Speaker 1: Paul Puder got com Sheehlis, Washington, January fourteenth, nineteen eighteen.
Speaker 2: The eternal triangle with a secret love affair may have
Speaker 2: resulted in the brutal murder of Fred Swain, the Napavine grocer,
Speaker 2: who was found dead in his store a week ago,
Speaker 2: and the arrest of Oscar B. Maine, prominent Napavine real
Speaker 2: estate dealer. News of Maine's arrests created a sensation locally
Speaker 2: owing to his high standing in the community. He is
Speaker 2: a graduate of the University of Washington and is a
Speaker 2: brother of Judge John F. Maine of the State Supreme Court,
Speaker 2: and for three years past has been the local representative
Speaker 2: at Napavine of the David P. Eastman Company of Seattle,
Speaker 2: in which he was a partner engaged in locating on
Speaker 2: logged off lands. The families of Maine and Swain have
Speaker 2: been on the most intimate terms, and the men were
Speaker 2: rated the best of friends. The love triangle was animated
Speaker 2: today by county authorities. While Maine is held in jail
Speaker 2: in connection with the crime, and all Napavine is trying
Speaker 2: to solve the strange mystery. The explanation is being suggested
Speaker 2: that Maine was too attentive to missus Swain. Sheriff Barry,
Speaker 2: who arrested Maine, declared today that quote there is no
Speaker 2: doubt at all, unquote that he is the man who
Speaker 2: killed Swain after a terrific struggle in the grocery store.
Speaker 2: On the advice of his attorney, Maine is refusing to talk.
Speaker 2: County Attorney Herman Allen said today that he had evidence
Speaker 2: that Maine had been seen in the neighborhood of the
Speaker 2: grocery store at the time the murder must have been committed.
Speaker 2: Maine's arrest, which occurred late saturdayday night and was announced
Speaker 2: Sunday morning, is the most sensational development in the Swain
Speaker 2: murder case since the grocer's body was found hacked with
Speaker 2: a hatchet. Sheriff Barry refuses to disclose the alleged motive
Speaker 2: for the crime or discuss what disclosures led to the
Speaker 2: arrest of Maine. Maine, who was an intimate friend of
Speaker 2: Swain and a pallbearer at the latter's funeral, declares he
Speaker 2: is innocent. Immediately upon being notified of his brother's arrest.
Speaker 2: Judge Mayne left Olympia for sehals H E. Donaho, former
Speaker 2: Deputy Prosecuting Attorney of Lewis County, has been retained as
Speaker 2: attorney for the defense. The murder of Swain was one
Speaker 2: of the most brutal ever perpetrated in Lewis County. Swain
Speaker 2: was in his grocery store last Sunday afternoon working about
Speaker 2: four o'clock. His wife and eight year old daughter, who
Speaker 2: had been visiting a neighbor past the U store, rapping
Speaker 2: on the door for him. They went home and prepared dinner,
Speaker 2: telephoning to him at six but receiving no response. After
Speaker 2: waiting until about nine, missus Swain got Bob Myers, sixteen
Speaker 2: year old neighbor boy, to take his key and go
Speaker 2: to the store. Swain was found in the wear room
Speaker 2: in the rear with his head beaten to a paup.
Speaker 2: One blow apparently made with a blunt side of a
Speaker 2: hatchet on the back of his head, had felled him,
Speaker 2: following which his head was beaten. In True Crime Historian
Speaker 2: presents Unsolved, a special edition of Yesterday's News exploring one
Speaker 2: of history's most baffling murder mysteries. When I started in
Speaker 2: on episode three hundred and seventy one, I thought It
Speaker 2: was going to be a salacious story of a CD
Speaker 2: sexual situation gone awry. What turned out to be more interesting,
Speaker 2: I think, is the subplot of the district attorney forced
Speaker 2: to bring a half bait case to trial in order
Speaker 2: to avoid the appearance of his own complicity in a
Speaker 2: rumored conspiracy. I'm true crime historian Richard O. Jones, and
Speaker 2: for your scandalization and indignation, I give you the main
Speaker 2: Swain affair. The Napavine Hatchet murder. January fifteenth, nineteen eighteen,
Speaker 2: A charge of murder in the first degree will be
Speaker 2: filed again against Oscar Maine, prominent young real estate dealer
Speaker 2: of Napavine, in the Superior Court at Schehalis this afternoon.
Speaker 2: Maine is accused of having brutally murdered fred Swain, Napavine
Speaker 2: grocer and intimate friend, using a small hatchet to beat
Speaker 2: out the grocer's brains. Two Tacoma City detectives, loaned to
Speaker 2: the Lewis County officials after they had confessed themselves nonplussed
Speaker 2: over the mysterious murder, have worked up the case against
Speaker 2: Maine and are responsible for his arrest. These detectives, Charles
Speaker 2: Brond and Dick Huckaba have been quietly working in Napavine
Speaker 2: and Schehalis for four days, and they declared today that
Speaker 2: their evidence against Maine, although of a circumstantial nature, was
Speaker 2: utterly convincing to them and to county officials. Additional evidence
Speaker 2: obtained by these detectives last night, when they were called
Speaker 2: back to the scene of the crome for further investigation,
Speaker 2: caused the decision to day to file a murder charge
Speaker 2: direct in the higher court. Prosecuting attorney Allen refused to
Speaker 2: divulge the nature of the evidence against Maine, but declared
Speaker 2: that many juries would hang men for less. One of
Speaker 2: the strong points of circumstantial evidence obtained by the Tacomba
Speaker 2: detectives surrounds the small hatchet which Maine kept in his
Speaker 2: real estate office. A witness has been found who knew
Speaker 2: exactly where Maine kept the hatchet. On the morning after
Speaker 2: the murder, this witness went to Maine's office and says
Speaker 2: the hatchet was missing. The officers also declare that the murderer,
Speaker 2: whoever he was, must have been an intimate friend of Swain.
Speaker 2: The grocer was alone in his store, his safe was open,
Speaker 2: and a large bag of money was on the counter.
Speaker 2: He was making a check of his cash at the
Speaker 2: time of the murder. The crime occurred in a small
Speaker 2: office in the rear of the store. Detectives argue that
Speaker 2: Swain would not have admitted a stranger to his store
Speaker 2: while so much money was on display. Swain's murder was
Speaker 2: one of the most brutal ever known in this section,
Speaker 2: his head being beaten in with a hatchet or other
Speaker 2: blunt instrument following an apparent struggle in the rear of
Speaker 2: his store with his assailant. When found, blood and brains
Speaker 2: were scattered and spattered on about and under boxes and
Speaker 2: other parts of the store room where Swain had been working.
Speaker 2: His money and other valuables were untouched. Electric lights in
Speaker 2: the store were flicked off for a short period about
Speaker 2: the time of the crime. None but a person intimate
Speaker 2: with the interior of the store could have done this,
Speaker 2: it is argued because the electric switch was in a
Speaker 2: corner of the store, hidden away in a place almost
Speaker 2: inaccessible to anyone who did not know its whereabouts. Strong
Speaker 2: influence has been brought on county officials here to dismiss
Speaker 2: the charge against Maine. Maine has five attorneys, including some
Speaker 2: of the best legal talent in the state, and it
Speaker 2: is said that his friends worth hundreds of thousands of
Speaker 2: dollars are backing the defense, said Prosecutor Allan. I don't
Speaker 2: care if Judge Mayne, John d. Rockefeller, and President Wilson
Speaker 2: used their combined influence. I'm going through with this prosecution
Speaker 2: just the same. Missus Swayin, widow of the murdered man,
Speaker 2: is in Sehalis at the home of her brother in law,
Speaker 2: Abe Kaufman, retired banker. She refused to make any statement
Speaker 2: for publication. Today, the town of Napavine, two miles from Schehalis,
Speaker 2: is seething with excitement. This is the first murderer in
Speaker 2: the town in ten years. The three hundred inhabitants have
Speaker 2: armed themselves and they look with suspicion upon every strange phase.
Speaker 2: The town is divided about equally in its opinion regarding
Speaker 2: Maine's guilt or innocence. Did Sadie Swain, in her home
Speaker 2: into the little village of Napavine, count out the minutes
Speaker 2: during the late afternoon of Sunday, January sixth, in the
Speaker 2: knowledge that not more than two hundred yards from her home,
Speaker 2: her husband was being brutally murdered with a shingle axe
Speaker 2: in the back room of his store. That is the
Speaker 2: question being heard here today, and that may play an
Speaker 2: important part in the case of Oscar F. Maine, prominent
Speaker 2: young real estate dealer and brother of a state Supreme
Speaker 2: Court judge. For it is on the theory that a
Speaker 2: secret love affair existed between Maine and Missus Swain, that
Speaker 2: the officers who have been gathering the evidence claimed to
Speaker 2: find a motive for the murder. Here are the alleged
Speaker 2: events of the fateful Sunday evening on which authorities based
Speaker 2: their suspicions. At four o'clock, Missus Swain and her little
Speaker 2: daughter pasted the Swain grocery store on the one business
Speaker 2: street of the village, rapped on the window, and waved
Speaker 2: at the husband and father as he sat working inside.
Speaker 2: They went along home. At six o'clock, Missus Swain telephoned
Speaker 2: the grocery store and received no answer. It was not
Speaker 2: until nine o'clock that she finally sent Bob Myers, a
Speaker 2: delivery boy, to the store. He returned with the report
Speaker 2: that Swain had fallen off a bench and had hurt himself.
Speaker 2: Call a doctor. Missus Swain is declared to have told
Speaker 2: a maid in her home she did not go to
Speaker 2: the store to see how badly her husband was hurt,
Speaker 2: the officers declare, and was not until midnight that she
Speaker 2: learned Swain was murdered, chopped with an axe, almost beyond recognition.
Speaker 2: She did not even see her dead husband until the
Speaker 2: next day. In the Morga schehalis, according to the evidence
Speaker 2: in the hands of Prosecutor Herman Allen, what was the
Speaker 2: reason for the apparent indifference. Was it fear of the
Speaker 2: sight of the blood stained room and her husband lying there?
