Speaker 1: Paul Culer got Calm, Wilmington, Ohio. November twenty first, nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty one. T Oliver Vandervort of Burtonville, Furbeyer and well
Speaker 1: known Clinton County man, is being held in the County
Speaker 1: jail here charged with having shot and killed his divorced wife,
Speaker 1: Bertha Whitlow Vandervort, aged thirty, her mother, Missus Susan M. Whitlow,
Speaker 1: wife of Jeff Whitlow, aged fifty seven, and Howard Bozier,
Speaker 1: aged twenty four. The shooting occurred at the home of
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow near Cuba about midnight Saturday night, According to
Speaker 1: Sheriff Will Kirk and Deputy Will Smith, who arrested Vandervort
Speaker 1: brought to the jail here. Vandervort told the story that
Speaker 1: he was walking to the home of his brother when
Speaker 1: he heard a commotion in the home of his former
Speaker 1: mother in law, and that he saw a man leap
Speaker 1: from the door. He entered the house and found his
Speaker 1: divorced wife and Bosier lying on the floor dead, and
Speaker 1: found Missus Whitlow mortally wounded, lying on the kitchen floor.
Speaker 1: He and his ten year old son, who was making
Speaker 1: his home there summoned a physician. He told the officers.
Speaker 1: Doctor A. P. Basinger of Blanchester responded to the call,
Speaker 1: arriving on the scene just a few minutes before Sheriff
Speaker 1: Kirk and Deputy Smith arrived. He called an ambulance and
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow was rushed to the hospital at Blanchester, where
Speaker 1: she died within a short time. At the hospital, she
Speaker 1: asked if she would live, and when told that she
Speaker 1: probably would not, Missus Whitlow expressed her willingness to talk,
Speaker 1: telling doctor Basinger that Vandervoort fired the shots. The killing
Speaker 1: of the three took place on what is known as
Speaker 1: the Everly Briggs Farm, one mile west of Cuba. Bertha
Speaker 1: Whitlow Vandervoort was shot once through the heart and Howard
Speaker 1: Bosier was shot once through the abdomen, and both were
Speaker 1: evidently killed instantly. Missus Whitlow received the contents of two cartridges,
Speaker 1: both taking effect just below the waist line. When first question,
Speaker 1: Vanderwort's ten year old son corroborated his father's story about
Speaker 1: the killing, saying that he saw a man leap from
Speaker 1: the door following the shooting and that he met his
Speaker 1: father in the road as he was running to a
Speaker 1: neighboring farm house for help. But later in the day
Speaker 1: the boys alleged to have told the officers that papas shot.
Speaker 1: The lad also is said to have related to the
Speaker 1: officers how his father had knocked on the door and
Speaker 1: when his mother, with a babe in arms, opened the door,
Speaker 1: he fired at her, killing her instantly. Bowser was shot. Later,
Speaker 1: the boys alleged to have said and that it was
Speaker 1: while he was gone for help that his grand was shocked.
Speaker 1: Vandervoort and his wife are said to have been divorced twice,
Speaker 1: and it is generally known that he resented her paying
Speaker 1: attention to other men, even though she had been granted
Speaker 1: a divorce and given custody of their three children. Rosier
Speaker 1: was well known in Wilmington. He was a day laborer
Speaker 1: and he had been working at odd jobs on farms.
Speaker 1: It is known that the Vandervorts, who were divorced and
Speaker 1: living apart, had been quarreling recently. They had been in
Speaker 1: a conference with their attorneys Don and Cartwright for several
Speaker 1: hours not long ago, and had been unable to settle
Speaker 1: their difference. A story is told that both missus van
Speaker 1: Dervoort and Bowsier were seen together for an hour or
Speaker 1: more Saturday afternoon in the lobby of the post office,
Speaker 1: engaged in conversation. There is a rumor in circulation today
Speaker 1: that the shooting of the two women and the man
Speaker 1: in the farmhouse may have been prompted by jealousy. In
Speaker 1: the event, it has proved that Vandervoort is found guilty
Speaker 1: of the deed. It is told that taunts from Wallace
Speaker 1: while riding with Vandervoort brought the bullet from Vandervort's gun,
Speaker 1: and the same teasing that another man was staying with
Speaker 1: his former wife is alleged to have stirred the jealous
Speaker 1: passion of the accused man. As the time of the
Speaker 1: shooting in Wilmington and the murders near Cuba correspond correctly
Speaker 1: with the theory that the man went directly from Wilmington
Speaker 1: to the farm house. It developed yesterday morning that Vandervoort
Speaker 1: and Rodney Wallace of Starbuck Town had driven through Wilmington
Speaker 1: in an automobile earlier in the evening, and that they
Speaker 1: had quarreled. Wallace, in reporting the incident of the officers yesterday,
Speaker 1: stated that Vandervoort shot him through the shoulder. Both men
Speaker 1: had been drinking, it is alleged, and it has thought
Speaker 1: that this may have been the cause of the murder scene,
Speaker 1: although the officers have been unable to land the two
Speaker 1: cases together other than by the fact that Vandervoort is
Speaker 1: alleged to have done the shooting in both instances. The
Speaker 1: shooting of Rodney Wallace is said to have taken place
Speaker 1: on South South Street, just south of the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Speaker 1: Wallace is not considered to be in a serious condition.
Speaker 1: True crime Historian presents yesterday's news tales of classic scandals, scoundrels,
Speaker 1: and scourges told from historic newspapers in the Golden Age
Speaker 1: of yellow journalism. Episode three sixty three takes place in
Speaker 1: rural Ohio when a woman, her daughter, and her daughter's
Speaker 1: suitor are gunned down in front of three young children.
Speaker 1: The daughter's ex husband and father of the children says
Speaker 1: that he arrived at the scene just after the shots
Speaker 1: were fired, but in her dying breath, his ex mother
Speaker 1: in law claims he was the culprit. The kids can't
Speaker 1: get their story straight, so it's up to you to
Speaker 1: put it all together. I'm true crime historian Richard O. Jones,
Speaker 1: and for your consternation and indignation, I give you the
Speaker 1: boy said Papa's shot. The Cuba triple murder Thomas Oliver
Speaker 1: van Dervort, held at the County Jail in connection with
Speaker 1: the triangle murder at Cuba late Saturday night, was arranged
Speaker 1: before Squire Stuart, local Magistrate at ten o'clock. This three
Speaker 1: charges of first degree murder were read to Vandervoort, that
Speaker 1: of shooting and killing his divorced wife, Missus Bertha Whitlow Vandervoort,
Speaker 1: her mother, Missus Susan M. Whitlow, wife of Jeff Whitlow,
Speaker 1: and Howard Bozier, a young man who is alleged was
Speaker 1: calling on Missus Vandervoort and who it is asserted, was
Speaker 1: the cause of much jealousy on the part of Vandervot.
Speaker 1: A charge of shooting with intent to kill Rodney Wallace
Speaker 1: earlier in the evening on South South Street was read
Speaker 1: to the pale faced man, and he stoutly said not
Speaker 1: guilty to all four charges. When ushered into the court
Speaker 1: room a Squire Stuart, a score or more had gathered
Speaker 1: to hear Vanderwort's plea. There was a hush over the room,
Speaker 1: and as the man sank into a chair, he gave
Speaker 1: the appearance of a prisoner weary from worry over the
Speaker 1: case and from the lack of sleep. Van Dervort never
Speaker 1: was rugged looking by nature, and as he faced the
Speaker 1: magistrate this morning, deep wrinkles in his face, told a
Speaker 1: story of sleepless hours in a solitary cell at the
Speaker 1: County jail. Here. I would give my life this morning
Speaker 1: if I only knew who did the shooting Saturday night,
Speaker 1: said Van Dervort to Squire Stuart, as he gave the
Speaker 1: impression of a willingness to repeat his story, which he
Speaker 1: is alleged to have told Sheriff Kirk and Deputy will
Speaker 1: Smith a number of different times, and each time with
Speaker 1: a different version. It happens that at this time there
Speaker 1: is no prisoner in the County Jail but Vandrvort, and
Speaker 1: he is lonesome and seeks to talk with Sheriff Kirk
Speaker 1: at every opportunity. He's told a variety of stories, as
Speaker 1: many different tales, mister Kirk says, as he has taken
Speaker 1: opportunities to talk, no one is permitted to enter the
Speaker 1: cell or talk with the prisoner. He seems pretty blue,
Speaker 1: to use the Sheriff's expression, but keeps presenting new angles
Speaker 1: of the story in an effort to prove his innocence
Speaker 1: of the charge. The house in which the triple murder
Speaker 1: was committed stands on the Gumley Farm, formerly owned by
Speaker 1: every Biggs, and is reached by going west out of
Speaker 1: Cuba under the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad on the Villa's
Speaker 1: Chapel Clarksville Pike and turning to the left at the
Speaker 1: first road. This road is about a mile long and
Speaker 1: connects the Villa's Chapel Pike with the East Fork Road,
Speaker 1: which follows the Creek from the Cuba Midland Wilmington Pike
Speaker 1: at the top of the Roberts Hill to the intersection
Speaker 1: with the Pansy Pike at the Covered Bridge. The house
Speaker 1: in which the murders were committed is the second house
Speaker 1: down the road leading off the Cuba Clarksville Pike. Robert,
Speaker 1: the ten year old son of Van Dervoort and his
Speaker 1: murdered wife, is said to have relayed to the officers
Speaker 1: yesterday how his father the night of the shooting attempted
Speaker 1: to lock the door to keep the lad from getting
Speaker 1: out of the house. The locke failed to hold and
Speaker 1: he ran to the home of Raymond Pope. He is
Speaker 1: alleged to have told the officers. With Pope, he went
Speaker 1: to another neighbor's house, where doctor Basinger of Blanchester was called.
