displaying a
white shirt not yet introduced as evidence.

756
01:14:41.039 --> 01:14:45.560
The state will attempt to prove that
this shirt originally was owned by Morris Abbot.

757
01:14:45.760 --> 01:14:50.479
Some love letters have also been introduced
as evidence. Two of these were

758
01:14:50.520 --> 01:14:57.079
inadvertently offered in a miscellaneous assortment at
an auction sale held at the Abbot farm

759
01:14:57.159 --> 01:15:01.159
last month. These letters probably will
be read to the jury and the court

760
01:15:01.279 --> 01:15:08.279
when the trial sessions reconvene Monday.
The love letters of Cyril Gordon to Marie

761
01:15:08.319 --> 01:15:13.800
Abbott were accompanied by some rhymes which
he noted that he himself is composed.

762
01:15:14.720 --> 01:15:18.359
This verse was accompanied by the notation
I just tried to write a poem and

763
01:15:18.479 --> 01:15:23.680
am enclosing the results. I hope
you like it, but I seem to

764
01:15:23.680 --> 01:15:27.760
be a bit rusty at composing poetry. I used to know how to do

765
01:15:27.840 --> 01:15:38.840
it. I love you on the
hillside, I love you on the level,

766
01:15:39.560 --> 01:15:42.920
but if I get you in the
dark, I'll love you like the

767
01:15:42.960 --> 01:15:54.119
devil. The most elaborate effort in
this line was one entitled just a Broken

768
01:15:54.199 --> 01:16:01.640
Heart by Scottie Gordon. Sometimes I
think that maybe it was meant to be

769
01:16:02.640 --> 01:16:08.800
that you should someday belong to only
me. And then again I wonder if

770
01:16:08.800 --> 01:16:13.720
we should ever part, what the
devil could I do with just a broken

771
01:16:13.760 --> 01:16:19.199
heart? I know I never can
forget the many hours we spent together,

772
01:16:19.479 --> 01:16:25.119
and our happiness was surely heaven sent. And every time I see you,

773
01:16:25.560 --> 01:16:30.119
I know you feel the same.
So if we ever say goodbye, I'll

774
01:16:30.159 --> 01:16:33.560
wonder who's to blame. Don't you
ever think that I could be untrue,

775
01:16:34.279 --> 01:16:39.680
because, my little darling, I'm
in love with only you. So I

776
01:16:39.720 --> 01:16:43.760
guess that I will have to do
the best I can and prove that I

777
01:16:43.800 --> 01:16:48.239
can always be your ideal type of
man. If in this venture I should

778
01:16:48.239 --> 01:16:55.000
fail and never drift apart, I
guess that I'll go through life with just

779
01:16:55.119 --> 01:17:08.760
a broken heart. July twenty sixth, nineteen forty eight. Is it morbid

780
01:17:08.840 --> 01:17:14.279
curiosity? Do they have some sort
of personal interest? Or what is it

781
01:17:14.399 --> 01:17:18.680
I keep asking myself that prompts all
of these persons to lay aside their work

782
01:17:19.319 --> 01:17:24.960
or to devote leisure which could be
spent to better advantage, just to become

783
01:17:25.039 --> 01:17:29.760
spectators In a courtroom where a man
and a woman are on trial for their

784
01:17:29.800 --> 01:17:34.640
lives. Interest mounts as the case
of the State of Ohio versus Marie Cohn

785
01:17:34.800 --> 01:17:42.439
Abbot and Cyril Scottie Gordon moves into
the second week. At five o'clock Monday

786
01:17:42.479 --> 01:17:46.079
morning, already some persons had taken
their place in the line that swelled the

787
01:17:46.239 --> 01:17:51.600
several hundred persons. Just a mere
handful of these could get inside the courtroom.

788
01:17:53.079 --> 01:17:58.760
The rest stand about for hours,
hopefully seemingly content just to catch a

789
01:17:58.800 --> 01:18:04.159
glimpse of the defendant or some of
the jury or witnesses. I recognize some

790
01:18:04.239 --> 01:18:09.479
in the audience as having been there
each day, some, of course,

791
01:18:09.600 --> 01:18:14.479
no one or other of the defendants, but the vast majority have no connection

792
01:18:15.079 --> 01:18:20.760
to Most of them, it seems
just to show these grim proceedings. Much

793
01:18:20.800 --> 01:18:27.159
that goes on is repetitious, dull, and tiresome. Yet the spectators sit

794
01:18:27.279 --> 01:18:31.039
on even when the judge calls a
recess. They have to remain where they

795
01:18:31.079 --> 01:18:35.479
are. For those outside the door
or just waiting to grab a vacant chair.

796
01:18:36.880 --> 01:18:41.880
The procedures in the court of law
are, of course interesting, but

797
01:18:42.000 --> 01:18:46.000
after you've seen the pattern, it's
all the same. Many of these spectators

798
01:18:46.079 --> 01:18:51.479
may just be waiting for some startling
disclosures, some sordid revelations. There have

799
01:18:51.560 --> 01:18:57.760
been none so far. Surely it
can't be pleasant to just watch the harrowing

800
01:18:57.880 --> 01:19:01.079
of two human souls, no matter
what the nature of the crime with which

801
01:19:01.119 --> 01:19:09.199
they are charged. People are funny
who can understand the complexities of human nature,

802
01:19:09.479 --> 01:19:13.399
which makes it seem a pleasure to
wait hours on end just in the

803
01:19:13.439 --> 01:19:19.359
hope of seeing or hearing something sensational. The first witness Monday was Eugene Derrickson,

804
01:19:19.600 --> 01:19:26.239
Oxford township farmer, who was Gordon's
last employer. About May fourteenth,

805
01:19:26.239 --> 01:19:30.640
he testified, Gordon received a caller
at noon at the farm. Quote,

806
01:19:30.920 --> 01:19:34.159
when he came back to eat,
he said that she would never be back

807
01:19:34.199 --> 01:19:39.520
again unless there was a divorce,
the whole thing would be off. He

808
01:19:39.640 --> 01:19:45.039
was just as happy after that as
before. Unquote. Dereckson testified missus Abbott

809
01:19:45.119 --> 01:19:49.960
visited Gordon at their farm about a
dozen times from the latter part of February

810
01:19:50.039 --> 01:19:56.399
to the middle of May. There
were some telephone calls. The morning Gordon

811
01:19:56.479 --> 01:20:00.880
left for Indianapolis for his vacation,
he had a telephone call all at breakfast

812
01:20:00.920 --> 01:20:05.680
time and afterwards confided to his employer
that Missus Abbot quote had wished him a

813
01:20:05.720 --> 01:20:13.279
good time unquote on his trip.
Dereckson said that when he employed Gordon,

814
01:20:13.600 --> 01:20:17.000
he had asked of Morris Abbot three
questions, is he a good worker,

815
01:20:17.279 --> 01:20:23.680
honest, and harmonious where there are
children? Abbot recommended him on all three

816
01:20:23.800 --> 01:20:31.199
counts, and Derekson said he found
these replies upheld. Derekson also testified that

817
01:20:31.319 --> 01:20:35.680
Gordon had heard his right arm in
a farm accident shortly before he left on

818
01:20:35.720 --> 01:20:41.720
the Indianapolis trip. He also said
that Gordon had spoken of plans for the

819
01:20:41.760 --> 01:20:46.239
trip two months prior to the automobile
races quote. He carried the pistol,

820
01:20:46.279 --> 01:20:50.159
went on the tractor, and I
approved the idea, hoping that he would

821
01:20:50.159 --> 01:20:57.439
shoot groundhogs unquote. In the last
month, Scotty left the farm few,

822
01:20:57.600 --> 01:21:02.720
if any times, the court was
told. The testimony of Sheriff Charles B.