Speaker 2: Or was there something more? The eternal triangle mystery has
Speaker 2: absolutely exploded, emphatically, declared Maurice Langhorne of Tacoma, one of
Speaker 2: the best criminal lawyers in southwest Washington, who was defending
Speaker 2: Mayne when he was ar reigned before Justice of the
Speaker 2: Peace Westover, Maine, said, quote, they have absolutely nothing against me. Unquote.
Speaker 2: Maine has a wife and two children, a boy of
Speaker 2: nine and a girl of seven, his wife being related
Speaker 2: to a well known Seattle family. Maine's pretty young wife, Virginia,
Speaker 2: a former Seattle girl, said quote, we and the Swains
Speaker 2: always have been the best of friends, All of our
Speaker 2: interests were the same. Yet in spite of these strong denials,
Speaker 2: the officers claimed to have definite evidence that the old
Speaker 2: eternal triangle was there, plunging the two young couples along
Speaker 2: toward the tragic end. They claimed to have evidence that
Speaker 2: Maine and Missus Swain spent Christmas together in Seattle, while
Speaker 2: the murdered man tried to make Christmas a happy one
Speaker 2: for his little daughter in their napavine home. Missus Mayne's
Speaker 2: faith in her husband and her belief in his innocence
Speaker 2: as strong. As she talked to him last night in
Speaker 2: the Sheriff's office and to the reporter who met them
Speaker 2: there together, she smiled complacently, yet her face was drawn
Speaker 2: and pale, and she seemed to smile through tears. You see,
Speaker 2: I'm prejudiced in favor of the prisoner, she said. She
Speaker 2: spoke of her two children, a girl aged nine and
Speaker 2: a boy aged thirteen, with pride and yet with half
Speaker 2: hidden grief at the sudden tragedy that had come upon them.
Speaker 2: I have nothing much to say except that I know
Speaker 2: my husband is innocent. I can't understand why so much
Speaker 2: has been made of our intimacy with the Swains. A
Speaker 2: year ago September, both of our families moved to Napavine.
Speaker 2: We were all strangers then, so we naturally fell in
Speaker 2: with each other and became the closest to friends for
Speaker 2: a time. We even lived in one home together, using
Speaker 2: each other's furniture. Of course, we were intimate, but there
Speaker 2: was nothing wrong with that, was there? Missus Swain and
Speaker 2: I always have been close friends. And Yet, contradicting this
Speaker 2: frank statement, detectives working on the case claimed to have
Speaker 2: proof that there had been trouble between the two families
Speaker 2: for some time, that Swain had made threats against Maine,
Speaker 2: although there had been an apparent reconciliation shortly before the murder.
Speaker 2: Just what happened along the one business street of Napavine,
Speaker 2: with its three small stores and scattered gray cottages during
Speaker 2: the brief fifteen minutes, the minutes between five pm and
Speaker 2: five point fifteen on that Sunday afternoon, On those fifteen minutes,
Speaker 2: after all, depend the freedom and good name of Maine
Speaker 2: and the happiness of his dark haired wife and his
Speaker 2: two children. With Prosecutor Allan keeping strict silence, and with
Speaker 2: Maine's attorneys failing to find any indication of his guilt.
Speaker 2: The evidence appears to be purely circumstantial, if not absolutely flimsy.
Speaker 2: It is known the state has at least four witnesses,
Speaker 2: one of them a woman and another a boy, who
Speaker 2: claimed to have seen Maine within a few minutes of
Speaker 2: the murder, the hour of which is placed by the
Speaker 2: officers at five point fifteen pm. Maine's real estate office
Speaker 2: is only a short block away from Swain's grocery store
Speaker 2: where the murder occurred. There is one witness for the
Speaker 2: state who claims to have seen Maine talking nervously to
Speaker 2: two men in front of his office at five o'clock,
Speaker 2: another who claims to have seen Swain walking hastily toward
Speaker 2: the grocery store at five ten, another who claims to
Speaker 2: have seen a light in the store go on then
Speaker 2: off again, and a boy who claims to have seen
Speaker 2: Maine walking from the store back to his office at
Speaker 2: five point twenty. Could the terrific struggle in the store,
Speaker 2: the felling of Swain in the struggle, then the final
Speaker 2: blows with the acts have taken place in so short
Speaker 2: a time impossible save the defense attorneys. On the other hand,
Speaker 2: Maine claims to have a complete alibi. He had out
Speaker 2: all afternoon looking over some logged off land. He says,
Speaker 2: at five o'clock he returned to his office and had
Speaker 2: a conversation with two men there. At five point twenty,
Speaker 2: he claims, Missus W. W Emery, wife of the owner
Speaker 2: of one sawmill in Napavine, came into the office from
Speaker 2: the train to telephone her husband. Missus Emory declares Maine
Speaker 2: showed no signs of excitement, that there were no blood
Speaker 2: stains on him, and that there was nothing unusual about
Speaker 2: his appearance. Where were the blood stains? There have been
Speaker 2: rumors today that a bloody coat and axe have been
Speaker 2: found at Napavine, but so far there has appeared to
Speaker 2: be no foundation for that, said Supreme Court Judge Maine
Speaker 2: at the arrangement last night. Quote. Look at that coat
Speaker 2: that Oscar is wearing. That is the very suit he
Speaker 2: was wearing at the time he is alleged to have
Speaker 2: committed the murder. This arrest is the most outrageous thing
Speaker 2: I've ever seen seen in all my experience unquote. January sixteenth,
Speaker 2: nineteen eighteen, following the filing of an information charging him
Speaker 2: with murder, in the first degree. Oscar R. Main entered
Speaker 2: a plea of not guilty in the superior court. His
Speaker 2: bail was fixed at seven thousand dollars, and on this
Speaker 2: being furnished by his friends, he was released from the
Speaker 2: Lewis County Jail, where he has been held since his arrest.
Speaker 2: Prosecuting Attorney Allen declared he was satisfied with the amount
Speaker 2: of the bail. Missus Sadie Swain, wife of the murdered
Speaker 2: man with whom official say Maine has been infatuated, was
Speaker 2: endorsed on this information as one of the state's witnesses.
Speaker 2: Abe L. Kaufman, her brother in law with whom she
Speaker 2: has been living in Schehalis since Swain's murder, was also endorsed.
Speaker 2: He is a prominent citizen in Schehalis and is said
Speaker 2: to be one of the state's chief witnesses, intimately knowing
Speaker 2: Missus Swain's affairs. The information against Maine charges that wilfully
Speaker 2: and with premeditated design, he struck and mortally wounded Swain
Speaker 2: with an instrument having one sharp edge and one blunt edge.
Speaker 2: Maine gained his freedom from jail exactly at noon after
Speaker 2: bail had been furnished Oscar r Main ate two big
Speaker 2: pieces of pumpkin pie for dinner. He joked over the telephone,
Speaker 2: and he played a concert on the Victrola in his
Speaker 2: home Sunday evening, January sixth, within an hour after the
Speaker 2: time his friends, Fred Swain is declared to have been
Speaker 2: murdered with an axe in his nearby grocery store. Sadie Swain,
Speaker 2: for the love of whom Maine is declared by authorities
Speaker 2: of Lewis County to have brutally murdered. Swain was not
Speaker 2: indifferent when she heard the report that her husband had
Speaker 2: been heard. She was completely stunned by the news that
Speaker 2: he was dead, and she sobbed and heartbroken, abandoned at
Speaker 2: the bedside of her daughter. When officers came to take
Speaker 2: his body away, she begged in vain to be allowed
Speaker 2: to see him. These were the two outstanding statements of
Speaker 2: Missus Virginia, Maine, when for the first time she told
Speaker 2: a reporter her complete story of the events as she
Speaker 2: saw them on the fateful Sunday evening when Swain's body
Speaker 2: was found hacked with an axe almost beyond recognition. If
Speaker 2: there is one person who can win the freedom of
Speaker 2: young Maine. When he faces a jury, it will be
Speaker 2: this rather small woman with dark hair, a pale face,
Speaker 2: and an everlasting so And if there is any one
Speaker 2: person who can clear the good name of Missus Sadie
Speaker 2: Swain be clouded by the events which followed the tragedy,
Speaker 2: it will be this same little woman, who appears to
Speaker 2: hold no grudges, and whose whole makeup consists, it seems,
Speaker 2: of an inexhaustible faith. Missus Oscar Maine, without doubt, is
Speaker 2: the most commanding figure in the tragic mystery which has
Speaker 2: stirred this little village of logged off lands to its depths.
Speaker 2: While evidence is being woven into a net of circumstance
Speaker 2: by detectives and sheriffs, while the small village gossip's tongues
Speaker 2: are wagging, her faith remains unshaken. She believes in her husband.
Speaker 2: She believes in the other woman, who they would have
Speaker 2: her believe was the cause of the tragedy which has
Speaker 2: brought the dark circles about her eyes and the first
Speaker 2: lines of sorrow on her young face. While Missus Swain,
Speaker 2: at the home of her brother in law A. L.
Speaker 2: Kaufman and Sehalis remained silent missus Swain today told all
Speaker 2: she says she knows of what happened on that Sunday evening.
Speaker 2: Sitting in the cheery room of her modern bungalow at Napavine,
Speaker 2: she told her story with remarkable frankness, as if she
Speaker 2: was glad to have it told, even if the telling
Speaker 2: of it was agony. She told it, she said, to
Speaker 2: help her husband and to clear the name of her friend.
Speaker 2: When she tells it to the jury, it may be
Speaker 2: the one thing that will save her husband, for it
Speaker 2: is the biggest piece of testimony that the defense has
Speaker 2: or can produce. Quote. Early that Sunday afternoon, Sadie asked
Speaker 2: me if I would like to take a walk with
Speaker 2: her and her daughter to the Emery mill, where she
Speaker 2: was going to return a book her child had been reading.
Speaker 2: I told her I couldn't go as my little daughter
Speaker 2: was not dressed. They went on toward the mill. About
Speaker 2: four o'clock, mister Mayne came in and asked me if
Speaker 2: I did not want to go for a ride in
Speaker 2: our car, as it was a knife afternoon and I
Speaker 2: had been ill all week. I told him I was
Speaker 2: unable to go as our little girl was not dressed.
Speaker 2: My husband then went away, coming back some time later
Speaker 2: in the afternoon. I could not say exactly what time
Speaker 2: it was, but we had finished dinner by six o'clock.
Speaker 2: I remember he ate two big pieces of pumpkin pie.