Speaker 1: On the way back to the Witlow house, the boy
Speaker 1: said they met Vandervoort with the other two boys, Nicholas
Speaker 1: aged two and John, aged six, and that Vandervoort tried
Speaker 1: to persuade Robert to go with him to the house
Speaker 1: of Vandervoort's brother near there. The lad claims that he refused,
Speaker 1: but returned to the scene of the murder Presently. Vandervoort
Speaker 1: brought the other two boys back and waited for the
Speaker 1: physician to come. The boy asserted, yesterday C. B. Eichelberger
Speaker 1: of Blanchester called to the home of the Whitlows the
Speaker 1: night of the murder, picked up the automatic Colt pistol,
Speaker 1: and examining it found three loaded cartridges in it. Five
Speaker 1: Having been discharged and ejected from the chamber, mister Eichelberger said, quote,
Speaker 1: I handed the gun to Coroner Kensal after I had
Speaker 1: shown the coroner one just like it I had with me.
Speaker 1: The pistol was a thirty two caliber in good condition,
Speaker 1: it seemed to me. Judge Clevenger of the Common Police
Speaker 1: Court today issued an order sending the three children of
Speaker 1: Van der Voort and his murdered wife to the Clinton
Speaker 1: County Children's Home. They have been into the charge of
Speaker 1: their grandfather, Jeff Whitlow, of Burtonville, since the night of
Speaker 1: the murder. Judge Clevenger issued a decree of divorce to
Speaker 1: Missus Vandervoort about six weeks ago, and at that time
Speaker 1: placed the children in the custody of their mother. Naturally,
Speaker 1: when the present circumstances arose, the children were under the
Speaker 1: jurisdiction of the Common Please Judge January seventeenth, nineteen twenty two.
Speaker 1: The largest crowd in the history of any court hearing
Speaker 1: ever held in Clinton County thronged the court room in
Speaker 1: the lobbies of the courthouse this morning as the trial
Speaker 1: of Thomas Oliver Vandervoort, charged with murder opened. Vandervort will
Speaker 1: face the charge of murder of his twice divorced wife,
Speaker 1: Missus Bertha W. Vandervoort, aged thirty and her mother, Missus
Speaker 1: Susan Whitlow, aged fifty seven, and Howard Bozier, aged twenty four,
Speaker 1: who is alleged to have been calling on Missus Vandervoort.
Speaker 1: The shooting took place on the night of November nineteenth
Speaker 1: at the home of Missus Whitlow and Missus Vandervoort, near Cuba,
Speaker 1: who was also indicted for shooting with intent to kill
Speaker 1: Rodney Wallace, a farmer and friend of Vandervoort, with whom
Speaker 1: it is alleged he got an to an argument earlier
Speaker 1: the same evening, both of the men being intoxicated when
Speaker 1: brought to the jail here. Following his arrest, Van Dervort
Speaker 1: is alleged to have told Sheriff Kirk and Deputy will
Speaker 1: Smith the story that he was walking to the home
Speaker 1: of his brother on the night of the shooting when
Speaker 1: he heard a commotion in the home of his mother
Speaker 1: in law, Missus Whitlow, and that he saw a man
Speaker 1: leap from the house. He entered the house, according to
Speaker 1: his story, where he found his former wife and Boseier
Speaker 1: lying on the floor dead, and where he discovered Missus
Speaker 1: Whitlow on the floor in another room. Mortally wounded. Missus
Speaker 1: van Dervort. Post mortem examination showed was shot through the
Speaker 1: heart and killed instantly. Bosier was shot through the abdomen.
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow, who is said to have made a dying
Speaker 1: statement that Oliver did it, was rushed to a Blanchester
Speaker 1: high hospital, where she died shortly afterward. The trial this
Speaker 1: morning was late and getting under way. W. B. Rogers
Speaker 1: of Smith Rogers and Smith and the former common please
Speaker 1: Judge E. J. West are defending Van Dervoort, while Joe T.
Speaker 1: Doan is Assistant County Prosecutor Gregory in the prosecution. The
Speaker 1: entire afternoon was taken up in an effort to get
Speaker 1: a jury, and it was expected that it would take
Speaker 1: all day and probably longer, to select twelve persons who
Speaker 1: have not already formed an opinion of the case, who
Speaker 1: belonged to some religious sect that will permit them to
Speaker 1: sit in a murder trial, and who believe in capital punishment.
Speaker 1: The courtroom was crowded to capacity and people were standing
Speaker 1: in the hallways in an effort to get a glimpse
Speaker 1: at the courtroom scene. The crowds began to assemble early
Speaker 1: this morning, and when the doors to the courtroom were opened,
Speaker 1: there was a great rush of seats. Although court was
Speaker 1: for noon today, a majority of the people remained, many
Speaker 1: of them having brought their lunches so that they might
Speaker 1: hold their places. January twenty third, nineteen twenty two, the
Speaker 1: trial of t Oliver Vandervoort on the indictment charging him
Speaker 1: with the first degree murder of Missus Susan M. Whitlow,
Speaker 1: his former mother in law, was reconvened Monday morning at
Speaker 1: nine o'clock before Common Please Judge Frank M. Clevenger and
Speaker 1: the jury, the impaneling of which was concluded Friday, after
Speaker 1: which the members of the jury were taken to the
Speaker 1: murder scene. The State has elected to try Vandervoort on
Speaker 1: the indictment charging murder of Missus Whitlow because of the
Speaker 1: direct testimony it may introduce, rather than on either of
Speaker 1: the indictments charging murder of his former wife, Bertha W.
Speaker 1: Vandervoort and Howard Bozier. Judge Clevenger ordered the exclusion from
Speaker 1: the court room of all witnesses already subpoened by the
Speaker 1: state or defense. Jeff Whitlow, husband of the murdered woman,
Speaker 1: was allowed to remain. The court room was crowded when
Speaker 1: the trial was commenced, and it is evident that at
Speaker 1: no time during the trial, which is expected to be
Speaker 1: long and drawn out, will there be seating room for
Speaker 1: any save the early arrivals. Joe T. Doane, former prosecuting
Speaker 1: attorney and engaged to assist Prosecutor Gregory in the case,
Speaker 1: made the opening statement for the state, quote, the state
Speaker 1: will endeavor to prove all that I call to your
Speaker 1: attention to in the review of the case. A Clinton
Speaker 1: County home has been transformed into a slaughter house, and you,
Speaker 1: the jury, are to decide from the testimony if Thomas
Speaker 1: Oliver Vandervoort is the one guilty of the crime unquote.
Speaker 1: He then read the indictment in full, charging that Missus
Speaker 1: Whitlow had been shot twice in the breast and in
Speaker 1: the stomach. He stated that ever since Bertha and Oliver
Speaker 1: Vandervort were married, they had frequent trouble, and that there
Speaker 1: had been much discord that Oliver drank to excess, and
Speaker 1: that in January nineteen seventeen the wife secured a divorce.
Speaker 1: They were remarried during the war, and Oliver was exempted
Speaker 1: from service in the Army. On this account, the suit
Speaker 1: for alimony was filed in January last year, agreement being
Speaker 1: reached and the suit dismissed. That Another suit was filed
Speaker 1: in September, and a divorce granted in October to Missus Vandervoort,
Speaker 1: the grounds being extreme cruelty and gross neglect of duty.