823
01:21:03.039 --> 01:21:09.359
Walkee showed that Gordon was being questioned
from twelve thirty am to five am

824
01:21:09.359 --> 01:21:14.000
by Walkee and Everett L. Mcsavny
of the State Bureau, and that the

825
01:21:14.039 --> 01:21:18.760
written statements were taken starting at seven
am the same day. The testimony showed

826
01:21:18.800 --> 01:21:25.279
this inquiry was on June third.
Walkee recalled that during his questioning of Gordon

827
01:21:25.399 --> 01:21:29.520
that morning, the suspect told him, quote, if I had you outside,

828
01:21:29.520 --> 01:21:33.800
I'd make you swallow those words unquote. The sheriff said the flare up

829
01:21:33.840 --> 01:21:40.720
occurred when mention was made of the
suspects relations with missus Abbott. Walkee admitted

830
01:21:40.760 --> 01:21:45.119
he followed with some hot words,
but testified no one laid a hand on

831
01:21:45.239 --> 01:21:50.079
him. E. L. Mcsavney, investigator with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal

832
01:21:50.119 --> 01:21:57.079
Investigation, was the next witness.
Mister mcsaviney, questioned by Prosecutor Baden,

833
01:21:57.279 --> 01:22:00.840
told of being advised by the Bureau
to come to County to investigate a murder

834
01:22:00.920 --> 01:22:05.760
case. He said that he and
his technicians arrived in Hamilton aboard the mobile

835
01:22:05.800 --> 01:22:13.199
crime laboratory. He outlined the steps
taken in the investigation. The jury then

836
01:22:13.319 --> 01:22:17.359
retired upon approval of the judge that
counsel for the defense be permitted to cross

837
01:22:17.359 --> 01:22:24.680
examine mcsavine in the absence of jurors. Attorney Weiss questioned the witness on the

838
01:22:24.720 --> 01:22:29.840
time element involved in his conversation with
Gordon. He asked if missus Abbot was

839
01:22:29.880 --> 01:22:33.199
in custody at the time when mcsavny
talked with Gordon, and the answer was

840
01:22:33.279 --> 01:22:39.159
no. Mister Weiss asked, did
Gordon ask you if missus Abbott would be

841
01:22:39.199 --> 01:22:43.159
permitted to attend the trial? And
did you promise him that if he would

842
01:22:43.159 --> 01:22:46.439
make a statement, missus Abbot would
be allowed to attend the trial. The

843
01:22:46.520 --> 01:22:53.560
answer was absolutely not. Weiss then
asked mcsavanny if he had seen the defendant

844
01:22:53.560 --> 01:22:57.760
Gordon since that time. He replied
that he had talked with him once.

845
01:22:59.199 --> 01:23:02.680
Question do you recall telling Gordon that
he had better watch out because his lawyers

846
01:23:02.680 --> 01:23:09.840
were going to sell him down the
river? Answer absolutely not. Question did

847
01:23:09.880 --> 01:23:14.199
you tell Gordon to stick by his
confessions because Marie Abbot's attorneys were going to

848
01:23:14.199 --> 01:23:20.000
throw the whole thing on him?
Answer absolutely not. Mister Hopkins then questioned

849
01:23:20.000 --> 01:23:25.840
the witness on his conversation with missus
Abbot. He asked if mister mcsaviney had

850
01:23:25.880 --> 01:23:30.439
been alone with missus Abbot at the
time of the conversation, and mister mcsaviney

851
01:23:30.479 --> 01:23:34.800
answered yes. Mister Hopkins asked why
it was not deemed advisable to have someone

852
01:23:34.840 --> 01:23:40.760
else present in case some argument developed
and mister mcsaviney said that it was the

853
01:23:40.840 --> 01:23:45.800
usual policy of the bureau to talk
alone with the suspect before a stenographer is

854
01:23:45.880 --> 01:23:51.640
called. McSaveney described in detail his
conversation with missus Abbot after Gordon had given

855
01:23:51.680 --> 01:23:58.560
his written statement quote. I informed
her that Gordon had made a statement involving

856
01:23:58.600 --> 01:24:01.800
her in a plan to dispose of
her husband, also that she and Gordon

857
01:24:01.840 --> 01:24:06.159
had been intimate for some time.
Then I asked her, is this true?

858
01:24:06.520 --> 01:24:11.560
Missus Abbot hesitated a moment, dropped
her hand, and then answered yes.

859
01:24:12.439 --> 01:24:15.199
I told her that Gordon had said
they had planned to dispose of her

860
01:24:15.279 --> 01:24:18.079
husband for some time, also that
he had seen her at the home on

861
01:24:18.119 --> 01:24:24.319
the night of May thirty. First
question, did missus Abbot tell you what

862
01:24:24.479 --> 01:24:29.399
happened? Answer? She told me
Scotty came to the back porch after she

863
01:24:29.479 --> 01:24:34.199
put the children to bed. Mcsavaney
also disclosed that her account varied in some

864
01:24:34.279 --> 01:24:41.199
details and gave added information in comparison
to Gordon's statement. She told of the

865
01:24:41.239 --> 01:24:45.720
ten dollars behind the picture and of
the telephone call in the afternoon. The

866
01:24:45.800 --> 01:24:53.079
witness quoted her on their conversation as
follows. Gordon it's all over with missus

867
01:24:53.159 --> 01:24:59.159
Abbot. Too bad it had to
end that way. Mcsavney testified that at

868
01:24:59.159 --> 01:25:02.640
the beginning of his interview with missus
Abbot, she denied knowing that Gordon had

869
01:25:02.640 --> 01:25:06.399
a role in the killing, denied
that she had been friendly with him.

870
01:25:08.079 --> 01:25:13.640
Her admissions, the witness declared,
followed his report to her that Scottie had

871
01:25:13.680 --> 01:25:17.960
confessed to kill him. Quote.
We were alone in the front room of

872
01:25:18.000 --> 01:25:21.399
the County jail, and I asked
her if she had any idea who killed

873
01:25:21.439 --> 01:25:28.039
Morris Abbot. She replied that she
had none, although some persons suspected Scottie

874
01:25:28.079 --> 01:25:31.119
Gordon. Then I asked her,
do you suspect him, and she replied

875
01:25:31.119 --> 01:25:35.000
that she did not. I asked
her if she and her husband had any

876
01:25:35.039 --> 01:25:39.760
trouble, and she replied no.
I then asked her if she had ever

877
01:25:39.800 --> 01:25:44.359
considered a divorce, and again she
answered no. She also denied that she

878
01:25:44.399 --> 01:25:47.119
had been intimate with Gordon, explaining
that she merely liked him as a friend.