Speaker 2: That doesn't sound like the doings of a man who
Speaker 2: had just murdered someone, does it. There was absolutely nothing
Speaker 2: unusual about his appearance. Do you want a little concert,
Speaker 2: he asked when we finished dinner. I told him I did,
Speaker 2: and I lay down on the couch while he played
Speaker 2: the Victrola. During this time, we heard the telephone bell
Speaker 2: ringing frequently. You see, we're on a party line, and
Speaker 2: when someone puts in a call, the bell rings in
Speaker 2: our house. Someone must want a bill of groceries. Pretty bad,
Speaker 2: remarked my husband. I believe now that those calls were
Speaker 2: being made by Sadie, trying to locate her husband, who
Speaker 2: had not returned home. About seven o'clock, Sadie called us
Speaker 2: up and wanted to know the telephone number of the
Speaker 2: pool hall. Mister Mayne, who answered the phone, said he
Speaker 2: didn't know. He turned to me questioningly. It is number
Speaker 2: so and so I told him I had to look
Speaker 2: it up. When I called you there last week. My
Speaker 2: husband turned to the phone and laughingly told Sadie what
Speaker 2: I had said, giving the number. It was about nine
Speaker 2: o'clock when Bobby, the delivery boy, came up to tell
Speaker 2: us that Fred Swain was hurt. Mister Maine and mister Colson,
Speaker 2: who worked with him in the real estate office, immediately
Speaker 2: went down to the grocery store. Soon mister Colson called
Speaker 2: me up and told me mister Swain was dead. I
Speaker 2: set out at once for the Swain home to break
Speaker 2: the news to Sadie if I could. There, I found
Speaker 2: that she, learning from Bobby that her husband had been hurt,
Speaker 2: had prepared a bed in hot water, and was waiting
Speaker 2: for him to be brought home. I couldn't bear to
Speaker 2: break the news, and I didn't tell her the truth
Speaker 2: for some time. Sadie kept saying, over and over, Oh,
Speaker 2: why don't they bring him up here? Why do they
Speaker 2: leave him lying down there on the hard floor. Why
Speaker 2: don't they bring him home? I've got everything ready for him.
Speaker 2: It was all too cruel. So at last I told
Speaker 2: her that mister Swain was dead. She was stunned. She
Speaker 2: refused to believe it. It can't be true. I know
Speaker 2: it can't, she said, again and again. She insisted on
Speaker 2: going to him at the store. Perhaps he isn't really dead.
Speaker 2: Perhaps I can do something for him, she cried. No,
Speaker 2: I told her he really is dead. Doctor Pettitt and
Speaker 2: the coroner have been there. As long as I had
Speaker 2: any strength left in me. I wouldn't let her see
Speaker 2: him the way he was at the morgue the next day.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't let her see him. I wanted her to
Speaker 2: remember her husband as he had been. After a time,
Speaker 2: Sheriff Barry came and Sadie talked to him for some time.
Speaker 2: She probably controlled herself and talked calmly to him. She
Speaker 2: didn't want to make an exhibit of herself any more
Speaker 2: than any other self respecting woman would. After the sheriff left,
Speaker 2: Sadie went to the room of her little daughter, Marjorie.
Speaker 2: She buried her face in the child's bed and sobbed
Speaker 2: as if her heart would break. Oh, don't wake her,
Speaker 2: don't wake her, she cried. I can't tell her that
Speaker 2: her daddy is dead. I can't tell her. By this time,
Speaker 2: missus Swain was on the verge of collapse. I made
Speaker 2: her put on her coat and walked her up and
Speaker 2: down the porch. Her knees were so weak that she
Speaker 2: almost fell. A little later, missus A. L. Kaufman arrived
Speaker 2: about one o'clock, I think, and took her to Sehela's.
Speaker 2: Are these the actions of a woman who was cold
Speaker 2: and indifferent to the death of her husband? Said Missus Maine, indignantly,
Speaker 2: concluding her story, the story that may mean freedom to
Speaker 2: her husband. Scoffing at the contention that Maine was infatuated
Speaker 2: with Sadie Swain, Virginia Maine explained away the evidence the
Speaker 2: state claims to have that they spent Christmas together in
Speaker 2: Seattle and that Missus Swain left her husband and daughter
Speaker 2: during the holidays. Quote, well, it is true that they
Speaker 2: were in Seattle, but I was there too. Sadie and
Speaker 2: I went to Seattle this Saturday before Christmas and were
Speaker 2: gas at my aunt's house for a week while Sadie
Speaker 2: was having an ulcer and her tooth glanced. My husband
Speaker 2: came to Seattle Christmas Eve and stayed until Thursday. Sadie
Speaker 2: and I went back to Napavine on New Year's Eve.
Speaker 2: Of course, mister Swain was sorry not to have his
Speaker 2: wife for Christmas, but he felt it was a necessity
Speaker 2: for her to have her tooth treated. He and their
Speaker 2: daughter spent Christmas in Sehealas. I know that the people
Speaker 2: in Napovine have talked and gossiped about me, just as
Speaker 2: they have talked about Missus Swain. But it makes no
Speaker 2: difference to me. You see, we came here from the
Speaker 2: city with city standards and customs. I know the people
Speaker 2: here have criticized the good times we four have had together.
Speaker 2: I know they criticized when Missus Swain would ride in
Speaker 2: the front seat of the auto with my husband and
Speaker 2: I would ride in the back seat with mister Swain.
Speaker 2: But my conscience has always been clear unquote. She declared
Speaker 2: Maine and Swain always were the best of friends, and
Speaker 2: that there were no quarrels as far as she knew,
Speaker 2: and I certainly would have known had there been any trouble,
Speaker 2: they were always together.
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Speaker 2: Napavine, Washington, January eighteenth, nineteen eighteen. This tired town has
Speaker 2: shut up like a clam. Even the dark mud on
Speaker 2: its one main street and the rain silk boardwalk seemed
Speaker 2: to be saturated with hidden suspicion. Breathless whispers seemed to
Speaker 2: hang over the cluster of stores and framed buildings like
Speaker 2: a thick fog, penetrating into every damp corner. On the surface,
Speaker 2: the buying and selling the little affairs of the village
Speaker 2: appear to go on as calmly as they did before
Speaker 2: the Sunday evening, when the mutilated body of Fred's swain
Speaker 2: was found in the rear room of his grocery store.
Speaker 2: The trains go and come as usual. The children still
Speaker 2: pour out of the small red brick schoolhouse across the
Speaker 2: street from the home of Oscar R. Main, But it
Speaker 2: is like the calm un concern of a man suspected.
Speaker 2: Napavine's nerves are on edge and are likely to break
Speaker 2: down at any moment. As you walk across the street,
Speaker 2: Napavine's businessmen, bending over their work, glance at you darkly
Speaker 2: out of the corners of their eyes go into their
Speaker 2: stores and chat with them about their town, about the
Speaker 2: amount of rain that has fallen, about what time the
Speaker 2: trains leave, or about almost anything. And they are genial hosts,
Speaker 2: but drift into the subject of the bloodstained grocery store
Speaker 2: of Fred's Swain, and most of them are dumb. A
Speaker 2: stranger is a suspicious person in Napavine. Take for instance,
Speaker 2: that small but important question of how Oscar Main acted
Speaker 2: on the day of the funeral of his best friend Swain,
Speaker 2: at which he was pawbear. Was he nervous and excited
Speaker 2: or did he act natural? It is declared the suspicions
Speaker 2: of the officials were first aroused at the funeral. One
Speaker 2: would think that the Napavinites who were there could answer
Speaker 2: these questions. Cashier Stone of the Napavine Bank is a short,
Speaker 2: nervous little banker with an eagle eye. His bank is
Speaker 2: close up to Maine's office. He was at the funeral.
Speaker 2: Would he talk about it? I should say not. He snapped,
Speaker 2: his eyes blazing the idea of you coming in here
Speaker 2: and asking me such a question. W. W. Emery is
Speaker 2: one of the leading citizens of the village. He is
Speaker 2: the owner of the Emery Sawmill and a close friend
Speaker 2: of both the Mains and the Swains. A genial sort
Speaker 2: of man, he is with a blunt, decided way about him.
Speaker 2: With Maine, he was one of the pallbearers at the funeral.
Speaker 2: Would he talk? Sure, you can ask me any questions
Speaker 2: you want to, but I won't tell you anything time
Speaker 2: comes to talk when the trial comes. I don't know
Speaker 2: anything about the talk and gossip around town. All I'll
Speaker 2: say is that I'll do my best to help mister
Speaker 2: man out when the time comes. Say are you thinking
Speaker 2: of going over there and talking to missus Emery? He
Speaker 2: called out as an after thought. I just wanted to know,
Speaker 2: because I won't allow you to. And you could see
Speaker 2: by his looks that he wouldn't have allowed it either.
Speaker 2: Abe L. Kaufman, at whose home in shahalas Missus Swain
Speaker 2: is staying, was at the Swaying grocery store taking charge
Speaker 2: of the stock. He opened the door of the store
Speaker 2: part way and placed his massive body in the opening.
Speaker 2: He was good natured, but mom down in the pool
Speaker 2: hall by the station. The proprietor, with elbows propped up
Speaker 2: on the counter, had his face buried in a book
Speaker 2: with placid unconcern. He looked up for an instant. I
Speaker 2: don't know a thing about it, he said, and went
Speaker 2: back to his reading. Small ranchers and mill workers drifted
Speaker 2: in and out of the pool hall, making purchases of
Speaker 2: tobacco plugs and soda pop. Well, I guess this fellow
Speaker 2: mane will go free, ventured one of them, not noticing
Speaker 2: the stranger warming his feet by the stove in the
Speaker 2: back of the room. Too much money in it, the
Speaker 2: pool hall proprietor grunted. Then a silence he could cut
Speaker 2: with a knife fell over the place. Not that Napavine
Speaker 2: isn't interested in the unfolding drama that is being talked
Speaker 2: about for the first time in many years, it is
Speaker 2: almost morbidly interested. As the bundles of newspapers are dropped
Speaker 2: off of the incoming trains, they are snatched up eagerly.