Speaker 1: From that time on, Oliver showed his dissatisfaction with matters
Speaker 1: that he tried to find her and her mother at
Speaker 1: the home of Jeff Whitlow in Burtonville two months before
Speaker 1: the shooting. That Oliver exclaimed at that time, by God,
Speaker 1: this will end in bloodshed. Yet on November nineteenth, nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty one, the attorney stated Oliver was in Wilmington in
Speaker 1: company of a friend, Rodney Wallace, and both drank liquor,
Speaker 1: both being under the influence to some extent. Vandervort went
Speaker 1: to the home of his brother in law, Will Cooper
Speaker 1: and changed his clothes. Coming back to Wilmington, he joined
Speaker 1: Wallace and they had an argument at the corner of
Speaker 1: South and Truesdale Streets, Wallace being shot by the defendant,
Speaker 1: but the wound did not prove serious. Vandervort then came
Speaker 1: up town, the attorney declared, got in his automobile and
Speaker 1: went out to Martinsville Road, abandoning his car, walking to
Speaker 1: Morrisville about seven forty five, stopping at Botz's store for tobacco,
Speaker 1: telling the clerk he was in trouble again and said
Speaker 1: his machine was out of gasoline. He arranged with bots
Speaker 1: to come the next morning and pull the car out,
Speaker 1: and Van Dervort was to go over to Frank Hares
Speaker 1: to stay all night if he were up. If he
Speaker 1: was not, he was to go to his mother's. The
Speaker 1: attorney went on to claim that Vandervort started in another
Speaker 1: direction of Cuba, stopped at Oscar Brown and inquired for
Speaker 1: a party, not being there, went to Ray Brown's and
Speaker 1: asked for a party and didn't find him. Went to
Speaker 1: Cuba and on to where the road turns in Gumy neighborhood,
Speaker 1: then winds around to the scene of the shooting. Mister
Speaker 1: Done stated that the state will show by evidence that
Speaker 1: Vandervoort had been that way frequently in violation of a
Speaker 1: court order which joined him from interfering with his former
Speaker 1: wife and their three children Vandervort. Mister Done went on
Speaker 1: approached the front door and knocked Missus Van Dervolt asked,
Speaker 1: who's there? It's me. You know who it is? Was
Speaker 1: the reply. Are you drunk? She asked. If you don't
Speaker 1: open the door, I'll break it in was his response.
Speaker 1: The door was then opened. The wife had little Nicholas,
Speaker 1: aged three, in her arms. Howard Bosier was in the room,
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow was upstairs putting the other children to bed.
Speaker 1: The prosecution then charged that Vandervort at once shot his
Speaker 1: former wife using an automatic revolver. She fell dead. Missus Whitlow,
Speaker 1: hearing the report, rushed downstairs. Then Bosier was shot, and
Speaker 1: then Vandervoort stomped his wife in the face and likewise Bosier,
Speaker 1: leaving heel prints on their faces. Then Missus Whitlow was shot.
Speaker 1: She fell, arose and was shot again, either wound being
Speaker 1: sufficient to cause death. The attorney claimed that Missus Whitlow
Speaker 1: was grabbed by her hair, dragged over the floor of
Speaker 1: the kitchen, and was then hurled near the door. The
Speaker 1: children were screaming and the little boy Rodney, wanted to
Speaker 1: go for help, but the father told him that if
Speaker 1: anyone asked about the shooting to say that his father
Speaker 1: wasn't there. The boy evaded the father and picked up
Speaker 1: another gun off the floor. The lad went for help, and,
Speaker 1: being frightened, fired into the ground. Yelling for help. He
Speaker 1: went back and met his father and the other two children.
Speaker 1: On the way to his brother's Ira Vandrvoort, they met
Speaker 1: Pope and Rodney said, Papa, I wish you had been
Speaker 1: there when it happened. Oliver made no explanation to Pope.
Speaker 1: On the way back to the house, other neighbors came in.
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow was found on the floor, still alive and conscious.
Speaker 1: Doctor Basinger of Blanchester arrived first of the physicians called
Speaker 1: and talked to her. When she found she was about
Speaker 1: to die, she told the star of the shooting. Little Nicholas,
Speaker 1: sitting on his father's knee, said, oh, father, you shot mother,
Speaker 1: grandmother and that other man. Vandervoort replied, oh no. The
Speaker 1: child then kissed his father, who wept, but offered no
Speaker 1: explanation and offered no help and showed no grief. Bodies
Speaker 1: of Missus van Dervort and Bosier were taken to Blanchester.
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow was taking an ambulance to Blanchester hospital and
Speaker 1: again said that Vandervoort did the shooting. She lived fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes after arriving at the hospital and five minutes before
Speaker 1: she expired. She said, so help me, God, Oliver Vandervoort
Speaker 1: did this shooting.
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Speaker 1: Attorney W. B. Rogers, whose ability as a criminal lawyer
Speaker 1: is statewide and the opening argument for the defense, expressed
Speaker 1: himself as profoundly impressed with the seriousness of the present situation. Quote.
Speaker 1: Ever since the tragedy, the defendant has been confined in
Speaker 1: a cell and his opportunity to develop his defense has
Speaker 1: been handicapped. I want to impress you, the jury, with
Speaker 1: the importance of your position. This indictment has but one count,
Speaker 1: murder and the first degree, but the court will tell
Speaker 1: you that other crimes are also involved in the indictment.
Speaker 1: First degree murder must be premeditated deliberated and malicious. He
Speaker 1: explained second degree murder, manslaughter and assault and battery. The
Speaker 1: state must prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt quote
Speaker 1: the defense is ready to lay its cards on the table.
Speaker 1: Face up. Our story dovetales in many incidents with the
Speaker 1: story of the state. Oliver Vandervoort was one of nine children,
Speaker 1: son of n. R. And Alice Vandervoort, a well known family.
Speaker 1: He was the fifth child and a resident of this
Speaker 1: county all his life. In his youth he contracted the
Speaker 1: liquor habit, and due to this he associated with persons
Speaker 1: of the lower strata and absorbed their manner of living.
Speaker 1: He thus met Bertha Whitlow, a grass widow, and married her.
Speaker 1: His life was a sea of turmoil woe from that
Speaker 1: hour on. His wife did sue for divorce, but we
Speaker 1: can show that the suit was not contested and was
Speaker 1: by agreement. They were remarried, but it was a case
Speaker 1: of too much mother in law, Missus Whitlow, was separated
Speaker 1: from Jeff Whitlow, so she came to live in the
Speaker 1: home and caused much discord. A second suit for divorce
Speaker 1: was instituted, but withdrawn and by mutual consent, a divorce
Speaker 1: was granted. Testimony will show that on the day of
Speaker 1: the tragedy, Vandervoort bought furs on the corner of South
Speaker 1: and Sugar Tree Streets. The day before, he had been
Speaker 1: to his wife's home and arranged that she and the
Speaker 1: children go to live at the home of Jeff Whitlow
Speaker 1: in Burtonville. About three o'clock Saturday afternoon, his attention was
Speaker 1: called to the fact that his wife's horse and buggy
Speaker 1: was in town. She saw Bozier in the post office.
Speaker 1: Bozier was a married man with a family. Vandervoort met
Speaker 1: his former wife near the Hadley Grocery, went with her
Speaker 1: into the store and gave her five dollar bill for groceries,
Speaker 1: she buying three dollars worth and giving him the two
Speaker 1: dollars change. Vandervort then met Wallace and they agreed to
Speaker 1: buy some liquor and the prisoner furnishing the most of
Speaker 1: the money. The liquor was obtained and they drank some
Speaker 1: and divided the rest at the Pennsylvania Railroad toilet. The
Speaker 1: testimony will probably divulge where the liquor was obtained. Vandervoort
Speaker 1: then sold furs for one hundred and twenty one dollars,
Speaker 1: getting a check for eighty the other forty one having
Speaker 1: been advanced. Wallace kept hanging around and possibly other drinks
Speaker 1: were taken. Vandrvoort only had one or two drinks until
Speaker 1: he was crazy drunk, the liquor being ranked poison. His
Speaker 1: concluding remarks were that the defense denies absolutely that this
Speaker 1: defendant had anything whatsoever to do with the killing, and
Speaker 1: hopes that the testimony may develop who the real murderer
Speaker 1: may be. All witnesses present were sworn and the court
Speaker 1: adjourned until one o'clock, when the taking of testimony would
Speaker 1: be begun. Judge Clevenger cautioned the jurors to talk to
Speaker 1: no one concerning the case. Great interests centered in the
Speaker 1: Monday afternoon session in the determined effort to get the
Speaker 1: statements made by the Vandrvoort children ruled out as incompetent.