879
01:25:47.840 --> 01:25:54.159
She denied she entered into any extensive
correspondence, mentioning merely letters sent once

880
01:25:54.279 --> 01:25:58.880
or twice after he had left the
farm. She also denied that she had

881
01:25:58.920 --> 01:26:03.199
talked with him since he left the
farm. Unquote. After she had made

882
01:26:03.199 --> 01:26:09.119
these denials, mcsavane recalled, He
informed her that Gordon had made a statement

883
01:26:09.279 --> 01:26:14.000
quote involving her in a plan to
dispose of her husband, also that she

884
01:26:14.079 --> 01:26:17.000
and Gordon had been intimate quite some
time. I asked her, is this

885
01:26:17.119 --> 01:26:23.840
true? Missus Abbot hesitated, dropped
her head and replied yes. I told

886
01:26:23.880 --> 01:26:27.319
her Gordon had said they planned to
dispose of her husband for some time,

887
01:26:27.720 --> 01:26:30.479
had been intimate over a long period
of time, and also stated he had

888
01:26:30.520 --> 01:26:35.560
been at her home on the night
of May thirty. First Prosecutor Baden interposed

889
01:26:35.560 --> 01:26:41.600
a question, did missus Abbott tell
you what had happened? Mcsavney continued.

890
01:26:41.920 --> 01:26:45.279
Quote. Missus Abbot stated that Scottie
came to the back door this night after

891
01:26:45.359 --> 01:26:48.880
she had put the children to bed. She also told me she had a

892
01:26:48.880 --> 01:26:55.199
telephone call from Gordon that afternoon from
Indianapolis. He had asked her, she

893
01:26:55.239 --> 01:26:59.199
said, to put ten dollars back
of his picture. She said she had

894
01:26:59.239 --> 01:27:02.279
placed there to two U five dollar
bills, explaining that she cast a ten

895
01:27:02.359 --> 01:27:08.479
dollar check gave five dollars to her
husband, using the other five dollars and

896
01:27:08.520 --> 01:27:14.119
some cash she had on hand to
meet Gordon's request. I asked missus Abbot

897
01:27:14.119 --> 01:27:16.680
if Gordon had a key to her
home, and she replied that the house

898
01:27:16.760 --> 01:27:20.079
was never locked. I also asked
her if he had a key to her

899
01:27:20.119 --> 01:27:26.159
automobile, and she replied that he
did have one. Missus Abbot stated,

900
01:27:26.319 --> 01:27:30.560
Gordon and she had been talking,
and Gordon asked her, if we get

901
01:27:30.680 --> 01:27:34.039
rid of Morris, will you marry
me. Missus Abbot replied to him she

902
01:27:34.079 --> 01:27:40.039
said that she would if he would
assume the responsibility of the two children.

903
01:27:40.800 --> 01:27:45.760
She stated that he agreed he would
unquote. Mcsavny then testified he asked her

904
01:27:45.800 --> 01:27:50.000
about the plans for Monday night,
and she told him Gordon knew that he

905
01:27:50.119 --> 01:27:56.319
was to attend to recital and take
the two children. Quote. She told

906
01:27:56.359 --> 01:28:00.560
about a call from Indianapolis in which
Gordon verified her plans to go to the

907
01:28:00.600 --> 01:28:06.159
recital. Unquote. Mcsaviney testified he
talked with her fifteen minutes when he was

908
01:28:06.199 --> 01:28:12.720
interrupted by the arrival of attorney Condo. When the lawyer left, missus Abbot

909
01:28:12.800 --> 01:28:15.680
answered all of the questions with the
reply, I would rather not say,

910
01:28:16.319 --> 01:28:24.039
and explained that she had been told
not to say anything. In cross examination,

911
01:28:24.720 --> 01:28:30.720
Hopkins demanded that mcsaviny point out in
Gordon's earliest confession where the suspect had

912
01:28:30.720 --> 01:28:33.960
ever said that he and missus Abbot
were intimate or that they had plotted against

913
01:28:34.000 --> 01:28:41.000
her husband. The witness failed to
do so. Hopkins also accused mcsavny of

914
01:28:41.119 --> 01:28:46.439
using quote a double barreled question unquote. This question incorporated two points, one

915
01:28:46.760 --> 01:28:53.000
that there was a plot and two
that the defendants had been intimate. Hopkins

916
01:28:53.079 --> 01:28:57.600
asked, who put the interpretation on
the word rid It doesn't mean kill,

917
01:28:57.720 --> 01:29:02.199
does it? Answer? That's right? Question in your questioning, did you

918
01:29:02.239 --> 01:29:08.880
ever ask her if she and Gordon
plan to kill Morris Abbot? Answer that

919
01:29:09.000 --> 01:29:14.600
phrase was never used. Question did
you ever ask her attorneys for permission to

920
01:29:14.640 --> 01:29:24.439
take a signed statement from it?
Answer No? July twenty seventh, nineteen

921
01:29:24.600 --> 01:29:30.720
forty eight. What are they thinking? How must they feel? Are recurrent

922
01:29:30.880 --> 01:29:38.600
thoughts as I watched the Two Principles
Marie Khan Abbot and Cyril Scottie Gordon as

923
01:29:38.640 --> 01:29:44.359
the drama unfolds in Judge Kramer's courtroom
where they are on trial in the slaying

924
01:29:44.439 --> 01:29:48.399
of Morris Abbot, What an ordeal
it must be to sit there, hour

925
01:29:48.479 --> 01:29:55.800
after hour, listening to testimony for
and against, exposed to the speculative gaze

926
01:29:55.840 --> 01:30:01.159
of an avidly curious crowd. Inmost
thoughts and secrets laid bare, the most

927
01:30:01.199 --> 01:30:06.840
personal of their emotions coldly analyzed,
and then to face the cold stairs,

928
01:30:08.359 --> 01:30:13.199
the audibly whispered comments as they passed
through the gaping ranks on their way to

929
01:30:13.479 --> 01:30:19.159
and from court. Tension mounts as
the trial progresses, and today's session was

930
01:30:19.520 --> 01:30:25.279
so far the most dramatic. There
was a stir of excitement in the court

931
01:30:25.399 --> 01:30:30.600
when the feeling flared briefly between council
during the cross examination of the witness,

932
01:30:30.039 --> 01:30:35.600
and again when Scottie Gordon's confessions were
read, but the crowd, remembering Judge

933
01:30:35.680 --> 01:30:42.680
Kramer's repeated warnings, was quiet.
There were no audible comments, but the

934
01:30:42.720 --> 01:30:49.119
implications were great. Time alone will
tell the outcome. But whatever happens to

935
01:30:49.199 --> 01:30:54.800
either of both of these principles,
these grueling weeks will have taken a heavy

936
01:30:54.840 --> 01:31:08.479
toll, will have left an indelible
and irradicable mark the state's case, and

937
01:31:08.560 --> 01:31:13.439
the Abbot murder trial was concluded today
with the reading to the jury of seven

938
01:31:13.520 --> 01:31:17.800
men and five women the signed confessions
of Cyril Scottie Gordon, in which he

939
01:31:17.880 --> 01:31:23.840
detailed how he battered to death with
a mattock his former employer, Morris r.