Speaker 2: After train time, children, men and women can be seen
Speaker 2: walking slowly along the main street reading every word in
Speaker 2: the printed columns. After school is out, little groups of
Speaker 2: boys and girls can be seen peering through the windows
Speaker 2: of the Swain grocery store. Napavine is all on edge,
Speaker 2: wondering what will come next and Napavinites or whispering gossip
Speaker 2: about one another behind one another's backs. A deep well
Speaker 2: at the back of the Swain grocery store at Napavine
Speaker 2: may be searched by officers in an attempt to find
Speaker 2: the bloody shingle axe with which Fred Swain was murdered
Speaker 2: in the rear of his store Sunday afternoon, January sixth.
Speaker 2: This was learned today following a positive statement from Sheriff
Speaker 2: Barry that the axe which the murderer had used had
Speaker 2: not been found. Though officers have made a thorough search
Speaker 2: over every foot of ground in the vicinity of the crime,
Speaker 2: The well back of the Swain store is regarded as
Speaker 2: a likely hiding place for the weapon. Just how deep
Speaker 2: this well is nobody seems to know. If the search
Speaker 2: is made before May fifth, the day Young Maine must
Speaker 2: stand trial for the murder, it will probably require a
Speaker 2: diver to recover the weapon if it is there, unless
Speaker 2: the well can be pumped dry. The character of the
Speaker 2: weapon used, officials declare, bears out the theory that the
Speaker 2: crime was premeditated, as Swain had no such axe in
Speaker 2: his store. Also, a hatchet which belonged to Swain was
Speaker 2: found in its accustomed place. When officers examine the store
Speaker 2: after finding Swain's body, there were no bloodstains on this hatchet,
Speaker 2: and it was apparently too dull to have made the
Speaker 2: gashes in Swain's head. New interest was added to the
Speaker 2: axe hunt today with the assertion of officers that Maine
Speaker 2: has admitted he had an axe with him during the
Speaker 2: Sunday afternoon before the murder occurred, but that he does
Speaker 2: not know where it is now. It was also learned
Speaker 2: today that the defense has had eight private detectives working
Speaker 2: day and night in Sehalis and Napavine since last Sunday
Speaker 2: night trying to work up a clue that might absolve Maine.
Speaker 2: Two of these detectives from Seattle, it was understood, have
Speaker 2: been receiving twenty five dollars a day for their work.
Speaker 2: That their efforts so far have been in vain was
Speaker 2: indicated when it was learned that on Tuesday afternoon, before
Speaker 2: the information against Maine was filed, Prosecutor Allan told these
Speaker 2: defense detectives that if they had any definite clues which
Speaker 2: would show guilt of any other person, he might drop
Speaker 2: the prosecution. Charges by Maurice Langhorne, attorney for Maine, yesterday
Speaker 2: that Sheriff Barry himself was infatuated with Missus Swain and
Speaker 2: for that reason was anxious to get Maine in jail.
Speaker 2: Or laughed at by the sheriff. Today, Langhorn is likely
Speaker 2: to say anything, he said, and indicated that the charges
Speaker 2: were made only to create prejudice in the county against
Speaker 2: the officers who worked up the case against Maine. Tacoma
Speaker 2: City detectives Brond and Huckaba likewise ridiculed Langhorne's charges that
Speaker 2: the detectives had broken into the main home last Monday,
Speaker 2: said Detective Brown, we would be fools to do such
Speaker 2: a thing without a warrant. Sheriff Barry, it was reported today,
Speaker 2: was in favor of refusing to release Maine from jail
Speaker 2: on any bail, and was only on an order from
Speaker 2: Judge Reynolds that he gained his freedom on a seven
Speaker 2: thousand dollars bond. As it is very unusual for a
Speaker 2: man charged with murder to be released on bail, it
Speaker 2: was animated that strong pressure had been brought to bear
Speaker 2: to obtain Maine's release. That there will be no inquest
Speaker 2: over the death of Swain as the announcement of Coroner
Speaker 2: Edward Newall He said as the room in which Swain's
Speaker 2: body was found had been so disturbed when he arrived
Speaker 2: that clues had been obliterated. Free for the first time
Speaker 2: since his arrest last Wednesday, Maine is in Napavine today
Speaker 2: with his wife and two children, Sehelis Washington, March second,
Speaker 2: nineteen eighteen. Sensational evidence, which so far has been kept
Speaker 2: a close secret, is likely to be sprung by prosecuting
Speaker 2: Attorney Allen when the trial of Oscar R. Maine for
Speaker 2: the murder of his friend Fred Swain begins Monday. When
Speaker 2: asked today if he had any surprises to spring, prosecuting
Speaker 2: Attorney Allan said, I don't know that. All depends on
Speaker 2: how much the other side has found out they've been
Speaker 2: right on the job. Attorney Maurice Langhorne of Tacoma, who
Speaker 2: is to direct the fight for Maine, arrived here last
Speaker 2: night and is preparing for the opening of the t
Speaker 2: Judge Maine also is here to assist his brother in
Speaker 2: every possible way. He declares he believes thoroughly in Oscar's innocence.
Speaker 2: Prosecutor Allan believes there may be some considerable difficulty in
Speaker 2: getting a jury to try the case. Quote, almost everybody
Speaker 2: in the county knows of it. Unquote, an extra veneer
Speaker 2: of jurymen has been summoned. March fourth, nineteen eighteen. The
Speaker 2: fight for the good name of a woman who was
Speaker 2: born here and who lived all her life in this
Speaker 2: county was fully as much the center of interest as
Speaker 2: the battle for the freedom of Oscar R. Main, when
Speaker 2: the trial of Maine on the charge of murdering his
Speaker 2: friend Fred Swain, began before Judge Reynolds in the Superior
Speaker 2: Court here this afternoon. On the testimony of Missus Swain,
Speaker 2: wife of the murdered Napavine groceryman, is expected to depend
Speaker 2: largely the fate of the brother of Supreme Court Justice
Speaker 2: Maine in the bitter fight to break down the web
Speaker 2: of circumstantial evidence which Prosecutor Allen and his officers have
Speaker 2: been building. Missus Swain, who has remained in practical seclusion
Speaker 2: since the arrest of Maine, has been endorsed as a
Speaker 2: witness for the state. What the prosecution hopes to bring
Speaker 2: out from her testimony tending to show the guilt of
Speaker 2: the man who, it is claimed had been unduly attentive
Speaker 2: to her still remains a mystery in all her statements,
Speaker 2: and she has continually sought to avoid publicity. Missus Swain
Speaker 2: has expressed her belief in Maine's innocence of the crime
Speaker 2: which has stirred this county from one end to the other.
Speaker 2: As a preliminary to the opening of the trial, the
Speaker 2: court this morning granted the motion of Prosecutor Allan to
Speaker 2: be permitted to endorse twelve more witnesses for the prosecution.
Speaker 2: The defense is said to have more than forty witnesses.
Speaker 2: Because of the interest which the case has caused throughout
Speaker 2: the county, the task of picking unbiased jurymen will be
Speaker 2: a long one March fifth, nineteen eighteen. We will show
Speaker 2: that Oscar R. Main and Missus fred Swain took auto
Speaker 2: trips together, and that Mayne visited Missus Swain while her
Speaker 2: husband was away. We will also show conditions where such
Speaker 2: that Maine and Missus Swain both were talking of getting
Speaker 2: divorces only three weeks before the murder of Swain. These
Speaker 2: were the startling disclosures promised by prosecuting Attorney Allen here
Speaker 2: today in his opening statement to the jury, which is
Speaker 2: to decide the fate of Supreme Court Justice Maine's younger
Speaker 2: brother on trial for the murder of his friend at Napavine.
Speaker 2: January sixth. The many spectators and Judge Reynolds's courtroom here
Speaker 2: were held in breathless expectancy as the prosecutor at the
Speaker 2: opening of the trial outlined the circumstantial proof which the
Speaker 2: state has to offer to show Maine's guilt. Quote, we
Speaker 2: intend to prove that relations between Fred Swain, murdered Napavine merchant,
Speaker 2: and Oscar Maine, charged with the crime were strained, the
Speaker 2: prosecutor began. We will show that Maine had caused trouble
Speaker 2: between Swain and his wife due to intimacy between Maine
Speaker 2: and Missus Swain. The state will show further that Swain
Speaker 2: and Maine had serious trouble in which threats of shooting
Speaker 2: were made, that Maine was seen entering Swain's grocery store
Speaker 2: just before the murder and was seen leaving later. Attorney
Speaker 2: Maurice Langhorne of Tacoma, who is representing Maine, declared today
Speaker 2: the defense will show that the alleged intimacy between Maine
Speaker 2: and Missus Swain was business intimacy, and that Maine was
Speaker 2: handling the Red Cross and Liberty loan work among men
Speaker 2: while Missus Swain was handling it for women. This brought
Speaker 2: them together often, he declared. Langhorne said he would prove
Speaker 2: conclusively that Maine and Swain were close friends up to
Speaker 2: the time of the murder. Also, he said he will
Speaker 2: furnish an alibi by showing that Maine was in his
Speaker 2: office at the time the crime was committed. Quote. The
Speaker 2: defense will prove that Swain had the utmost confidence in Maine,
Speaker 2: having trusted the care of his wife to Mane. Two
Speaker 2: days before the murder unquote. Maine sat beside his attorneys
Speaker 2: and watched with keen yet cool interest in the selection
Speaker 2: of the twelve persons who would decide his fate. Not
Speaker 2: once did he show any signs of disturbance or anxiety
Speaker 2: or uneasiness. Behind him sat his wife, a well dressed
Speaker 2: young woman, and his brother, Supreme Court Justice Man, who
Speaker 2: came down from Olympia to sit through the trial. In
Speaker 2: examining witnesses, prosecuting attorney Allen questioned a considerable length on
Speaker 2: the feeling of each successive veneerman towards circumstantial evidence. Suppose
Speaker 2: he said in nearly every case that all the evidence
Speaker 2: presented in this case by the States should happen to
Speaker 2: be circumstantial instead of direct evidence. Would you hesitate about
Speaker 2: convicting the defendant if the evidence given was such to
Speaker 2: convince you beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty.
Speaker 2: The usual answer was no. Some of the veneermen, however,
Speaker 2: said the circumstantial evidence would have to be convincing before
Speaker 2: they would vote for conviction. The attorneys in the case,
Speaker 2: contrary to expectation, selected a satisfactory jury in exactly four hours.