Speaker 1: When doctor Basinger, the first witness, was called, he started
Speaker 1: to tell what the child Nicholas said, when he was
Speaker 1: stopped by objections of the defense. Judge Clevenger ordered the
Speaker 1: jury recessed until he could hear the testimony and have
Speaker 1: authorities looked up. In the meantime, the witness was allowed
Speaker 1: to proceed with the testimony. Doctor Basinger said that Nicholas
Speaker 1: got on his father's lap and said, Papa, you shot Grandma,
Speaker 1: didn't you. Vant said no, it was the other man.
Speaker 1: Nicholas then said, yes, you shot mama and the other
Speaker 1: man too. Then Nicholas kissed Vandervolt, who dropped his head
Speaker 1: and wept. During the cross examination, he said that missus
Speaker 1: Whitlow did not say who did the deed until he
Speaker 1: inquired she was afraid she would die before reaching the hospital.
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow said in the house quote, the dirty brute
Speaker 1: couldn't kill me by shooting twice, so he drug me
Speaker 1: around the room unquote. Witness did not hear her say,
Speaker 1: thank God, he will get what is coming to him now.
Speaker 1: Missus Whitlow did not sign any statements. At this point,
Speaker 1: Judge Clevenger announced that the authorities he had sawt had
Speaker 1: been looked up, and he ordered the jury returned. He
Speaker 1: ruled that only such testimony could be held competent that
Speaker 1: repeated what the children had said, and Vandervort responded to
Speaker 1: showing that he knew knew what they were saying. The
Speaker 1: trial then proceeded. Doctor Basinger, recalled to the stand, told
Speaker 1: the jury the conversation between the defendant and the little boy, Nicholas.
Speaker 1: The defense's objection was overruled. Missus Whitlow said that the
Speaker 1: defendant kicked and stamped the face and bodies of Bertha
Speaker 1: Vandervoort and Howard Bozier. Missus Whitlow repeated in the ambulance
Speaker 1: the accusation that Vandervoort did the shooting. Doctor Basinger said
Speaker 1: that he took a revolver and shotgun along with him,
Speaker 1: as he did not know what kind of case he
Speaker 1: was getting into, as information was vague. Doctor Gibson arrived
Speaker 1: about five minutes after he reached the house. Probably he
Speaker 1: arrived about ten forty. He knew it wasn't yet eleven.
Speaker 1: He entered by the kitchen. The light was on the
Speaker 1: kitchen table. Missus Whitlow was lying on her back with
Speaker 1: her feet toward the stove. He saw gon on the table,
Speaker 1: probably the thirty two. No light in a front room.
Speaker 1: There was a fire in the stove. Van Dervoort offered
Speaker 1: no explanation. The witness said, this looks pretty tough, and
Speaker 1: he kneeled by Missus Whitlow to make examination. He noticed
Speaker 1: that Vandervot had been drinking when he took hold of him.
Speaker 1: The conversations between the witness and Missus Whitlow, and the
Speaker 1: replies of Robert and the defendant were gone into detail,
Speaker 1: but no new facts were developed beyond those brought out
Speaker 1: in the direct examination. Robert at no time accused his
Speaker 1: father of committing the crime. Robert was fully dressed, and
Speaker 1: so were the other children. Doctor and Missus Bryan came
Speaker 1: shortly after the witness. Missus Whitlow had not disrobed for bed.
Speaker 1: She said the shooting had occurred some time after nine
Speaker 1: o'clock and that Bozier had come to see Bertha. The
Speaker 1: witness found no gun on Bozier and saw no gun
Speaker 1: in the front room. Bozier was lying on the right side,
Speaker 1: with the left arm around the chair, which was knocked over.
Speaker 1: His right arm was bent under him. The body of
Speaker 1: Bertha Vandervort was lying almost flat on her back, feet
Speaker 1: toward Bosier. The body of Bozer was between her and
Speaker 1: the stairway. Two chairs were upside down, but no other
Speaker 1: evidence of commotion. The window shades were drawn. The sheriff
Speaker 1: arrived about two. The witness gave him the pistol picked
Speaker 1: up in the kitchen. The sheriff was still in the
Speaker 1: house when he left. Something had been put under the
Speaker 1: head of Missus Whitlow, no covering over the body. He
Speaker 1: saw no whiskey in the house, saw no noseglasses near
Speaker 1: the body. Of birth of Vandervoort. January twenty fourth, nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty two. Claude by Eichelberger of Blanchester was the next
Speaker 1: witness for the state. He had been an undertaker for
Speaker 1: fifteen years. Said he was was driving the ambulance from
Speaker 1: the scene of the tragedy to Blanchester. When anchoring the
Speaker 1: cot in the ambulance, he heard Missus Whitlow tell Doctor
Speaker 1: Basinger that she was shot first in the front room,
Speaker 1: fell got up, ran and was shot a second time,
Speaker 1: fell to the floor in the kitchen. The road was rough,
Speaker 1: and Missus Whitlow said, my god, I'll die before I
Speaker 1: get there. And he heard Missus Whitlow say he did it,
Speaker 1: and he knows he did it. This testimony was given
Speaker 1: after a vigorous objection of the defense, which was overruled
Speaker 1: by the court Raymond Pope, who lives near Cuba, testified
Speaker 1: that on the night of the tragedy, he was sitting
Speaker 1: in his house reading and about ten o'clock heard children yelling.
Speaker 1: His wife said they were calling for help. He heard
Speaker 1: three or four shots and children yelling for help again.
Speaker 1: In a few minutes, Oliver Vandervoort and his three boys
Speaker 1: came by. He told the witness he was going to
Speaker 1: house to telephone, but turned back with Pope. One boy, Robert,
Speaker 1: asked the father, why didn't you get here sooner Papa,
Speaker 1: and Vandervort replied, I wished I had. Robert said, Stanley
Speaker 1: Thompson was here last night. Maybe he was here tonight.
Speaker 1: Vandervort said, maybe he's already been here and done the shooting.
Speaker 1: Pope said he saw the bodies and then went to
Speaker 1: the telephone, and when when he got back, the Brians
Speaker 1: were there. Missus Whitlow wanted some relatives at Hyland called
Speaker 1: Vandervort did not talk to the witness at all. Doctor
Speaker 1: Basinger arrived in about half an hour. Pope built a fire.
Speaker 1: The witness heard the conversation between Missus Whitlow and doctor
Speaker 1: Basinger in the presence of the defendant. Missus Whitlow said
Speaker 1: she was upstairs and that Oliver shot Bertha and Bozier
Speaker 1: and then shot her and drug her by the hair.
Speaker 1: Vandervort said nothing. Missus Whitlow did not tell about the
Speaker 1: shooting until the doctor told her she would die, and
Speaker 1: then she said she would tell the truth, so help
Speaker 1: her God. The witness went into the front room for
Speaker 1: quilts to cover the children. He had a light with them.
Speaker 1: He described the position of the bodies as testified by
Speaker 1: the previous witness. He saw the bodies later, after the
Speaker 1: coroner came. He went into the front room toward Cuba
Speaker 1: and saw gun. The sheriff was not there at the time.
Speaker 1: He stayed at the house until six in the morning.
Speaker 1: He heard Vandervort say, I knew Susan would blame it
Speaker 1: on to me. When Missus Whitlow told doctor Basinger about
Speaker 1: the shooting. He heard Vandervort tell the sheriff that old
Speaker 1: woman always had it in for me. The witness lives
Speaker 1: about a quarter of a mile from the Whitlow house.
Speaker 1: January twenty fifth, nineteen twenty two. High points in the
Speaker 1: hearing of the testimony Wednesday were pass evidence of the
Speaker 1: quarrel and the shooting scrape indulged in by Rodney Wallace
Speaker 1: and Vandervoort the night of the crime in Wilmington, and
Speaker 1: the corroboration of Claude Eichelberger's testimony regarding a revolver found
Speaker 1: at the scene of the tragedy by John Doffman, also
Speaker 1: of Blanchester. A touch of pathos creeped into the hearing
Speaker 1: this morning when Missus Laura Bryan, a near neighbor of
Speaker 1: Missus van Dervoort and Missus Whitlow, told of going into
Speaker 1: the room where the two dead bodies lay, and tenderly
Speaker 1: taking away with her little Johnny, the six year old
Speaker 1: son of the murdered woman, who was clinging to her body.