940
01:31:24.000 --> 01:31:29.319
Abbot, last Memorial Day. In
so far as Missus Abbot's connection with

941
01:31:29.399 --> 01:31:33.439
the case was concerned, the confessions
of Gordon were highlighted by these words.

942
01:31:34.159 --> 01:31:40.000
Questioned by prosecutor paul A Baden,
I want you to ask this question.

943
01:31:40.479 --> 01:31:44.039
Does she ever say anything to you
about if there is no other way,

944
01:31:44.279 --> 01:31:47.960
you'll have to kill him? Answer
by Gordon. She never put it in

945
01:31:47.960 --> 01:31:51.439
those words, but she led me
to believe she would have no objection.

946
01:31:53.119 --> 01:31:57.000
She said that Morris would have to
have an accident or commit suicide, or

947
01:31:57.039 --> 01:32:03.319
something like that. Parts of the
confessions Gordon maintained that the killing developed from

948
01:32:03.359 --> 01:32:09.039
a fight in the barnyard of the
Abbot place. When Gordon asked the husband

949
01:32:09.079 --> 01:32:13.159
to stand aside for a divorce from
the woman with whom the farm hand had

950
01:32:13.199 --> 01:32:17.760
been intimate for two years. Question
what did you tell him? What was

951
01:32:17.800 --> 01:32:23.880
the reason? Answer? I told
him his wife wasn't satisfied with him anymore

952
01:32:23.920 --> 01:32:27.560
and that she wanted to get a
divorce from him. Question what did he

953
01:32:27.680 --> 01:32:30.479
say. Answer? Well, he
says they had talked it over, and

954
01:32:30.520 --> 01:32:33.720
I think he said he decided he
didn't want a divorce or something to that

955
01:32:33.800 --> 01:32:40.760
effect. Question, Can you give
us the rest of the conversation? Answer?

956
01:32:41.119 --> 01:32:44.079
There was not much else said.
We started to walk down to where

957
01:32:44.079 --> 01:32:46.000
my truck was parked, and he
made a lunge at me, and he

958
01:32:46.119 --> 01:32:49.359
bumped me in the eye, either
with his elbow or fist, and I

959
01:32:49.439 --> 01:32:53.960
lost my head. And there was
a mattock there by the watering trough and

960
01:32:54.039 --> 01:32:57.439
I picked that up. He grappled
with me again and I hit him with

961
01:32:57.520 --> 01:33:02.159
that question, how many times did
you hit him? Answer? I think

962
01:33:02.199 --> 01:33:05.039
I hit him twice. I don't
know. I was mad and sort of

963
01:33:05.079 --> 01:33:09.159
lost my head. I may have
hit him more than that, but I

964
01:33:09.199 --> 01:33:15.039
think that was as often as I
hit him. Question he fell answered yes.

965
01:33:19.039 --> 01:33:28.199
July twenty eighth, nineteen forty eight, Judge Kramer's courtroom once again was

966
01:33:28.279 --> 01:33:33.039
crowded to the hilt, with a
quivering mass of humanity listening with breathless interest.

967
01:33:33.119 --> 01:33:38.680
As Scottie Gordon, one of the
defendants in the slaying of Morris Abbot,

968
01:33:39.119 --> 01:33:44.520
was cross examined. The crowd was
electrified when Gordon made the statement some

969
01:33:44.600 --> 01:33:48.319
of them were not true, meaning
some statements he had made in regard to

970
01:33:48.399 --> 01:33:55.840
missus Abbot and his confessions. He
appeared utterly unruffled and had a answer for

971
01:33:55.920 --> 01:34:00.319
each question put to him by the
prosecutor, in some instances even waxing a

972
01:34:00.359 --> 01:34:08.359
trifle facetious. More chairs have been
packed into the courtroom. Spectators are too

973
01:34:08.439 --> 01:34:13.279
close together to be comfortable. It
is hot and close within the courtroom.

974
01:34:13.960 --> 01:34:17.640
The fans must be turned off because
of the noise, and yet scarcely a

975
01:34:17.720 --> 01:34:23.800
single person ever leaves his or her
seat. No matter how often the same

976
01:34:23.920 --> 01:34:28.720
questions are asked, the same answer
is given. The crowd never seems to

977
01:34:28.840 --> 01:34:33.680
tire, never appears bored, always
on the alert for some special nuance or

978
01:34:33.760 --> 01:34:41.239
new implication. There was definite but
quiet reaction to some of Gordon's replies,

979
01:34:41.920 --> 01:34:46.159
particularly when he was questioned about his
love for missus Abbot. It seems to

980
01:34:46.239 --> 01:34:51.359
me it is a grueling experience even
for a spectator, this grilling of a

981
01:34:51.399 --> 01:34:58.279
witness. But the crowds which assemble
daily seem to derive some sort of vicarious

982
01:34:58.359 --> 01:35:04.079
thrill. Ramatic moments, tense situations. I'll take them in books or on

983
01:35:04.119 --> 01:35:08.800
the stage, But I find I
have no heart for the real thing.

984
01:35:09.760 --> 01:35:15.000
When Judge Kramer called recess during the
cross examination of Scotty Gordon, there was

985
01:35:15.039 --> 01:35:28.920
no person more relieved than this writer. On completion of his direct testimony,

986
01:35:29.479 --> 01:35:35.840
Gordon was cross examined first by William
Hopkins. Hopkins asked two questions. Quote,

987
01:35:36.000 --> 01:35:42.479
has anybody representing missus Abbot approached you
and asked you to change your story?

988
01:35:43.079 --> 01:35:48.000
Answer? No. Question Did you
and Marie Abbot ever planned to kill

989
01:35:48.039 --> 01:35:54.800
Abbot? Answer? We did not, Never did plan to kill mister Abbot.

990
01:35:55.439 --> 01:35:59.920
Baden's questioning continued at length, and
it was evident from his answers that

991
01:36:00.159 --> 01:36:03.600
Scott he still has a deep affection
for the widow of the victim. He

992
01:36:03.680 --> 01:36:09.840
sought to repudiate some of his statements
in the confessions he had signed. Quote,

993
01:36:10.119 --> 01:36:14.039
under the circumstances, I did sign
some things that were not exactly true.