Speaker 2: Only twenty four vaneermen were used in getting the required
Speaker 2: twelve jurors. The state used all its challenges, while the
Speaker 2: defense accepted the jury while its still had two challenges left.
Speaker 2: Only five veneermen were excused by the court because of
Speaker 2: having formed opinions or having prejudices against circumstantial evidence. Four
Speaker 2: women and eight men will decide the fate of Oscar Maine.
Speaker 2: The jury, after being accepted, was sworn in, and after
Speaker 2: being told to be on hand to start the trial
Speaker 2: at nine o'clock this morning, was excused. They were taken
Speaker 2: in charge by a bailiff and presented in a lonesome
Speaker 2: appearance as they sat in a corner of the sitting
Speaker 2: room of the Saint Helen's Hotel, segregated from the rest
Speaker 2: of the guests. March sixth, nineteen eighteen, the State today
Speaker 2: started to weave its web of circumstantial evidence in the
Speaker 2: murder trial of Oscar Maine. Owing to the congested condition
Speaker 2: of the Lewis County Superior Court room, Judge Reynolds ordered
Speaker 2: the isles cleared when the main murder case was called.
Speaker 2: The room is small, and the result of the order
Speaker 2: was that many were obliged to retire and went home
Speaker 2: unable to gain admission. After the jury had visited the
Speaker 2: scene of the crime at Napavine early yesterday afternoon, five
Speaker 2: witnesses for the state were examined, out of a total
Speaker 2: of thirty four who have been subpoenaed. The first witness
Speaker 2: to enter the box was Robert Myers, a sixteen year
Speaker 2: old boy who drove the delivery car for Fred Swain
Speaker 2: and conducting the grocery business. Told of finding Swain's body
Speaker 2: in the rear of his store, and how later he
Speaker 2: went to Main's home and asked him to go to
Speaker 2: the store. Meyers testified. When Maine saw the body, he
Speaker 2: declared an undertaker was needed worse than a doctor. Myers
Speaker 2: related how on the evening of the murder, about nine o'clock,
Speaker 2: Missus Swain called his home and asked that he go
Speaker 2: to the store to see why Fred did not come home.
Speaker 2: Myers and a companion, Bob Evans, went to the store
Speaker 2: and found Swain's dead body. They hurried to Missus Swain's home,
Speaker 2: where they told her that Fred had been hurt, calling
Speaker 2: a doctor and R. B. Patterson, a druggist. Myers and
Speaker 2: Evans then went to Oscar Maine's home and asked the
Speaker 2: latter to go with them to Swain's store, telling him
Speaker 2: that Swain had been hurt. On the way, they met
Speaker 2: John Coulson, who accompanied the party to the scene of
Speaker 2: the tragedy. Myers unlocked the store and all entered. Herbert Myers,
Speaker 2: a younger brother of the witness, soon arrived, and shortly
Speaker 2: afterward doctor Pettitt, who pronounced Swain dead and telephoned immediately
Speaker 2: for Sheriff John Barriet and Coroner Newall. When Sheriff Barry
Speaker 2: and Coroner Newell arrived, they made an inspection of the premises.
Speaker 2: Safe and valuables of various kinds were found intact, and
Speaker 2: so far as the witness could see, nothing in the
Speaker 2: store had been molested. Myers had previously left the store
Speaker 2: between twelve and one o'clock. On cross examination, Myers admitted
Speaker 2: that Maine was not often about the store, but that
Speaker 2: he and Swain were often together, especially in company with
Speaker 2: their wives. The witness admitted that it was after Maine
Speaker 2: saw the dead body of Swain that Maine remarked that
Speaker 2: an undertaker was needed instead of a doctor. Myers unlocked
Speaker 2: the store and all entered. Herbert Myers, a younger brother
Speaker 2: of the witness, soon arrived, and shortly afterward doctor Pettitt,
Speaker 2: who pronounced Swain dead and telephoned immediately for Sheriff John
Speaker 2: Berry at Schehalis and Coroner Newell. When Sheriff Barry and
Speaker 2: Corner Newell arrived, they made an inspection of the premises.
Speaker 2: The safe and valuables of various kinds were found intact,
Speaker 2: and so far as the witness could see, nothing in
Speaker 2: the store had been molested. Myers had previously left the
Speaker 2: store between twelve and one o'clock. On cross examination, Myers
Speaker 2: admitted that Maine was not often about the store, but
Speaker 2: that he and Swain were often together, especially in company
Speaker 2: with their wives. The witness admitted that it was after
Speaker 2: Maine saw the dead body of Swain that Maine remarked
Speaker 2: that an undertaker was needed instead of a doctor. Bob Evans,
Speaker 2: the boy companion of Myers, told practically the same story.
Speaker 2: Evans said that Maine remarked, when it was suggested that
Speaker 2: the sheriff be called, that he didn't see any sense
Speaker 2: to that. On cross examination, he said Maine suggested calling
Speaker 2: the coroner. Doctor Pettitt, who was called, testified that Maine
Speaker 2: was with him when the examination of Swain's body was made.
Speaker 2: Doctor Pettitt said that when he entered the store, Maine
Speaker 2: told him Swain had been taking inventory and had fallen
Speaker 2: off off a box, striking his head. Pettit declared such
Speaker 2: an accident would have been impossible. He said that life
Speaker 2: had been extinct for several hours when he arrived. Quote
Speaker 2: Maine said, he called the coroner and the undertaker. I
Speaker 2: told him you'd better notify the sheriff, as this was
Speaker 2: a suspicious case. He told me to do it myself,
Speaker 2: as I was nearer the phone. Un Pettit said, Main
Speaker 2: asked him if he'd ever treated Swain for heart disease.
Speaker 2: On cross examination, Pettitt admitted Main did not appear unduly nervous.
Speaker 2: Doctor Pettitt testified that he found a cut over the
Speaker 2: man's right eye from the temple to the bridge of
Speaker 2: the nose, three or four inches long, which had gone
Speaker 2: through the skull to the brain, apparently made by a
Speaker 2: sharp edged instrument, and with little blood on it. Another wound,
Speaker 2: a little higher, he said, ran from the center of
Speaker 2: the forehead and was apparently made by a square edged instrument,
Speaker 2: this one being more of a surface wound. On top
Speaker 2: of the head was another wound three or four inches long,
Speaker 2: apparently made by a dull edged instrument, the bone being shattered.
Speaker 2: At the base of the skull was another wound which
Speaker 2: had apparently been made by two blows, one with a
Speaker 2: sharp edge, the other with a doll one. The wound
Speaker 2: over the eye was the last given. Apparently. The wounds
Speaker 2: were apparently made with an axe of some kind. Doctor
Speaker 2: Pettitt said he admitted that Maine had told him that
Speaker 2: Swain had fallen before he told him of Swain being murdered.
Speaker 2: Sheriff Berry testified to being called the Napavine by doctor Pettitt,
Speaker 2: who told him that fred Swain had been murdered. Sheriff
Speaker 2: Berry testified there was evidence of a struggle in the
Speaker 2: back room, one box lying over a pool of blood,
Speaker 2: evidently having fallen there or been designedly placed there. On
Speaker 2: cross examination, he admitted that the bag in the safe
Speaker 2: contained seventy dollars was secreted in such a manner that
Speaker 2: it might have been overlooked in a hurried search. Other
Speaker 2: drawers in the safe were opened, he said, though nothing
Speaker 2: was scattered about the floor. The cash drawer stood open
Speaker 2: with about two dollars in cash in it. C. P.
Speaker 2: Lloyd of Napavine testified that a year ago he saw
Speaker 2: a shingle hatchet in the woodshed of the main home
Speaker 2: he worked for Maine in January nineteen sixteen in the
Speaker 2: latter's woodshed, and claimed that at that time Maine had
Speaker 2: a small hatchet such as menus and lathing houses. Lloyd
Speaker 2: testified that on the evening of the murder, he and W. P.
Speaker 2: Jones were together near Main's real estate office in Napavine.
Speaker 2: Jones had a heavy box he had been carrying and
Speaker 2: Lloyd suggested that he leave it at Maine's office till
Speaker 2: the next morning. Lloyd said Maine was standing in front
Speaker 2: of his office, apparently watching all sides of the streets,
Speaker 2: that Maine went in and out of his office three
Speaker 2: or four times, and that he seemed rather excited. The
Speaker 2: three men met in front of the bank and asked
Speaker 2: Maine if they could leave the box in his office.
Speaker 2: He agreed, and they took it in there. As they
Speaker 2: came out the door, Maine met them at the front
Speaker 2: of his door, though he had previously passed him on
Speaker 2: his way toward the railroad. While they were talking, he testified,
Speaker 2: Maine said he must go and went down to the
Speaker 2: railroad track. Lloyd's son, Paul, aged twelve, was with him,
Speaker 2: and they went to the depot to a way to
Speaker 2: train at five twenty pm, on which Lloyd's daughter was expected.
Speaker 2: The lights in the Swain's store were on about five
Speaker 2: o'clock when the party returned from the depot between five
Speaker 2: twenty and five thirty. His remembrance was that the lights
Speaker 2: were off. The son, Paul Lloyd, had, however, meantime, left
Speaker 2: for home several minutes before train time. Paul Lloyd testified
Speaker 2: he left his father prior to arrival of the train.
Speaker 2: At the confectionery store, he said he bought some candy.
Speaker 2: He claimed that when he first passed Swain's store that
Speaker 2: light were on, but that when he repassed on his
Speaker 2: way home, the lights were off. Further examination revealed the
Speaker 2: fact that the witness was in front of the swain
Speaker 2: Store when the train arrived. In an effort to break
Speaker 2: down Lloyd's testimony that he and Jones had seen Maine
Speaker 2: on the main street of Napovine on the afternoon of
Speaker 2: the murder, the defense put him through a rigid cross examination.
Speaker 2: He stuck to his story emphatically. His son was also
Speaker 2: giving a grilling examination, as he had testified that he
Speaker 2: was with his father and Jones the afternoon of the crime.
Speaker 2: Robert Hodge, who lives back of the Swain's store, told
Speaker 2: of having seen Maine enter the store on the day
Speaker 2: of the crime. Quote, I was working in my backyard
Speaker 2: when I saw Maine standing on the corner near the store.