Speaker 1: Large crowds again attended the Wednesday sessions, and early arrivals
Speaker 1: were a little nonplussed when told of Judge Clevenger's order
Speaker 1: that the courtroom was to be cleared at noon to
Speaker 1: permit ventilation. This made a grand rush for seats when
Speaker 1: the doors again opened after noon, and again all available
Speaker 1: points of vantage were quickly taken and were left outside.
Speaker 1: Raymond Pope, in cross examination, said that the children were yelling,
Speaker 1: not crying. When the witness first heard commotion. The next
Speaker 1: outcry was Within five minutes, shots were fired, and then
Speaker 1: the second yelling occurred. Vandervoort appeared to be sober, but
Speaker 1: his breath smelled of liquor. He sat in a chair
Speaker 1: almost the entire time. Doctor Basinger searched Vandervot for a gun,
Speaker 1: but found none. Mister Satchel, upon order of the doctor,
Speaker 1: guarded the defendant with a forty five caliber automatic until
Speaker 1: the sheriff came. January twenty fifth, nineteen twenty two, Minnie Miller,
Speaker 1: who lives in Wilmington, testified that she was acquainted with
Speaker 1: Oliver Vandervoort, had known him about a year and knew
Speaker 1: his wife. She talked with Vandervot on the street shortly
Speaker 1: after he secured his divorce last fall. Talked about Bertha
Speaker 1: and where she had moved. Oliver said he hadn't been down,
Speaker 1: but intended to go. The witness said, bet you and
Speaker 1: Bertha get married again, and Vandervort said, well, I don't
Speaker 1: know so much about that, but if I don't live
Speaker 1: with her, nobody else will unquote. A motion to exclude
Speaker 1: her testimony was overruled. Missus. Miller said that she lived
Speaker 1: in Brown Highland and Adams Counties before living here, that
Speaker 1: her husband has been dead nine years. She's talked about
Speaker 1: this matter to several people and told the sheriff yesterday
Speaker 1: that the conversation occurred in front of Moore's fruit store.
Speaker 1: Vandervoort did not appear excited or disturbed. The witness asked
Speaker 1: Vandervort if he had seen Albert Bernard. She didn't think
Speaker 1: anything more about the conversation until after the shooting, which
Speaker 1: was probably several weeks afterwards. She did not think she
Speaker 1: heard Vandervort say, quote, under conditions, no one could live
Speaker 1: with Bertha, not even I could unquote Missus elmer Rton
Speaker 1: heard quarreling near the home of Charles Swain. Vandervort was
Speaker 1: accusing Wallace of taking a part of something. She said
Speaker 1: she's known both men for a number of years and
Speaker 1: heard the report of a gun. Then saw Vandervort back
Speaker 1: Wallace across the street. Vandervort's hand was extended, arm out stretched,
Speaker 1: but it was too dark to see if he had
Speaker 1: a gun in his hand. There was a machine near
Speaker 1: the drive. She saw persons across the street. Vandervort got
Speaker 1: in the machine and went toward town. She saw the
Speaker 1: machine go as far as the railroad, and saw Wallace
Speaker 1: walk as far as done street. She did not see
Speaker 1: a whiskey bottle. The men quarreled in loud tones and
Speaker 1: with much profanity. She heard the report of a gun,
Speaker 1: but did not see the flash. The report was not
Speaker 1: as loud as an automobile tire blowing out. The men
Speaker 1: were close together when the gun was fired. She does
Speaker 1: not know what they did across the street. She's known
Speaker 1: Oliver Vandervoort all of his life, having lived two doors
Speaker 1: from the family when Robert was a baby. Robert van Dervoort,
Speaker 1: the eleven year old son of Thomas Oliver van Dervort,
Speaker 1: created the most intense situation since the trial began. When
Speaker 1: he was placed on the stand by the prosecution. He
Speaker 1: told of members of his family, where he lived at
Speaker 1: the time of the crime, et cetera. He said he
Speaker 1: remembered the shooting. He heard noise at the front door
Speaker 1: after he had gone to bed at six o'clock. His
Speaker 1: grandma and his brothers were with him. Took off his
Speaker 1: clothes and said it was after dark. Said he came
Speaker 1: downstairs again because he heard some shots. He saw his
Speaker 1: mother lying on the floor dead. His grandma was upstairs,
Speaker 1: and when she came down he saw her shot. January
Speaker 1: twent twenty sixth, nineteen twenty two, Rodney Wallace was sworn.
Speaker 1: He had known Oliver Vandervoort six or seven years. He
Speaker 1: saw him on the evening of November nineteenth, nineteen twenty one,
Speaker 1: about four o'clock at Buster's Corner. He talked to him
Speaker 1: there a little bit, then went back up town, came
Speaker 1: back and saw Vandervoort about five o'clock. They stayed together,
Speaker 1: then arranging to go to Sabina together. Oliver said he
Speaker 1: had to go out to his brother in law's house
Speaker 1: to change clothes. The witness went with him by the
Speaker 1: Burtonville Road. Vandervort changed his clothes. They got back to town
Speaker 1: probably between six and seven o'clock. The two men had
Speaker 1: been drinking white mule whiskey. The witness said he did
Speaker 1: not pay for the whiskey and had not been drinking
Speaker 1: until this was purchased. He saw a court bottle and
Speaker 1: drank out of it. He had the bottle on the
Speaker 1: way out to change the clothes and back. He didn't
Speaker 1: see Vandervort drink. They made the trip in Vandervort's automobile.
Speaker 1: They stopped on South Street, beyond the street that goes
Speaker 1: to the cemetery. Vandervoort ordered Wallace out of his machine
Speaker 1: because of a fuss. Both men got out and were
Speaker 1: still fussing. Vandervort shot the witness and the right shoulder.
Speaker 1: The bullet passed entirely through the body. No hole had
Speaker 1: been made in the underwear by the bullet. He saw
Speaker 1: the bullet in his shoe the next morning. He identified
Speaker 1: the bullet as being similar to one found in the shoe.
Speaker 1: He found the bullet at his mother's house, put it
Speaker 1: in his pocket, and gave it to his father. He
Speaker 1: was drunk when he was shot and didn't remember anything
Speaker 1: else that occurred with Vandervort. He went out South Street
Speaker 1: to near Short Street and laid down by a tree
Speaker 1: on South Street and remained there the biggest part of
Speaker 1: the night. He went to sleep and woke before morning.
Speaker 1: He had sobered up by that time. He found himself
Speaker 1: soar all over. He went down to his brother's house
Speaker 1: by going down Short Street and the B and O
Speaker 1: railroad to Locust Street. He got there about four thirty
Speaker 1: or five o'clock in the morning. He did not see
Speaker 1: vandervod again that night. He then had medical attention when
Speaker 1: doctor Yoakley attended to the wounds. Sheriff Kirk came to
Speaker 1: the house. As the doctor left, the witness showed him
Speaker 1: the hole in the coat where the bullet entered. The
Speaker 1: wound was not serious. The witness removed the collar and
Speaker 1: tie and showed the jury the scar and the neck
Speaker 1: where the bullet entered and the point of exit. He
Speaker 1: also showed the hole in the underwear where the bullet entered.
Speaker 1: He could find no hole in the back of the
Speaker 1: neck of the underwear. The witness said he was raised
Speaker 1: in Sciota County and lived at Starbucktown about a year.
Speaker 1: He is twenty eight years old. He knew Oliver Vandervoort
Speaker 1: and his wife Bertha from when they lived in Antioch.
Speaker 1: He knew Susan Whitlow, but didn't remember ever being in
Speaker 1: their home any place. He was not in the habit
Speaker 1: of getting drunk, but he had been drunk before. He
Speaker 1: did not see Oliver drink. He got the quart bottle
Speaker 1: out of Vandervoort's machine. There were furs in the machine
Speaker 1: and also lying in the street. He spent most of
Speaker 1: the afternoon in the Howard pool room. He did not
Speaker 1: see Bertha Vandervoort the afternoon of the shooting any place.
Speaker 1: He knows Boser saw him talking to Vandervort that day.
Speaker 1: He thought Oliver and Bosier were to be good friends.
Speaker 1: The liquor was on a seat under a robe. The
Speaker 1: witness said he got in the machine and sat down
Speaker 1: on a bottle. He was familiar with white Mule whiskey.