994
01:36:14.600 --> 01:36:18.720
They were not true against Marie.
Question were you very much in love

995
01:36:18.800 --> 01:36:26.399
with Marie? Answer? I was. Question you discussed the subject of her

996
01:36:26.439 --> 01:36:33.119
being free? Answer we discussed divorce. Question you even considered running away taking

997
01:36:33.159 --> 01:36:40.960
the children and his money? Answer? Yes, question they were his children

998
01:36:41.000 --> 01:36:46.560
answer hers two. Question they were
not yours. You had an undying love

999
01:36:46.600 --> 01:36:53.000
for her and you still have it. Gordon declined to answer. The cross

1000
01:36:53.000 --> 01:36:58.439
examination brought from Gordon the testimony that
it was Gordon who demanded Marie Abbott stop

1001
01:36:58.479 --> 01:37:02.199
her visits until she got it.
He told her so on May fourteenth,

1002
01:37:02.479 --> 01:37:08.520
when she visited him at the farm
of his last employer, Eugene Derrickson in

1003
01:37:08.600 --> 01:37:13.840
Oxford Township. Gordon said, quote, there was talk in the neighborhood.

1004
01:37:14.960 --> 01:37:20.159
Question was this your decision? Answer? It was question what did she say?

1005
01:37:21.000 --> 01:37:27.520
Answer? She said it was pretty
hard to stay away. Question did

1006
01:37:27.600 --> 01:37:31.840
you believe she was in love with
you? Answer? I believe so.

1007
01:37:32.000 --> 01:37:38.319
Gordon was uncertain in his testimony whether
he or Missus Abbot had suggested on May

1008
01:37:38.359 --> 01:37:44.279
fourteenth that he returned from Indianapolis to
see Abbot. She gave him thirty dollars

1009
01:37:44.319 --> 01:37:49.159
for expenses. Gordon learned on May
fourteenth that Abbot would be home alone on

1010
01:37:49.239 --> 01:37:55.239
the night of May thirty first,
Gordon denied he had seen Missus Abbot from

1011
01:37:55.279 --> 01:38:00.520
May fourteenth to the night of the
killing. Baden also question Gordon regarding a

1012
01:38:00.560 --> 01:38:05.319
telephone call lasting about ten minutes on
the morning of May twenty eighth, a

1013
01:38:05.359 --> 01:38:12.600
few hours before Gordon started on his
vacation trip to Indianapolis. The conversation included

1014
01:38:12.680 --> 01:38:17.239
comment on his sore arm. Gordon
contended that at this time he had not

1015
01:38:17.359 --> 01:38:23.560
definitely decided to return May thirty first
to see Abbot. He also denied that

1016
01:38:23.600 --> 01:38:28.119
he dallied on his return trip the
night of May thirty first until it got

1017
01:38:28.239 --> 01:38:31.880
dark. Asked why he drove his
rented truck to the back places, he

1018
01:38:31.920 --> 01:38:38.000
said he thought Abbot might be working
there quote, I knew his habits pretty

1019
01:38:38.000 --> 01:38:43.680
well unquote. He also repudiated one
statement in his written confession that read,

1020
01:38:44.039 --> 01:38:46.880
I did not want him to know
I was there. The correction would read

1021
01:38:47.199 --> 01:38:53.079
I did not want her, Missus
Kahan to know I was there. The

1022
01:38:53.199 --> 01:38:58.800
questioning also brought to light Gordon's attempt
in May to grow a mustache. He

1023
01:38:58.880 --> 01:39:01.720
said Marie Abbot did not like it. He also said that it took a

1024
01:39:01.720 --> 01:39:06.079
load off his mind when he had
advised Missus Abbot not to visit him.

1025
01:39:06.479 --> 01:39:11.960
He also admitted that intimacy started three
months after he took the job at the

1026
01:39:12.000 --> 01:39:16.760
Abbot farm. During the direct examination, the questioning by his counsel Theodore I.

1027
01:39:17.000 --> 01:39:20.680
Weiss, The defendant, said that
he had confessed the slag when he

1028
01:39:20.760 --> 01:39:27.000
was told by investigator mcsavny that Marie
Abbot was in jail and that they would

1029
01:39:27.079 --> 01:39:30.279
not release her to attend the funeral
of her husband unless he made a statement.

1030
01:39:31.039 --> 01:39:34.760
Baden asked Gordon if he rode in
the truck or on the running board

1031
01:39:34.960 --> 01:39:41.159
as he and Abbot were going back
the lane. Gordon replied on the running

1032
01:39:41.159 --> 01:39:45.920
board. Gordon then went through the
ensuing events leading up to Abbot's murder as

1033
01:39:45.960 --> 01:39:53.039
he told them under direct examination.
Baden asked Gordon if a barnyard near a

1034
01:39:53.079 --> 01:39:57.880
watering trough wasn't an unusual place to
ask a man to give his wife a

1035
01:39:57.920 --> 01:40:02.439
divorce, and said, no,
he didn't think it unusual. Quote,

1036
01:40:02.680 --> 01:40:10.159
it is rather unusual itself to ask
a man to divorce his wife. Unquote.

1037
01:40:10.159 --> 01:40:14.920
Gordon reiterated his statement that he was
fighting for his life during the scuffle.

1038
01:40:15.239 --> 01:40:18.680
Question. In your statement, you
say that you lost your head,

1039
01:40:18.760 --> 01:40:23.239
do you mean that you did not
know what you were doing? Answer?

1040
01:40:23.800 --> 01:40:28.479
I was so mad that I didn't
know exactly what I was doing. Question,

1041
01:40:28.920 --> 01:40:31.239
Yet you have told us the details
of how you were fighting for your

1042
01:40:31.319 --> 01:40:38.760
life. Baden continuously hammered at Gordon's
story of how Gordon tried to make the

1043
01:40:38.840 --> 01:40:45.079
killing look accidental, telling Gordon he
was quote not confused unquote as he laid

1044
01:40:45.119 --> 01:40:49.640
his plans. You weren't confused,
Baden said, and Gordon replied, I

1045
01:40:49.760 --> 01:40:55.399
was confused enough to think I could
make it look like an accident. Gordon

1046
01:40:55.520 --> 01:40:59.399
testified that when he told missus Abbott
what had happened, she said, my

1047
01:40:59.600 --> 01:41:02.279
lord, we hadn't figured on this. What are we going to do?