Speaker 2: I saw him walk around the store and enter from
Speaker 2: a back door. This door leading into the rear room
Speaker 2: in which the murder occurred. On cross examination, and Hodge
Speaker 2: said that he had seen two men near the store.
Speaker 2: Examination on this statement was not extended for some reason
Speaker 2: or other, and explaining why he had not told anybody
Speaker 2: about seeing Maine enter the store, he testified that he
Speaker 2: was afraid that if he did tell that Maine would
Speaker 2: come over and murder him. Quote, A man came on
Speaker 2: my porch the Wednesday night after the crime and liked
Speaker 2: to scare me to death. I did not open the
Speaker 2: door because I was afraid unquote. The defense contended that Hodge,
Speaker 2: and relating the story of what he saw, made no
Speaker 2: mention of Maine until a few days ago. Before that time,
Speaker 2: he merely stated when questioned that he just saw some
Speaker 2: man enter the back door on the afternoon of the crime.
Speaker 2: He admitted having told attorneys for Maine about ten days
Speaker 2: ago that he knew nothing of the crime or anything
Speaker 2: pertaining to it. On cross examination, he became badly confused
Speaker 2: and said he saw two men. He denied it was
Speaker 2: three weeks before he told anyone that the man he
Speaker 2: saw was Maine. Philip Wagner and Jennings Linhardt testified that
Speaker 2: at about five fifteen they saw Maine coming from the
Speaker 2: direction of the Swain store. He spoke to them, they said.
Speaker 2: The testimony of A. L. Kaufman was admitted after a
Speaker 2: bitter legal fight. Abe Kaufman told of having warned Maine
Speaker 2: and Missus Swain to discontinue their attentions toward each other. Quote,
Speaker 2: I heard of a quarrel the Swain's hat, and I
Speaker 2: called Maine to my office one day and told him
Speaker 2: he was the cause of the trouble and that he'd
Speaker 2: better cut out his attentions to Missus Swain or there
Speaker 2: would be a shooting scrape and he would be in
Speaker 2: on it. He promised me he would cut it out.
Speaker 2: He said he and Swain were good friends. Swain never
Speaker 2: told me himself that Maine had anything to do with
Speaker 2: his domestic troubles. It was only my idea of what
Speaker 2: was wrong. I also cautioned Missus Swain, who was the
Speaker 2: sister of my wife, and she said she was straight
Speaker 2: and that whilst he thought a lot of Maine, there
Speaker 2: was nothing wrong in their relations. From Attorney Langhorne, did
Speaker 2: you not accuse Missus Swain of criminal intimacy with Mayne? Answer?
Speaker 2: I did not. Kaufman admitted that Swain had been drinking
Speaker 2: on one occasion when he and his wife had a quarrel.
Speaker 2: Langhorne asked, you and Swain often drank, didn't you. Kaufman
Speaker 2: admitted we had something to drink once in a while.
Speaker 2: Question have you been drinking today? Answer? I have not.
Speaker 2: He testified that mister Maine had come to his house
Speaker 2: several times for Missus Swain. Felt Shundon, sixteen years old,
Speaker 2: told of a quarrel and threatened murder in the Swain
Speaker 2: family which she overheard last November while she was employed
Speaker 2: in the Swayin home. Quote. Mister Swain started a row
Speaker 2: because Missus Swain had come from sche Halis with mister
Speaker 2: Maine and had left Swain alone in sha Halas. Words
Speaker 2: became hot and Missus Swain threatened to leave and go
Speaker 2: to the main house and stay that night. He told
Speaker 2: her that if she did, she would never get back alive.
Speaker 2: Fred Swain was very mad that night. Unquote. On cross examination,
Speaker 2: she said she did not hear Missus Swain tell her
Speaker 2: husband that she had waited a long time for her
Speaker 2: husband and daughter in Schehalis and that they failed to
Speaker 2: appear before returning home with Maine. She said that was
Speaker 2: the only time she ever heard them quarrel, and that
Speaker 2: on numerous occasions after that, the Manes and the Swains
Speaker 2: were together at parties and dinners and other social functions.
Speaker 2: The testimony of Charles Braund and J. W. Huckaba Tacoma
Speaker 2: detectives related to Maine's nervousness when they interviewed him a
Speaker 2: few days after the murder. Detective Braun testified that a
Speaker 2: few days after the murder he had a talk with Maine.
Speaker 2: Maine told him he would aid him in getting some evidence. Quote.
Speaker 2: The next day I went to the office to see him,
Speaker 2: and he appeared nervous. In writing out a receipt for
Speaker 2: a man, he made two mistakes and had to tear
Speaker 2: up this receipt and write another. Charles Braun was used
Speaker 2: as a witness to tell of the disappearance from the
Speaker 2: main woodshed of a shingle hatchet, which C. P. Lloyd
Speaker 2: testified was in the shed when he worked for Maine
Speaker 2: a year ago. I made a search of the main
Speaker 2: premises a few days after the murder, said Braun, and
Speaker 2: saw nothing of the hatchet. Sheriff Berry testified that the
Speaker 2: wounds which caused Swain's death apparently had been inflicted with
Speaker 2: a hatchet. Detective Braun told of having made a wide
Speaker 2: search for the weapon without success. R V. Klaunch told
Speaker 2: of having seen Swain in Maine and Swain's store four
Speaker 2: days before the tragedy. Quote they talked in a manner
Speaker 2: that looked as though Swain was agitated or disturbed. I
Speaker 2: would not say they were quarreling. Unquote. RB Patterson, a
Speaker 2: druggist at Napavine, told of Martin coming into his store
Speaker 2: while detectives were working on the murder case and asking
Speaker 2: him what the sleuths were after. He said this question
Speaker 2: was asked during a conversation on the subject of Red
Speaker 2: crosswork in which both he and Maine were working. It
Speaker 2: is expected the case will not be finished before the
Speaker 2: end of the week, as the state has thirty four
Speaker 2: and the defense has about fifty witnesses to examine. March seventh,
Speaker 2: nineteen eighteen, the Main Swain murder trial is drawing to
Speaker 2: a close, but interest continues unabated, and another large crowd
Speaker 2: filled the court room at the opening. With the state's
Speaker 2: chance to uncover alleged skeletons and the Main and Swain
Speaker 2: families gone, the defense of Oscar Maine, charged with the
Speaker 2: murder of Fred H. Swain opened its case. An effort
Speaker 2: was made by the state to get Sheriff Barry to
Speaker 2: tell of the time when Missus Swain complained to him
Speaker 2: about her husband and ask some advice about a divorce,
Speaker 2: but Superior Judge Reynolds ruled against the presentation of this testimony.
Speaker 2: By the court's refusal to admit testimony of Sheriff John
Speaker 2: Barry concerning alleged trouble between Missus Swain and her husband,
Speaker 2: the opportunity to open a long line of family history
Speaker 2: was frustrated. The prosecution rested its case at the opening
Speaker 2: of court at nine point thirty, to the evident surprise
Speaker 2: of the jury and spectators, without offering any additional testimony.
Speaker 2: The fact that the state has rested its case when
Speaker 2: a long, bitter battle was expected has caused considerable surprise.
Speaker 2: Friends of Maine declare that this move indicates that the
Speaker 2: prosecution's case has collapsed and that the circumstantial evidence so
Speaker 2: far submitted could not be substantiated. The state summoned thirty
Speaker 2: four witnesses, but only twelve were examined. A complete alibis
Speaker 2: bye for Oscar R. Maine was established by the defense
Speaker 2: when it called its first witness this morning. The prosecution
Speaker 2: had shown the murder occurred some time between five and
Speaker 2: five twenty o'clock that Sunday afternoon. W. P. Jones, for
Speaker 2: the defense today, swore he was in Maine's office from
Speaker 2: five to five o five pm. Missus W. W Emery,
Speaker 2: one of the leading citizens of Napavine, testified she had
Speaker 2: seen Maine in his office from five twenty to five
Speaker 2: twenty five. In addition to telling about going to Maine's
Speaker 2: office at five twenty on the afternoon of the murder,
Speaker 2: Missus W. W Emery said she had entered the Maine
Speaker 2: and the Swain Holmes on several occasions and had been
Speaker 2: entertained by them. She said the relations between the families
Speaker 2: were of the most friendly and intimate nature. She also
Speaker 2: testified that when she saw Maine on the day of
Speaker 2: the murder, he gave no sign of nervousness or excitement,
Speaker 2: enacted just as he always did. Quote as to Missus Swain,
Speaker 2: her reputation and character are absolutely above reproach. Ut Walter
Speaker 2: Mason and Milton Ashton swore they had seen Maine in
Speaker 2: the pool hall at Napavine from five oh five to
Speaker 2: five twenty, thus accounting for Maine's actions during every minute
Speaker 2: of the time the crime is alleged to have been committed.
Speaker 2: The defense further backed up the case with the testimony
Speaker 2: of John Colson, who declared he had had access to
Speaker 2: mains woodshed continuously for the last two years with free
Speaker 2: use of Main's tools, and they had never seen there
Speaker 2: and acts of the kind described in yesterday's testimony. The
Speaker 2: first defense witnesses were called to testify about Maine's character
Speaker 2: and reputation. They included Alfred H. London, Prosecuting Attorney of
Speaker 2: King County, Superior Judge Frader of Seattle, and HM Seattle
Speaker 2: Corporation Council. All declared they were personally acquainted with Maine
Speaker 2: and that his reputation was good. Missus W. W Emery
Speaker 2: Miller Ashton, owner of the pool hall adjoining Main's office,
Speaker 2: and Walter Mason, who was in charge of the pool
Speaker 2: hall a part of the afternoon of the murder, were
Speaker 2: called by the defense in an effort to prove an alibi.
Speaker 2: Mason testified that Maine came into the pool room while
Speaker 2: he was in charge during Ashton's absence and remained from
Speaker 2: ten to fifteen minutes, leaving it by the front door
Speaker 2: as Ashton entered at the rear. Ashton testified that he
Speaker 2: went into the back door of the pool room just
Speaker 2: as the five twenty train from Tacoma came in and
Speaker 2: had seen Missus W. W. Emery, who got off the
Speaker 2: train at the crossing. Missus Emory corroborated this testimony and
Speaker 2: said that as she passed Main's office, she saw a
Speaker 2: light and went in to use the telewe She said
Speaker 2: that Maine had been courteous as usual and appeared in
Speaker 2: no way disturbed or excited. Four character witnesses were put
Speaker 2: on the stand to testify to the good name of Maine. N. B.