Speaker 1: He had drunk it before. He took a drink right away,
Speaker 1: just an ordinary size drink, good, big swallow. Oliver said
Speaker 1: he didn't want any He had three or four drinks
Speaker 1: on the way out to Cooper's. He didn't see Oliver
Speaker 1: take a drink the whole time. The bottle was about
Speaker 1: two thirds full when the auto arrived at Cooper's. He
Speaker 1: drank two or three times on the way back. Oliver
Speaker 1: did not complain. He did not put the bottle in
Speaker 1: his pocket, and did not offer to get liquor for
Speaker 1: Vandervort that afternoon, and did not put up part of
Speaker 1: the money to purchase the liquor. He didn't see anyone
Speaker 1: but himself take drinks out of the bottle, and doesn't
Speaker 1: know how many drinks he took, but he left the
Speaker 1: bottle in the machine and saw it no more. After
Speaker 1: the shooting on South Street, he said Vandervoort was not sober,
Speaker 1: but he didn't know whether you would call him drunk
Speaker 1: or not. Didn't know whether he was under the influence
Speaker 1: of liquor before starting out for Cooper's, and didn't know
Speaker 1: whether Vandervoort was sober or not. He didn't act like
Speaker 1: he was sober. There was only one shot fired, but
Speaker 1: the witness didn't know what made him say, you missed me.
Speaker 1: They were close together when he was shot, and he
Speaker 1: didn't stagger. He did not know he had been shot.
Speaker 1: He got on the railroad near the canning factory and
Speaker 1: was near daylight, but he didn't remember whether he had
Speaker 1: been raining. He had his overcoat on and the ground
Speaker 1: was dry. He got off the track at Locust Street.
Speaker 1: His brother lives in the first house beyond the railroad
Speaker 1: on Locust Street, but his brother was not up. The
Speaker 1: witness pounded on the door and the brother let him in.
Speaker 1: He did not go to bed instead. He took off
Speaker 1: his shoe as it hurt his foot. He found the
Speaker 1: bullet inside of his sock. He had not felt the
Speaker 1: bullet any place else on his body. He did not
Speaker 1: wear supporters, but wore a Union suit. He put the
Speaker 1: bullet in his pocket. His brother's wife was up and
Speaker 1: he showed the bullet to her. Didn't remember whether the
Speaker 1: brother was there at that time or not, but he
Speaker 1: was sobering up by then. His brother went in after
Speaker 1: the horse, and his father came in and drove him
Speaker 1: directly home. They sent for doctor Yoakley, who came in
Speaker 1: about an hour. He did not go to bed and
Speaker 1: was not bleeding, but there was blood on his shirt.
Speaker 1: He showed the bullet to doctor Yoakley and then gave
Speaker 1: it to his father. He can't swear that the bullet
Speaker 1: shown is the same one, but it looks like it.
Speaker 1: He was pretty sore all that day, but not in
Speaker 1: much pain. He stayed at home until about three in
Speaker 1: the afternoon, and then he went to Blanchester. He knew
Speaker 1: nothing of the killing until the sheriff told him. Jeff
Speaker 1: Whitlow testified that he lives at Burtonville, where he moved
Speaker 1: last fall from Morrisville. Susan Whitlow was his wife. Oliver
Speaker 1: Whitlow married his daughter. His daughter lived at Morrisville, then
Speaker 1: moved to Wilmington, and then went to live on Gumley's Place,
Speaker 1: which is about a mile and a half below Cuba.
Speaker 1: Bertha was divorced from Oliver at the time of the shooting.
Speaker 1: Had been divorced but a few days he has a
Speaker 1: relative in Springfield, his wife's brother. The wife went to
Speaker 1: the funeral of this man's wife. Oliver Vandervoort went to
Speaker 1: the home of the witness and Bonville while missus Whitlow
Speaker 1: was away. Vandervort asked for Bertha, but she was not there.
Speaker 1: Vandervort threw his coat on the floor and said, by God,
Speaker 1: there will be some bloodshed about this. Yet he asked
Speaker 1: the children to go with him. Just after this he
Speaker 1: spoke like he was angry, but did not come in
Speaker 1: the house. Whitlow said he first heard of the shooting
Speaker 1: about three o'clock in the morning. Sheriff Kirk and Deputy
Speaker 1: Sheriff Smith, Vanderbort and the three children came to the house.
Speaker 1: Vandervort said, there's been a little shooting at our house.
Speaker 1: The witness said, Oliver, have you been drinking? He answered yes,
Speaker 1: a little Vandervort told about the shooting, but said nothing
Speaker 1: about who did it. Oliver asked the witness to care
Speaker 1: for the children, and the sheriff took the children on
Speaker 1: the following Wednesday to the children's home. In cross examination,
Speaker 1: Whitlow said he's not spoken to Robert about the shooting
Speaker 1: since the night had happened. He told the lawyers from
Speaker 1: the defense several days ago that Robert would tell the
Speaker 1: truth from the witness stand if the witness were present,
Speaker 1: because he would know there would be someone there to
Speaker 1: protect him. Robert is nervous. He does not remember Robert
Speaker 1: telling about the two men doing the shooting. Oliver did
Speaker 1: not tell who did the shooting. He said he didn't
Speaker 1: recall when Oliver got his coat he threw on the floor.
Speaker 1: He said the conversation with Oliver and Burtonville was about
Speaker 1: a week before the shooting. He said that Bertha was
Speaker 1: going to move in with the witness the next week.
Speaker 1: Will Kirk, the sheriff of Clinton County, testified he was
Speaker 1: called to the scene of the shooting by telephone. The
Speaker 1: call came near midnight, and he went at once. He
Speaker 1: found doctor Basinger in the yard. The doctor handed the
Speaker 1: witness a revolver, who put it in his pocket. That
Speaker 1: revolver is in the office of the sheriff at present.
Speaker 1: He went into the house, saw Missus Whitlow on the
Speaker 1: floor and several people in the kitchen. Oliver Vandervort was
Speaker 1: in the room, sitting in a chair. I reckon, you've
Speaker 1: come after me, he said. He went into the sitting
Speaker 1: room and saw the two dead bodies on the floor.
Speaker 1: He heard Missus Whitlow say in the presence of the
Speaker 1: defendant that had hurt her to move as they were
Speaker 1: going to put her on the ambulance cot. He examined
Speaker 1: the faces of Bertha and Bozier and found bruises on
Speaker 1: both of them. He saw no other revolver at that time.
Speaker 1: He went to the neighbors to telephone the coroner. He
Speaker 1: went to Burtonville with Deputy Smith and left the children
Speaker 1: at the home of Jeff Whitlow. Then he put Oliver
Speaker 1: in jail and had to talk with him. Then he
Speaker 1: asked the defendant what he knew about the shooting. Vanderwort
Speaker 1: said he was going down to Iris to help him.
Speaker 1: Set some traps. Heard the children cry. When near a bridge,
Speaker 1: He looked over toward the house and saw two persons
Speaker 1: coming out of the kitchen door and go down the pike.
Speaker 1: In the house saw missus Whitlow on the floor. The
Speaker 1: children were crying. He looked in the front room and
Speaker 1: saw the bodies. He picked up his wife's head, but
Speaker 1: she was too near dead to tell who did it.
Speaker 1: He went to Susan Whitlow and asked her who did it,
Speaker 1: and she said they did it. Go get him. He
Speaker 1: looked all over the house but could find no one.
Speaker 1: The sheriff said he learned of the shooting of Rodney
Speaker 1: Wallace the next morning from Carrie Wallace, probably between seven
Speaker 1: and eight o'clock. He went to the home of Rodney
Speaker 1: Wallace as he had been shot, but did not see
Speaker 1: the wound. He didn't recall seeing the doctor there. The
Speaker 1: father of Rodney Wallace gave the sheriff a bullet. The
Speaker 1: sheriff identified the bullet, which was admitted to evidence as
Speaker 1: Exhibit three. He talked to Vandervoort again on arrival back
Speaker 1: at the jail. Vandervoort said he was with Rodney Wallace
Speaker 1: before going to Cuba. He said that Rodney wanted to
Speaker 1: go to Sabinah, so they went to Cooper's to change clothes,
Speaker 1: and Wallace got out of the notion to going to
Speaker 1: Sabinah and got out of the machine near the railroad.
Speaker 1: He said Wallace wanted to borrow a revolver from Vandervoort
Speaker 1: that was at Cooper's, so he got the revolver and
Speaker 1: gave it to Wallace, who tried to load it but
Speaker 1: couldn't get it together. They stopped on South Street and
Speaker 1: tried to help load it, and it went off, but
Speaker 1: said Wallace said he was not hit. He thought either
Speaker 1: Wallace had the gun or it was still in the machine.