1048
01:41:03.359 --> 01:41:08.640
Baden asked why the authorities were not
called, and Gordon said that he didn't

1049
01:41:08.680 --> 01:41:13.479
think about it at the time.
Baden asked Gordon why he hadn't admitted the

1050
01:41:13.600 --> 01:41:16.880
murder when taken into custody, and
Gordon said that he did not think about

1051
01:41:16.880 --> 01:41:24.239
it at the time. After the
cross examination, former employers of Gordon were

1052
01:41:24.239 --> 01:41:30.880
called. The Gordon defense rested shortly
before court was scheduled to adjourn, and

1053
01:41:30.960 --> 01:41:35.479
the trial moved into the defense of
Missus Abbot with the presentation of character witnesses

1054
01:41:35.880 --> 01:41:42.800
neighbors from the Riley community in which
she resided. Testimony was in regard to

1055
01:41:42.920 --> 01:41:47.640
a reconciliation party which Morris Abbot gave
for his wife, to which neighbors and

1056
01:41:47.800 --> 01:41:59.920
friends were invited. July twenty ninth, nineteen forty eight, with crashing Krishu,

1057
01:42:00.000 --> 01:42:04.920
the climax was reached in the case
of the State of Ohio against Marie

1058
01:42:05.079 --> 01:42:11.880
Khan Abbot and Cyril Scottie Gordon.
When Marie Abbot took the stand in her

1059
01:42:11.920 --> 01:42:30.920
own defense Thursday morning, showing somewhat
the strain of the last few weeks,

1060
01:42:31.319 --> 01:42:36.079
she was pale but collected as her
counsel took her step by step through the

1061
01:42:36.159 --> 01:42:42.000
years and through events leading up to
the date on which her husband was slain

1062
01:42:42.640 --> 01:42:48.880
May thirty. First, she answered
questions unhesitatingly and clearly, her voice faltering

1063
01:42:48.960 --> 01:42:54.680
briefly when she spoke of her love
for Scotti, or when her children,

1064
01:42:55.039 --> 01:42:59.960
a daughter aged eleven and a son
aged seven, were brought into the per

1065
01:43:00.960 --> 01:43:04.520
But she broke and sobbed dramatically once
when she was asked if she had helped

1066
01:43:04.560 --> 01:43:11.560
wipe the blood off Scottie after the
slag quote, yes, and I got

1067
01:43:11.600 --> 01:43:18.039
blood on my hands, Morris's blood
on my hands unquote. Her counsel spared

1068
01:43:18.159 --> 01:43:25.199
her nothing. It was a merciless
expose. It was cruel, but necessary,

1069
01:43:25.319 --> 01:43:30.439
of course, and Marie Khan Abbot
made a good witness. She scourged

1070
01:43:30.479 --> 01:43:35.880
herself, bared her inmost soul to
a curious and pitiless world. Marie Khan

1071
01:43:36.000 --> 01:43:42.800
Abbot has suffered deeply. The anguish
of her father, who has stood beside

1072
01:43:42.840 --> 01:43:45.640
her through all this, who has
been with her each day in court,

1073
01:43:45.920 --> 01:43:50.079
was heartrending. But he gazed upon
her with love all the while she was

1074
01:43:50.159 --> 01:43:56.640
on the stand. He looks drained
of emotion and shows the effects of the

1075
01:43:56.680 --> 01:44:02.479
strain. Marie Khan Abbot had still
to face her worst ordeal, the cross

1076
01:44:02.520 --> 01:44:09.760
examination by the state, But hearing
her on the stand today, one realizes

1077
01:44:10.119 --> 01:44:15.079
that she has schooled her mind to
face it and so gained strength to carry

1078
01:44:15.119 --> 01:44:19.960
on. She was asked by her
counsel, William Hopkins, what happened about

1079
01:44:20.000 --> 01:44:26.720
three months after Scottie came to work
for you? We became intimate friends,

1080
01:44:26.760 --> 01:44:31.239
she replied. He pressed her for
more specific description, and she answered that

1081
01:44:31.439 --> 01:44:36.039
is right. At another partner's story, she was asked, were you in

1082
01:44:36.119 --> 01:44:43.199
love with him? Answer? Yes, I was. Question was there at

1083
01:44:43.279 --> 01:44:46.840
any time a conspiracy to kill your
husband? Oh? No, that was

1084
01:44:46.920 --> 01:44:51.960
never thought of, missus Abbott said. She had failed to tell her parents

1085
01:44:53.039 --> 01:44:57.279
on the early morning of June first, about the death of her husband because

1086
01:44:57.279 --> 01:45:01.920
she was ashamed. Quote, I
walked the floor, thought of calling the

1087
01:45:01.960 --> 01:45:06.279
authorities. Then I did not.
I knew they would find out about the

1088
01:45:06.359 --> 01:45:12.840
adultery, about our registering in hotels. I tried to tell my parents,

1089
01:45:12.880 --> 01:45:15.880
but I knew mother would be so
ashamed of me. I was so ashamed

1090
01:45:15.880 --> 01:45:21.359
of myself. Missus Abbott faltered three
or four times when giving her story.

1091
01:45:23.159 --> 01:45:27.560
These occasions were always when she was
bringing mention of her children into the account.

1092
01:45:28.760 --> 01:45:33.359
She was near collapse when giving this
testimony. The time was near midnight

1093
01:45:33.560 --> 01:45:39.239
May thirty first. She put the
children to bed and came downstairs to get

1094
01:45:39.239 --> 01:45:45.520
a glass of water for her daughter. Quote. There stood Scottie. I

1095
01:45:45.600 --> 01:45:49.000
told him Phyllis wanted water, and
I went to take it upstairs and returned

1096
01:45:49.000 --> 01:45:55.000
in five or ten minutes. I
told him, I'm worried about Morris.

1097
01:45:55.840 --> 01:46:00.760
I know where he is. Scotty
told me Gordon told me lost my head

1098
01:46:00.840 --> 01:46:03.760
and killed him. I cried,
my god, what have you done?

1099
01:46:04.479 --> 01:46:10.920
Unquote. She related how she and
Scotty talked and it was decided that Scotty

1100
01:46:11.000 --> 01:46:15.319
should take the body and put it
on the railroad tracks. Question did you

1101
01:46:15.359 --> 01:46:20.359
wipe blood off of Scotty's clothes?
Answer? Yes, I wiped it off

1102
01:46:20.399 --> 01:46:25.720
and I got some of Morris's blood
on my hands. At this point,

1103
01:46:26.000 --> 01:46:30.680
Missus Abbot was near the breaking point. Apparently, after a brief pause,

1104
01:46:30.079 --> 01:46:42.319
she continued with her testimony. July
thirty first, nineteen forty eight. Marie

1105
01:46:42.439 --> 01:46:47.359
Abbot and Scottie Gordon ran the gantlet
of three thousand pairs of curious eyes last

1106
01:46:47.479 --> 01:46:54.479
night before and after they heard the
jury's verdict pronouncing them guilty in the Memorial

1107
01:46:54.600 --> 01:47:00.279
Days slaying of the woman's husband,
Morris R. Abbot. At least three

1108
01:47:00.359 --> 01:47:06.439
thousand persons jammed Court Street between the
county jail and courthouse hours before Missus Abbott

1109
01:47:06.479 --> 01:47:12.119
and her accused lover were led from
their cells to learn their fate. At

1110
01:47:12.159 --> 01:47:18.199
ten forty five pm, Marie was
brought to the courthouse, first, escorted

1111
01:47:18.199 --> 01:47:26.279
by Missus Adeline cecl deputy and Assistant
police Chief Robert Welch. Less than a