Speaker 2: Kaufman of Sehalis, pioneer banker and businessman, said he had
Speaker 2: known Maine since he came to Lewis County four years ago,
Speaker 2: and as chairman of the Red Cross and Liberty Loanwork,
Speaker 2: had appointed Maine to manage the Napavine District because of
Speaker 2: his ability. He said that Maine's reputation had always been good.
Speaker 2: He also said that he had known Missus fred Swain
Speaker 2: since girlhood and stated that she had always borne an
Speaker 2: ideal reputation for chastity, and that she had a reputation
Speaker 2: beyond reproach. Charles H. Lundeen, prosecuting attorney of King County,
Speaker 2: who had known Maine six or seven years in Seattle,
Speaker 2: testified that his reputation there was good. Judge A. W.
Speaker 2: Frad for years superior judge in King County, swore that
Speaker 2: during an acquaintance of twelve or thirteen years with Maine
Speaker 2: in Seattle, the latter's reputation was good. Hugh H. Caldwell
Speaker 2: of Seattle said he had known Maine for seven eight years,
Speaker 2: rather intimately, and his reputation was good. The defense scored
Speaker 2: its first victory when it riddled the testimony of Robert Hodge,
Speaker 2: witnessed for the state, who had declared he had seen
Speaker 2: Maine enter the Swain's store on the afternoon of the murder,
Speaker 2: by the testimony of W. G. Peters, city engineer of Sehalas.
Speaker 2: Peters presented a map which showed a diagram and distances
Speaker 2: in the vicinity of Hodge's home in Swain's Store. The
Speaker 2: map showed there was a distance of three hundred and
Speaker 2: sixty five feet from the place Hodge had stood when
Speaker 2: he says he saw Mane enter the back door of
Speaker 2: the murdered man's store. The map also showed there were
Speaker 2: obstructions in the line of vision from the place where
Speaker 2: Hodge stood and the place where he said he saw Maine.
Speaker 2: These were a sixteen foot cedar tree with bows reaching
Speaker 2: near the ground, a picket fence three and a half
Speaker 2: feet high, an old fence rail, and posts. Peters testified
Speaker 2: these made it impossible to see a person clearly at
Speaker 2: the rear of the Swain's store. Irresponsibility of the testimony
Speaker 2: of Robert Hodge, prosecution witness who said he saw Maine
Speaker 2: enter Swain's grocery store at Napavine on the afternoon of
Speaker 2: the murder was shown by defense witnesses. Several of these
Speaker 2: witnesses early today stood where Hodge said he had stood,
Speaker 2: and had men they knew well walk where Hodge said
Speaker 2: Maine had walked. Later, all testified that Hodge positively could
Speaker 2: not have identified Maine. This question was threshed out at
Speaker 2: great length, with wide differences of opinion on the part
Speaker 2: of witnesses on the question hinged one of the chief
Speaker 2: points in the case. Robert Hodge testified in the trial
Speaker 2: that he saw Maine enter the Swaying Store, where the
Speaker 2: murder was committed between four and five pm. The defense
Speaker 2: took the position that in cloudy weather such as existed
Speaker 2: on the day of the murder, Hodge could not have
Speaker 2: identified Maine at the distance he said was between them
Speaker 2: three hundred and sixty five feet. The defense sent several
Speaker 2: citizens out the night before last to make a test
Speaker 2: of the question. They were all put on the stand
Speaker 2: and testified that Hodge could not have done what he said.
Speaker 2: Again yesterday morning, the defense sent some other people out
Speaker 2: to try it again. All testified that Hodge could not
Speaker 2: have told Maine at that distance. The prosecution then sent
Speaker 2: out a team. They all testified that it would have
Speaker 2: been physically possible for Hodge had light conditions been as
Speaker 2: they were when this committee made its test. It was admitted, however,
Speaker 2: that if light conditions had been bad, it would not
Speaker 2: have been possible, and so the point now stands before
Speaker 2: the jury. The defense in the trial of Oscar Maine
Speaker 2: placed twenty eight witnesses on the stand today. Among them
Speaker 2: were Sadie Swain, widow of the murdered man, and Virginia Mayne,
Speaker 2: wife of the defendant, both of whom denied that there
Speaker 2: were any foundation for the statements made on the stand
Speaker 2: by A. L. Kaufman yesterday that the Swains had quarreled
Speaker 2: because of Maine's friendship for Missus Swain. Judge Reynolds refused
Speaker 2: to allow the jury to make a second trip to
Speaker 2: Napavine to inspect the Hodge place in the view of
Speaker 2: the Swains store from his home. Missus Swain was called
Speaker 2: to impeach the testimony of Abe Kaufman, who was on
Speaker 2: the stand yesterday afternoon and who is her brother in law.
Speaker 2: She said that she had never contemplated getting a divorce,
Speaker 2: that she had no quarrel with her husband, that the
Speaker 2: circumstances of the trouble on which the state had expected
Speaker 2: to build its motive theory was not a quarrel but
Speaker 2: a misunderstanding due to her husband's having been drinking. Missus
Speaker 2: Maine and the two children and Missus Abe Kaufman were
Speaker 2: with her when mister Maine took them all back to
Speaker 2: Napavine on the evening of the so called quarrel, of
Speaker 2: which her maid and Abe Kaufman told yesterday.
Speaker 3: Enjoy ad free listening at this safehouse.
Speaker 2: Dubbadubadubba dot patreon dot com slash true crime historian March eighth,
Speaker 2: nineteen eighteen. The defense in the murder trial of Oscar
Speaker 2: Maine today knocked all the remaining props from under the
Speaker 2: framework of circumstantial evidence built up by the prosecution. Witnesses
Speaker 2: continued to make Main's alibi stronger, accounting for his actions
Speaker 2: between five and five thirty on the afternoon of the
Speaker 2: murder of Fred Swain, the time during which the prosecution
Speaker 2: has contended the crime was committed. Maine took the stand
Speaker 2: in his own behalf at eleven thirty this morning. The
Speaker 2: audience half rose, craned its collective neck and lapsed into
Speaker 2: breathlessness as his name was called. It was hoping for
Speaker 2: some of the thrills which expectantly it had each day
Speaker 2: packed the court room of the Lewis County court House
Speaker 2: since the trial began. To corroborate the testimony given yesterday
Speaker 2: proving an alibi for Maine, missus C. L. Stone, wife
Speaker 2: of a Napavine banker, was called. She testified she saw
Speaker 2: Maine at his home at five thirty in the afternoon.
Speaker 2: She also declared that Maine and Swain were the closest
Speaker 2: of friends. Mister and Missus H. J. Brandigan both testified
Speaker 2: they saw Maine at his office between five and five thirty.
Speaker 2: Maine had no stronger supporters in his fight for freedom
Speaker 2: than the young wife who had stood back of him
Speaker 2: from the first and the woman toward whom he had
Speaker 2: been accused of having undo intimacy and whose husband he
Speaker 2: is accused of slaying. The testimony of Missus Swain and
Speaker 2: Missus Maine was the keystone of the strong defense Maine's
Speaker 2: attorney of built up. Both were put on the stand
Speaker 2: to explain the alleged troubles between Swain and his wife,
Speaker 2: declared by the state to show motive for the killing
Speaker 2: of Swain. While admitting there had been a quarrel, Missus
Speaker 2: Swain flatly denied it had been caused by any wrongful
Speaker 2: relations with Maine on her part. Missus Swain, in explaining
Speaker 2: a quarrel she had with her husband November twenty fifth,
Speaker 2: declared by the state to have been caused by Missus
Speaker 2: Swain's intimacy with Maine, she said, quote that affair was
Speaker 2: not a quarrel, It was a dispute. Mister Swain had
Speaker 2: been to Schehalis and I and Missus Maine were to
Speaker 2: have met him in Maine's automobile and brought him home.
Speaker 2: We could not find him, and he came home on
Speaker 2: the train. He was angry because we had not met him.
Speaker 2: He had been drinking and refused to eat his supper.
Speaker 2: I was very nervous and told him I was going
Speaker 2: to stay all night with Missus Maine. He told me
Speaker 2: that if I left the house, I'd never get back alive.
Speaker 2: I wished to say that never once was a divorce
Speaker 2: mentioned then or before. I merely wanted to get away
Speaker 2: until he got away from the effects of liquor. As
Speaker 2: to mister Maine, I will say that I rode only
Speaker 2: three times alone with him in his automobile, and my
Speaker 2: husband knew about it each time. All three times were
Speaker 2: in the afternoon. Twice he drove me to the Red
Speaker 2: Cross headquarters in Sheehalis, and once he took me to
Speaker 2: a doctor in Schehalis at the request of my husband.
Speaker 2: This last time was the Friday before my husband was murdered. Unquote,
Speaker 2: Virginia Maine, when put on the stand, declared that mister
Speaker 2: Maine and mister Swain were the closest to friends. Swore
Speaker 2: she knew all about the three auto trips taken by
Speaker 2: her husband and Sadie Swain, and declared they were quote
Speaker 2: perfectly proper unquote. She said that on the day of
Speaker 2: the murder, Maine went to his office about four o'clock
Speaker 2: and returned home a little before five thirty o'clock. Quote.