Speaker 1: The sheriff said he found the machine near Morrisville with
Speaker 1: the revolver in it. Vandervoort remembered that he had abandoned
Speaker 1: the machine near Morrisville. Vandervort said that Wallace suggested getting
Speaker 1: whiskey that could be bought for three dollars a quart.
Speaker 1: That Vandervort put up a dollar eighty in Wallace a
Speaker 1: dollar twenty, and Wallace bought a court of whiskey, and
Speaker 1: thus they both drank. Going out and coming back from
Speaker 1: Cooper's Vandervort sent for Kirk and said he didn't tell
Speaker 1: him right about the shooting out on South Street. He
Speaker 1: said the Wallace wanted to go to s and got
Speaker 1: a quart of whiskey. They went out to Cooper's and
Speaker 1: while Vandervort changed his clothes, Wallace divided the whiskey into
Speaker 1: two bottles. Wallace wouldn't drink from Vanderwort's bottle. Vandervort felt
Speaker 1: like he was slipping pretty fast on South Street. Wallace
Speaker 1: took hold of the steering wheel of the auto and
Speaker 1: guided the machine to the curb. Both men got out.
Speaker 1: Vandervort heard a noise behind him and looked around and
Speaker 1: saw Cotton Wallace with a gun. Cotton said now I've
Speaker 1: got you and shot. He missed Vandervoort and hit Rodney Wallace.
Speaker 1: Vanderwort said he thought the Wallaces had framed up and
Speaker 1: doped the whiskey. Vandervort told the witness that he threw
Speaker 1: up in Cuba and felt better. The night of the tragedy,
Speaker 1: he said he went two places to inquire for Robert Foreman.
Speaker 1: He said he wanted to pull out his machine. He
Speaker 1: talked to Oliver about the automatic pistol. Vandervort said he
Speaker 1: had one, someone had stolen it from him. In cross examination,
Speaker 1: Sheriff Kirk said he found Oliver's machine about noon Sunday.
Speaker 1: There was a fox skin in the back, moth eaten.
Speaker 1: He found the whiskey. The gun was under the cushion
Speaker 1: on the right side near the back. The sheriff said
Speaker 1: that Van Dervoord has at no time expressed sorrow about
Speaker 1: the death of his wife and mother in law. He
Speaker 1: did say he would like to send some flowers to
Speaker 1: the funeral and asked if he could go. The state
Speaker 1: rested its case with the understanding that Jeff Whitlow could
Speaker 1: be called later to identify the revolver. The defense then
Speaker 1: made the motion that all the evidence regarding the dying
Speaker 1: declarations of Susan Whitlow be stricken from the records and
Speaker 1: withdrawn from the jury. The motion was overruled and exceptions noted.
Speaker 1: Raymond bab was the first witness called for the defense.
Speaker 1: He testified he saw Vandervoort just across the road from
Speaker 1: Thompson's tenant property. The machine was on the right hand
Speaker 1: side from the hedge fence. A machine was in the
Speaker 1: middle of the road headed toward Morrisville. Two fellas flagged
Speaker 1: the witness down. One of them was Albert Hall. Vandervoort's
Speaker 1: machine was in the ditch. The road was slick. Oliver
Speaker 1: was in the machine to the right of the steering wheel.
Speaker 1: The witness would say that he was drunk, he had
Speaker 1: no chains, but helped him out over the ditch. The
Speaker 1: witness left while Vandervort was still in the machine. That
Speaker 1: was about seven or seven point thirty. There was no
Speaker 1: cross examination. Faye Botts ran a store during the past
Speaker 1: year at Morrisville. He had known Oliver Vandervoort all his life.
Speaker 1: They went to school together. He saw him the night
Speaker 1: of the tragedy at the store. The stores closed for
Speaker 1: the night, but there was a knock on the side
Speaker 1: door and someone called him by his nickname Tater. Vandervort
Speaker 1: wanted a piece of tobacco. The witness got it for him.
Speaker 1: Vandervort had a crazy look on his face. His mind
Speaker 1: seemed to be at times blank, and sometimes seemed to
Speaker 1: know what he was talking about. But he did not
Speaker 1: smell liquor. Vanderwort said that damned old machine was in
Speaker 1: the ditch. The defendant thought it was too late that
Speaker 1: night to get it out and wanted help. The next morning,
Speaker 1: he said he was going to Frank Harres to spend
Speaker 1: the night. The clock struck eight just as Vandervort left.
Speaker 1: Oliver said I'm in trouble again and then said my
Speaker 1: damned old machine is in the ditch. The witness said,
Speaker 1: what's the matter. Are you crazy? And Vanderwort said, I
Speaker 1: don't know. It seems like sometimes my mind is a blank.
Speaker 1: Vanderwort said, I've been drinking and I think somebody has
Speaker 1: doped with my booze. Witness said he never told anybody
Speaker 1: that Vandervort was drunk that night. On Friday afternoon, the
Speaker 1: largest crowd that had been in attendance since the trial
Speaker 1: opened was in the courtroom. Every inch of standing room
Speaker 1: was taken. The first witness of the afternoon, Samuel L. Steele,
Speaker 1: said that he saw Rodney Wallace on the Cuba Road
Speaker 1: near Pertinville the night of the tragedy about seven o'clock
Speaker 1: going south at ne Leyman Blanchester insurance man told of
Speaker 1: making the trip to Whitlow Vandervoort home with the ambulance.
Speaker 1: He said he heard Robert Vandervoort describe parties who did
Speaker 1: the killing, but the court would not allow conversation to
Speaker 1: be given out on grounds that it was not competent.
Speaker 1: Defense took exceptions. William Wheeler, living near Cuba, said he
Speaker 1: was coon hunting the night of the tragedy and he
Speaker 1: heard a lot of shooting. Sounded like bang bang bang,
Speaker 1: heard the passenger train going past, heard more than one
Speaker 1: man hollering, thought it was bwelling crowd, and paid little
Speaker 1: attention to it. Enjoy ad free listening at this safehouse.
Speaker 1: Dubawadba dot Patreon dot com, slash True Crime Historian, January
Speaker 1: twenty eighth, nineteen twenty two. What is probably the trump
Speaker 1: card in the defense of Thomas Oliver Vandervort was played Saturday,
Speaker 1: when the defendant was placed on the stand. With perfect calmness,
Speaker 1: Vandervoort traced his steps on the day and night of
Speaker 1: the tragedy. At no time was he nervous, and his
Speaker 1: story came in a clear cut manner. He frankly admitted
Speaker 1: that he was intoxicated on the day and night of
Speaker 1: the crime, and when he was unable to give a
Speaker 1: clear answer to a question, he frankly said so seldom
Speaker 1: has a man charged with a triple murder been so
Speaker 1: self possessed before a jury trying him for his life,
Speaker 1: And when court adjourned at noon, the accused man had
Speaker 1: not shown any nervousness for the first time since the
Speaker 1: trial commenced. The defendant's mother was not in court, hence
Speaker 1: was spared the ordeal of hearing her son's testimony. Oliver
Speaker 1: van Dervoort said that he has four sisters and four brothers,
Speaker 1: and he was the fifth child. His mother's maiden name
Speaker 1: was Alice Devers, and his father had been dead a
Speaker 1: year in July. He was born near Antioch and lived
Speaker 1: in the county all of his life. When he married
Speaker 1: Bertha Whitlow, she had been married before to Claude Goodwin.
Speaker 1: She had no children at that time. They were married
Speaker 1: the first time in nineteen oh eight, and then were divorced.
Speaker 1: They had two children by this marriage. Robert was the firstborn,
Speaker 1: and the second was Johnny. He didn't know for sure
Speaker 1: when the first divorce was granted, but thinks it was
Speaker 1: around nineteen seventeen. They remarried soon after that, probably in May.
Speaker 1: Nicholas and another child that lived only a few hours
Speaker 1: were born in the second marriage. Nicholas has just passed
Speaker 1: three and Robert is about eleven. They were living at
Speaker 1: Morrisville when the second divorce occurred. He thinks Bertha and
Speaker 1: missus Whitlow moved near Cuba in September. A suit for
Speaker 1: alimony was filed last winter, but the suit was withdrawn.
Speaker 1: They lived together about a week after that. The defendant
Speaker 1: said that he started to drink when he was about
Speaker 1: eighteen years old and has used intoxicants ever since. He
Speaker 1: was married when he was twenty one. Bertha was seventeen,
Speaker 1: but said she was eighteen. He said that susan As
Speaker 1: and Whitlow lived with them right smart of the time.