1112
01:47:26.319 --> 01:47:30.279
minute later, Scottie was brought over
by Sheriff Charles B. Walkee and other

1113
01:47:30.399 --> 01:47:39.039
officers. A police detail, firemen
and Sheriff's deputies were forced to cut a

1114
01:47:39.119 --> 01:47:45.520
path through the throng before the prisoners
were escorted across the street. The crowd

1115
01:47:45.680 --> 01:47:49.279
was not unruly, but police and
deputies had their work cut out for them

1116
01:47:49.319 --> 01:47:55.680
to keep the throng from pressing in
on the accused pair. Traffic was blocked

1117
01:47:55.720 --> 01:48:00.600
on Court Street, with lines of
automobiles extending eastward and westward to Second in

1118
01:48:00.720 --> 01:48:06.119
Front Street. Many spectators stood on
tops of automobiles to get a better view

1119
01:48:06.199 --> 01:48:12.680
of the prisoners. After missus Abbot
and Gordon had entered the Court Street entrance

1120
01:48:12.720 --> 01:48:16.600
of the courthouse, hundreds in the
crowd rushed for the door in an effort

1121
01:48:16.640 --> 01:48:21.479
to follow the prisoners to the common
polease courtroom of Judge Kramer, where the

1122
01:48:21.560 --> 01:48:28.560
nine day long trial was conducted.
Entrance of the crowd was barred, however,

1123
01:48:28.720 --> 01:48:32.479
upon orders of Judge Kramer. As
soon as the prisoners were inside the

1124
01:48:32.479 --> 01:48:40.359
courthouse door, firemen snapped the lock. The throng remained outside for another forty

1125
01:48:40.359 --> 01:48:45.520
five minutes until missus Abbot and Scottie
were returned to jail, their fates having

1126
01:48:45.640 --> 01:48:51.279
been decided by the jury. Missus
Abbot was at the breaking point when she

1127
01:48:51.359 --> 01:48:57.439
was escorted from the jail to the
courthouse. She clung tightly to the hand

1128
01:48:57.479 --> 01:49:02.640
of Missus Cecil and several times he
faltered. Her face was ashen, and

1129
01:49:02.720 --> 01:49:09.840
many in the crowd thought she would
collapse. Scottie appeared unmoved by any emotion

1130
01:49:10.039 --> 01:49:15.399
when led to the courthouse, A
grim look about his jaw the only indications

1131
01:49:15.399 --> 01:49:20.680
he might have been concerned over his
possible fate. An already tense situation grew

1132
01:49:20.840 --> 01:49:26.880
more tense after the prisoners were admitted
to the courtroom. When they were brought

1133
01:49:26.920 --> 01:49:30.840
to the courthouse, it was for
the purpose of hearing Judge Kramer give instructions

1134
01:49:30.880 --> 01:49:34.439
to the jury. At that juncture, it was believed the jury would not

1135
01:49:34.520 --> 01:49:39.560
reach a verdict and would be secluded
for the night in the Anthony Wayne Hotel.

1136
01:49:40.760 --> 01:49:45.359
After Judge Kramer gave the jury its
instructions, the surprise announcement that the

1137
01:49:45.439 --> 01:49:49.840
jury was near a verdict was made
by Joseph Myers Foreman, who stated only

1138
01:49:49.920 --> 01:49:57.520
one more ballot would be required.
Missus Abbott was then escorted to the office

1139
01:49:57.560 --> 01:50:02.880
of Conrad C. Strow, and
Gordon was taken to the adjoining office of

1140
01:50:02.920 --> 01:50:10.560
Sheriff Walkee to await the court's decision. After the verdict was read, missus

1141
01:50:10.560 --> 01:50:15.039
Abbot and Gordon again were required to
walk the gantlet of the crowd. Missus

1142
01:50:15.039 --> 01:50:20.439
Abbott appeared more composed on the return
trip to the jail. It was either

1143
01:50:20.520 --> 01:50:26.199
a let down from an almost unbearable
half hour of waiting for the jury to

1144
01:50:26.239 --> 01:50:30.960
cast that last fateful ballot, or
may have been just a feeling of relief

1145
01:50:30.279 --> 01:50:35.600
to finally learn her fate. Gordon
seemed in a jaunty mood on his return

1146
01:50:35.720 --> 01:50:41.640
trek to the jail. Gordon,
who had been playing cards with other prisoners

1147
01:50:41.680 --> 01:50:45.680
earlier in the evening, smoked a
cigarette and walked with jaunty strides on his

1148
01:50:45.800 --> 01:50:53.319
way back to the jail. Some
spectators remarked that it seemed cruel to force

1149
01:50:53.399 --> 01:50:58.840
the prisoners, especially the woman,
to face a curious crowd to and from

1150
01:50:58.960 --> 01:51:03.640
the courthouse. Several asked why couldn't
the prisoners be taken out the back door

1151
01:51:03.680 --> 01:51:08.680
of the jail, placed an auto
and brought around to the High Street entrance.

1152
01:51:12.159 --> 01:51:17.600
Cyril Scotty Gordon was found guilty of
first degree murder with recommendation of Mercy.

1153
01:51:19.000 --> 01:51:25.359
Marie Khan Abbot, aged forty,
wife of the victim, was found

1154
01:51:25.439 --> 01:51:30.880
guilty of second degree murder. This
verdict carries automatically a sentence of life imprisonment

1155
01:51:31.279 --> 01:51:39.199
with hope of pardon after ten years. The verdict against Gordon carries automatic prison

1156
01:51:39.279 --> 01:51:45.800
sentence for life. However, recent
statutes provide that the case automatically go to

1157
01:51:45.840 --> 01:51:53.079
the Ohio Pardon and Parole Board for
review after twenty years. Then a recommendation

1158
01:51:53.199 --> 01:51:56.840
of one sort or other is made
by the Board to the Governor, who

1159
01:51:56.880 --> 01:52:04.520
has the authority to pardon or commute
the sentence. Unofficial reports indicated six ballots

1160
01:52:04.560 --> 01:52:09.880
were taken by the jury and considering
what verdict would be returned in the case

1161
01:52:09.880 --> 01:52:14.760
against Gordon. In the first part
of the voting, the jurors were rather

1162
01:52:14.880 --> 01:52:19.560
evenly split, one group for first
degree without mercy, meaning the death penalty,

1163
01:52:19.920 --> 01:52:26.399
and the other group advocating mercy.
As the voting continued, the lesser

1164
01:52:26.439 --> 01:52:32.880
penalty life sentence was directed. Eight
ballots were required before the twelve jurors agreed

1165
01:52:32.920 --> 01:52:39.640
on the verdict against Missus Abbot.
One man juror stood pat until the end

1166
01:52:39.760 --> 01:52:44.640
for acquittal of Missus Abbot. None
even at the start of the voting,

1167
01:52:45.039 --> 01:53:13.640
sought the death penalty for Missus Abbot
epilogue, February ninth, nineteen fifty Marie

1168
01:53:13.680 --> 01:53:18.960
Abbott, aged forty one, was
so overjoyed by release in a jury verdict

1169
01:53:19.039 --> 01:53:27.680
yesterday afternoon from the stigma of murderess
that her expressions shifted rapidly from tears to

1170
01:53:27.840 --> 01:53:33.079
smiles, over and over again while
waiting a long hoped for trip back home.