Speaker 2: When he came in, he played a few minutes with
Speaker 2: our small son, and then went over and teased our
Speaker 2: daughter because she was sick in bed. Soon after that
Speaker 2: we had supper. Mister Maine did not act nervous at
Speaker 2: all and ate a hearty supper. Unquote. Roscoe Bell told
Speaker 2: of having seen mister Swain on the day the quarrel
Speaker 2: between mister and Missus Swain occurred. Quote. I saw him
Speaker 2: in Schehalis, and he had been drinking unquote. John Coulson
Speaker 2: told of having gone to the scene of the murder
Speaker 2: with Maine when it was first discovered. He said Maine
Speaker 2: did not act nervous at all. He denied having told
Speaker 2: Sheriff Barry that he noticed Maine to be pale and
Speaker 2: nervous at the Swain funeral. Quote I made no such
Speaker 2: statement to Sheriff Berry or to anyone else. Quote describing
Speaker 2: in detail his whereabouts and actions at the time of
Speaker 2: the murder. His story agreed with the testimony of the
Speaker 2: other witnesses called to prove an alibi. Maine emphatically denied
Speaker 2: he had quarreled with Swain, declaring they had always been
Speaker 2: the best of friends. Contradicting the prosecution's testimony that a
Speaker 2: hatchet of the kind apparently used in the crime had
Speaker 2: been seen in his woodshed, the defendant testified he had
Speaker 2: only had three hatchets in his life, and that all
Speaker 2: three were now at his home. None of them, he declared,
Speaker 2: answered the description given by the prosecution. Maine also denied
Speaker 2: emphatically that at the time Swain's body was found, he
Speaker 2: had declared that they didn't need the sheriff. Several times,
Speaker 2: Maine gave lye to witness who had testified for the
Speaker 2: state quote, I do not like to accuse doctor Pettitt
Speaker 2: of telling an un in truth, but I certainly did
Speaker 2: not ask him if he had treated Swain for heart disease.
Speaker 2: I did not tell him that I thought Swain had
Speaker 2: fallen from the balcony, and I did not interpose any
Speaker 2: objection when he suggested that we call the detectives I
Speaker 2: merely said that he was nearest the phone and to
Speaker 2: call them himself. Missus Maine testified that her husband had
Speaker 2: never owned a gray mackinaw such as Bob Hodge swore
Speaker 2: was worn by the man who he claimed he saw
Speaker 2: go into the Swain's store on the afternoon of the murder,
Speaker 2: and whom he claimed to be Maine. Cross examination failed
Speaker 2: to shake any of his statements or confuse him in
Speaker 2: any manner. He flatly contradicted the evidence of Abe Kaufman,
Speaker 2: Sheriff Berry, Doctor Pettitt, and Detective Braun, the strongest witnesses
Speaker 2: of the state. Asked about his alleged intimacy with the
Speaker 2: murdered man's wife, he recounted the automobile trips he had
Speaker 2: taken with her alone. All of these trips, two or
Speaker 2: three in number, had been taken, he said, for the
Speaker 2: purpose of delivering Red Cross goods made by women in
Speaker 2: Napavine to the Red Cross headquarters in Schehela's. He said
Speaker 2: he made one trip with Missus Swain to Scheela's three
Speaker 2: days before the tragedy, this trip having been made when
Speaker 2: mister Swain asked Mane to take his wife to the doctor.
Speaker 2: He said he complied with Swain's request and also brought
Speaker 2: Missus Swain back after she had seen the doctor. Regarding
Speaker 2: a quarrel between the Swains, which the prosecutor endeavored to
Speaker 2: show was because Missus Swain had gone alone with Maine
Speaker 2: in his automobile, Maine said, quote, we had an appointment
Speaker 2: to pick Swain up at Schehala's that day, but could
Speaker 2: not find him. We accordingly returned. My wife was along
Speaker 2: on that trip as well as Missus Swain. I learned
Speaker 2: the next day from my wife that Swain had arrived
Speaker 2: home that night under the influence of liquor and had
Speaker 2: caused some trouble because we had failed to pick him
Speaker 2: up at Scheele's. Unquote. In explaining his side of a
Speaker 2: meeting which aide Kaufman testified to having warned Maine to
Speaker 2: leave Missus Swain alone, Main said, quote, I was in
Speaker 2: Shahalis and was told by Ethel Kaufman that Swain's brother
Speaker 2: in law, Abe Kaufman, wanted to see me. I was
Speaker 2: in a hurry to catch a train to Tacoma, and
Speaker 2: so hurried over to Kaufman's office. I saw at once
Speaker 2: that he had been drinking. He offered me a drink,
Speaker 2: and I accepted. Then he asked me if I'd heard
Speaker 2: of the troubles between the Swains, and asked if I
Speaker 2: did not think it possible my attentions to missus Swain
Speaker 2: had something to do with it. I told him he
Speaker 2: was drunk and irresponsible, or he would never have made
Speaker 2: such a statement. I told him I was in a
Speaker 2: hurry to catch a train and would come around and
Speaker 2: see him later when he was sober. Ethel Kaufman also
Speaker 2: testified as to abe Kaufman having had liquor on that
Speaker 2: particular occasion. George Harrigan, court reporter, was put on the
Speaker 2: stand and he testified that he smelled liquor on Kaufman
Speaker 2: the day he appeared on the witness stand. In the
Speaker 2: present case, Kaufman had testified he had had nothing to
Speaker 2: drink on either occasion March ninth, nineteen eighteen. The guilt
Speaker 2: or innocence of Oscar r. Main will probably be determined
Speaker 2: by the jury before night. Final arguments in the case
Speaker 2: began at the opening of court this morning. The case
Speaker 2: is expected to go to the jury late this afternoon.
Speaker 2: That Maine had failed to account definitely for at least
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes of his time during the half hour period
Speaker 2: from five to five thirty on the afternoon of January sixth,
Speaker 2: when the murder is alleged to have been committed. Was
Speaker 2: the statement of Prosecutor Allen in his final argument, quote,
Speaker 2: the crime was committed by a superman who cleverly covered
Speaker 2: his tracks and not a weak minded person. Unquote. Said
Speaker 2: that both the state and the defense had woven a
Speaker 2: web of circumstances showing intimacy between Maine and Sadie Swain
Speaker 2: as a motive for the crime. Attorney Abel, opening the
Speaker 2: argument for the defense, declared that Maine, backed by other witnesses,
Speaker 2: had established a convincing alibi, accounting for every movement of
Speaker 2: Maine's time and annihilating every semblance of a motive for
Speaker 2: the murder. The defense rested its case late yesterday after
Speaker 2: Sheriff Barry had been put on the stand as the
Speaker 2: last witness. The sheriff testified that on the day of
Speaker 2: the Swain funeral, at which Oscar Mayne was a pallbearer,
Speaker 2: John Coulson, a friend of Maine, had come to him
Speaker 2: and said, did you see the expression on the face
Speaker 2: of a certain pallbearer. When you walked up to where
Speaker 2: he stood, he must know something. Colson previously had positively
Speaker 2: denied this statement. Oscar B. Maine was acquitted on the
Speaker 2: first ballot by the jury in the Lewis County District Court.
Speaker 2: The case was given into the jury's hands at four o'clock,
Speaker 2: was discussed until after dinner, when the ballot was taken.
Speaker 2: The verdict was brought in at eight o'clock. As the
Speaker 2: words not guilty echoed through the hushed courtroom, a ripple
Speaker 2: of relief from the long suspense passed over the throng. Then,
Speaker 2: with laughter and tears, Oscar Main's friends literally fell upon
Speaker 2: him to wring his hands and express their congratulations. Virginia
Speaker 2: Main's face, which had grown wider and more haggard as
Speaker 2: the long hours passed, was illumined with joy. When the
Speaker 2: verdict was red. She slipped her hands through her husband's
Speaker 2: arm and stood beside him, sharing in the congratulations. Missus
Speaker 2: Sis Swain was not in the courtroom. Justice John F.
Speaker 2: Maine of the State Supreme Court, who stood beside his
Speaker 2: brother throughout the trial, wept tears of joy and shook
Speaker 2: hands with each juror. After the verdict, said Oscar Maine
Speaker 2: after the verdict quote, and for those who, for reasons
Speaker 2: unknown to me, perjured themselves on the witness stand, and
Speaker 2: for those inexperienced, over zealous young officers who unjustly persecuted me,
Speaker 2: my heart harbors no anger or hatred unquote. With the
Speaker 2: acquittal of Maine, the mystery as to who committed the
Speaker 2: crime is unsolved. The case was sensational from the start
Speaker 2: because of the prominence of the accused and the cold
Speaker 2: bloodedness of the killing. March eleventh, nineteen eighteen, that influences
Speaker 2: were brought to bait and the prosecution of Oscar R.
Speaker 2: Main was the statement today of prosecuting attorney Allan quote.
Speaker 2: I argued for three hours against pressing the prosecution in
Speaker 2: the first place, believing the evidence was not convincing enough
Speaker 2: to warrant it. Then there came the statements that money
Speaker 2: was being used to get Maine free, and I didn't
Speaker 2: want to have anyone say that I'd been bought off.
Speaker 2: I'm not trying to make excuses for the trial. If
Speaker 2: I have made a mistake, I'm willing to stand by
Speaker 2: the gaff and take whatever criticism may be coming. Another
Speaker 2: reason why I saw the case through to the finish.
Speaker 2: Is that I wanted to show them that I knew
Speaker 2: the facts in the case and that I was right
Speaker 2: unquote what these influences were. Allan was not prepared to say.
Speaker 2: It is understood, however, that he was referring to Sheriff
Speaker 2: Berry and other county officials. On the first ballot, the
Speaker 2: jury stood seven to five for acquittal, it was reported
Speaker 2: today cleared by a jury of the charge of brutally
Speaker 2: murdering his friend Fred Swain. Oscar R. Main was going
Speaker 2: about as business as usual in his real estate office today,
Speaker 2: celebrating his acquittal by a jury in the Superior Court
Speaker 2: at Shahalas Saturday night. There was a big family dinner
Speaker 2: at the Main home here yesterday. The guests included Maine's brother,
Speaker 2: Supreme Court Justice John F. Main, and his wife. That
Speaker 2: the jury returned a verdict of acquittal on the first ballot,
Speaker 2: as considered by Maine and his friends as absolutely clearing
Speaker 2: him from suspicion that was the Main Swain affair. The
Speaker 2: Napavine hatchet murder, called from the historic pages of the
Speaker 2: Tacoma Times, the Oregon Daily Journal, and other newspapers of
Speaker 2: the era. True Crime Historian is a creation of popular media.
Speaker 2: Opening theme by Nico Vitessi, incidental music by Dave SAMs,
Speaker 2: closing theme by Dave Sam's and Rachel Shott, engineered by
Speaker 2: David Hish at Third Street Music. Media management by Sean
Speaker 2: Miller Jones And as for me, I've at last been
Speaker 2: vindicated and his reputation was good. I'm True Crime Historian
Speaker 2: Richard O. Jones, signing off for now.