1171
01:53:34.399 --> 01:53:39.399
A moment after the verdict was read, she broke into sobs, then

1172
01:53:39.520 --> 01:53:46.119
cried aloud, thank God. She
regained control of herself quickly posed for photographers.

1173
01:53:46.680 --> 01:53:50.479
She knows the ways of the craft
by now, and then retired to

1174
01:53:50.560 --> 01:53:57.199
an office near the courtroom with counsel
and her father. She said fervently,

1175
01:53:57.680 --> 01:54:02.199
I want to go home, and
now that means Brookville, Indiana. Her

1176
01:54:02.239 --> 01:54:08.239
father, Thurman Khan, was there
to take her home. He and her

1177
01:54:08.279 --> 01:54:13.000
mother have moved since the tragedy from
the farm, which was two miles from

1178
01:54:13.000 --> 01:54:17.239
the scene of the murder of her
husband. She was genial to the small

1179
01:54:17.319 --> 01:54:24.119
gathering her friends since childhood days,
g e Condo, who had a leading

1180
01:54:24.239 --> 01:54:29.199
role in the courtroom fight for her
liberty. William Foss Hopkins, chief of

1181
01:54:29.319 --> 01:54:34.199
counsel, and the newspaper people in
reply to questions, missus Abbot said,

1182
01:54:34.640 --> 01:54:40.920
I have no plans. Someone suggested
she had not been in position to cross

1183
01:54:41.000 --> 01:54:45.279
bridges before she came to them.
She smiled and acceded to this remark.

1184
01:54:46.560 --> 01:54:50.560
Someone asked, looks like you're going
to be a Hoosier again. She said,

1185
01:54:50.680 --> 01:54:56.000
yes, I was born over there
in Indiana. Missus Abbot does have

1186
01:54:56.119 --> 01:55:00.520
plans. She then disclosed. They
include arrest for a while, then a

1187
01:55:00.560 --> 01:55:06.079
trip to California to get her children, Phyllis aged thirteen and Dale, age

1188
01:55:06.199 --> 01:55:11.640
nine. The daughter and son were
taken from Butler County by a sister of

1189
01:55:11.680 --> 01:55:15.520
their father shortly after the joint trial
in the summer of nineteen forty eight.

1190
01:55:16.239 --> 01:55:23.840
The arrangement was by consent, as
was apparent missus Abbot's attention had been concentrated

1191
01:55:23.880 --> 01:55:28.840
on the trial. It is likely
the trip to California will not be long

1192
01:55:28.920 --> 01:55:33.439
delayed. Missus Abbot kept pictures of
her children in her quarters while she was

1193
01:55:33.479 --> 01:55:41.479
imprisoned. Freedom has been a laggard
for She was arrested kept without bond in

1194
01:55:41.560 --> 01:55:46.439
the Butler County jail. The trial
and subsequent legal moves brought date of her

1195
01:55:46.520 --> 01:55:53.279
removal to the women's reformatory at Marysville
to October twenty second, nineteen forty eight.

1196
01:55:54.479 --> 01:55:57.920
At the time she left the jail
for a trip to Marysville, she

1197
01:55:58.039 --> 01:56:01.880
made this statement quote, I am
innocent. I'm looking forward to acquittal.

1198
01:56:03.640 --> 01:56:10.520
She was looking forward more than fifteen
months. Missus Abbot granted a retrial,

1199
01:56:10.920 --> 01:56:16.279
was returned to the county jail last
December twenty eighth, freedom by virtue of

1200
01:56:16.319 --> 01:56:21.399
the not guilty verdict yesterday was her
first since June third, nineteen forty eight,

1201
01:56:21.960 --> 01:56:28.479
or total of more than twenty months. Circumstances before she left for Brookville

1202
01:56:28.520 --> 01:56:32.439
prevented any discussion of the trial,
even if she consented to do so.

1203
01:56:32.479 --> 01:56:36.439
She was thankful to all who helped
her. She said she was happy and

1204
01:56:36.600 --> 01:56:42.119
looked at to most observers, she
was a better witness for herself. In

1205
01:56:42.199 --> 01:56:46.279
the latter trial. She gave the
impression of being more sincere, and some

1206
01:56:46.359 --> 01:56:53.119
of the supposedly dramatic touches were missing. Her tears came more frequently, and

1207
01:56:53.199 --> 01:56:57.479
the absence of a co defendant who
might have ruined her case through vengeance,

1208
01:56:57.920 --> 01:57:02.680
she recited her story more free and
more effectively. In her manner and her

1209
01:57:02.800 --> 01:57:08.960
joy at freshly won freedom, She
showed not the least hint of animosity toward

1210
01:57:09.039 --> 01:57:15.560
anyone. The verdict means the end
of a sensational murder case, one which

1211
01:57:15.600 --> 01:57:19.680
attracted more attention than any in the
annals of Butler County courts. It was

1212
01:57:19.720 --> 01:57:27.960
considered so sensational that Detective and other
magazines with national circulation carried the story with

1213
01:57:28.119 --> 01:57:55.760
liberal alterations and pictures intermittently ever since
the first trial that was a body between

1214
01:57:55.800 --> 01:58:02.560
the rails. The Riley Mattock Murder
True Crime Historian is a creation of popular

1215
01:58:02.680 --> 01:58:10.560
media. Some listeners choose to support
this podcast by checking in at the safehouse

1216
01:58:10.800 --> 01:58:16.159
at www dot patreon dot com slash
True Crime Historian to get early access,

1217
01:58:16.279 --> 01:58:24.239
exclusive content, and whatever personal services
you require. Some listeners don't want to

1218
01:58:24.239 --> 01:58:27.840
pledge monthly support, but just want
to send a few bucks this way.

1219
01:58:28.399 --> 01:58:32.800
You can do that at www dot
Buy me a coffee dot com Slash Crime

1220
01:58:33.119 --> 01:58:40.000
Historian. Musical contributors include Niko Vitesse, Lucia Laretza Joye, Daniel Moo,

1221
01:58:40.119 --> 01:58:44.319
Dave SAMs, Rachel Shott, and
David Hish. Some music and sound effects

1222
01:58:44.359 --> 01:58:49.000
license from podcast Music dot Com.
Media management by Sean R. Miller Jones

1223
01:58:49.399 --> 01:58:54.680
and as for me, I love
you on the hillside, I love you

1224
01:58:54.760 --> 01:58:57.920
on the level. But if I
get you in the dark, I'll love

1225
01:58:57.960 --> 01:59:03.079
you like the devil. I'm true
crime historian Richard O. Jones, signing

1226
01:59:03.119 --> 01:59:16.039
off for now. Oh yeah,