Speaker 1: Jeff Whitlow lived in Morrisville when the defendant did. They
Speaker 1: lived in Morrisville about a year on Ireland Place when
Speaker 1: the first suit was instituted. They lived in Wilmington last
Speaker 1: spring or winter. Mother was not a member of the
Speaker 1: family at that time. He remember Saturday, November nineteenth, nineteen
Speaker 1: twenty one, on the day before he went to his
Speaker 1: wife's house, came past from iris was going to talk
Speaker 1: to her about helping her move. He took tax out
Speaker 1: of one carpet Bertha packed things in boxes. He put
Speaker 1: them in the machine and took them to Burtonville. Missus
Speaker 1: Whitlow was there. He knew that an injunction had been
Speaker 1: issued by the court for the defendant not to interfere
Speaker 1: with the care or custody of the children. He did
Speaker 1: not discuss the children. On Friday, when Bertha went to Dalton's,
Speaker 1: witnessed talked to Judge Clevenger. He was pretty strict and
Speaker 1: told the defendant to observe the injunction. Bert Thorpe advised
Speaker 1: the witness to see the judge. Bertha had told the
Speaker 1: witness that she was going to work at Dalton's for
Speaker 1: sixteen weeks and wouldn't be with the children the next Sunday.
Speaker 1: He felt that if Bertha wasn't going to stay with
Speaker 1: the children, he ought to be allowed to, so he
Speaker 1: went to see Judge Clevenger. The judge advised the witness
Speaker 1: to get an attorney and take the matter up in
Speaker 1: regular form to have the decree modified regarding the children.
Speaker 1: He talked with Jeff Whitlow about the matter in October.
Speaker 1: He did not say there will be bloodshed over this. Yet.
Speaker 1: Conversation was about Thompson and Bertha. Bertha did not go
Speaker 1: to Springfield with Susan Whitlow, as she said she was
Speaker 1: going to do first thing. About the middle of forenoon
Speaker 1: to Jeff Whitlow's Bertha had left the children with Jeff.
Speaker 1: The witness said he saw Thompson and Bertha in the
Speaker 1: house together at night, with no lights on. Bertha said
Speaker 1: they were not in bed together. The children's bed was
Speaker 1: not must and neither was Susan's. Both beds were cold.
Speaker 1: Thompson had run out the back door. The witness got
Speaker 1: in the machine caught Thompson in a buggy near the
Speaker 1: bridge and said he had been to the defendant's wife's
Speaker 1: house and had been in bed with this woman. The
Speaker 1: divorce had been granted at this time, but the defendant
Speaker 1: didn't know it. He went back to the house, Bertha
Speaker 1: and baby were gone. The witness said he was afraid
Speaker 1: Bertha would take the children away, but Jeff said he
Speaker 1: would take care of them. Jeff advised the witness to
Speaker 1: stay away from the women or they would get him
Speaker 1: into trouble. He started back to the house, found no
Speaker 1: one there. Between the Ireland School and Cuba, he met
Speaker 1: Bertha with the baby. The boys were with them in
Speaker 1: the machine. Bertha said she didn't know what made her
Speaker 1: do what she was doing. Bertha asked to be taken
Speaker 1: back home, which was done. He stayed for dinner and
Speaker 1: then took the boys back to Jeff Whitlow's let them
Speaker 1: out at the top of the hill. Bertha went in
Speaker 1: the machine with him, and the defendant took her back
Speaker 1: to the home near Cuba. Bertha didn't want to go
Speaker 1: down and see her father on account of what had happened.
Speaker 1: He stayed at the house a short time, then took
Speaker 1: Bertha to Burtonville to get a rig. The defendant said
Speaker 1: he knows Minny Miller. He told her that he couldn't
Speaker 1: get along with Bertha and didn't think anybody else could,
Speaker 1: but he did not use the words missus. Miller testified
Speaker 1: on Saturday, he came to Wilmington in the morning to
Speaker 1: buy furs on Buster Corner. He saw Bertha on Sugar
Speaker 1: Tree Street near the telephone pole. Her horse was scared,
Speaker 1: so he went across and hitched the horse. Bertha said
Speaker 1: the boys were all right. Bertha wanted him to get
Speaker 1: a team to help with the moving. He said he
Speaker 1: would if he could. They went to Hadley's grocery. Together,
Speaker 1: Bertha bought groceries. The defendant gave her a five dollar
Speaker 1: bill and told her to keep the change. He went
Speaker 1: back to the machine near Busters. Bertha went up town.
Speaker 1: He saw her in a buggy later before he saw
Speaker 1: Red Wallace. He had not seen Bosier. He unhitched the
Speaker 1: horse and held the horse while Bertha got the groceries.
Speaker 1: She drove out South Street. He knew Howard Bowsier had
Speaker 1: been with him Friday night in Howard's pool room. Went
Speaker 1: to the picture show at Lamax. He took him the
Speaker 1: Melbourne to get his coat and then to appoint in
Speaker 1: Wilmington near the old Cemetery. It was about the middle
Speaker 1: of the afternoon Saturday when Bertha left town. He saw
Speaker 1: Bosier Saturday evening buying furs on the corner. He sold
Speaker 1: them to Harry fint Fin gave a check for eight dollars.
Speaker 1: He had given the defendant forty dollars cash earlier in
Speaker 1: the day. He saw Red Wallace and Bozier both before
Speaker 1: selling the furs. They came down the street together. Bozier
Speaker 1: talked about fur buying business only short conversation. He did
Speaker 1: not see Bozier alive again. He's known Wallace six or
Speaker 1: seven years by the nickname Red. He talked to Wallace
Speaker 1: about buying a quart of whiskey. The witness was called,
Speaker 1: but only wanted a drink, not a quart. Wallace talked
Speaker 1: to Jesse Dudley, who had a package wrapped in paper
Speaker 1: under his arm. Wallace one that defendant to go in
Speaker 1: with him on buying it and to go to Sabina together.
Speaker 1: He finally consented. Jesse said that he had the whisky
Speaker 1: with him or They all started to the Pennsylvania Depot toilet.
Speaker 1: Red went up by turners and joined them in the toilet.
Speaker 1: Dudley unwrapped the package and let them sample it. Dudley
Speaker 1: finally agreed to take three dollars for the court if
Speaker 1: he could have have a drink. The witness paid a
Speaker 1: dollar eighty on the court and Red paid a dollar twenty.
Speaker 1: Red was short of money. Red had on an overcoat
Speaker 1: and took possession of the whiskey. He moved the machine
Speaker 1: up in front of the furniture hospital. He saw Red
Speaker 1: at Buster corner, said he was going up and treat
Speaker 1: the barber at the pool room. Saw him next at
Speaker 1: the pull room, saw him next when selling furze Defend.
Speaker 1: He delivered furs. Defense had no supper except sandwiches. He
Speaker 1: went out to Coopers to change clothes before going to
Speaker 1: Sabina with Wallace. Red went to Cooper's with the defendant.
Speaker 1: It was just about dark. Both drank liquor on the
Speaker 1: way out to Cooper's. It was white corn whisky. He
Speaker 1: was intoxicated when reaching Coopers and changed clothes in the barn.
Speaker 1: He left the clothes in the barn because the family
Speaker 1: had scarlet fever. He left Red in the machine. He
Speaker 1: went in the house after a gun, saw his sister
Speaker 1: and took the gun to the machine. Red wanted to
Speaker 1: borrow a revolver. It was loaded. He gave the gun
Speaker 1: to Wallace and started the machine back to Wilmington. He
Speaker 1: took a drink in the lane. The whiskey was in
Speaker 1: a different bottle. Red told two or three different tales
Speaker 1: about the new bottle. He gave the defendant a square bottle,
Speaker 1: said he had divided the whiskey into two bottles as
Speaker 1: he had gotten out of the notion of going to Sabina.
Speaker 1: He drank several times out of his bottle, but he
Speaker 1: may have taken a drink out of Red's bottle too,
Speaker 1: but he didn't think that Red took a drink out
Speaker 1: of his bottle. The defendant was getting pretty drunk. He
Speaker 1: stopped somewhere on South Street. Red wanted to stop and
Speaker 1: tried the guide the machine to the ditch. He didn't
Speaker 1: remember quarreling or shooting Wallace. He had no gun with
Speaker 1: him except the one that he gave to Red. Defendant
Speaker 1: testified that he cannot give any correct version of what
Speaker 1: happened on Southead ste and he can't remember where he went.
Speaker 1: He didn't remember coming up to town and didn't remember
Speaker 1: going out Morrisville Road. He had a faint recollection of
Speaker 1: seeing Bots at Morrisville, but didn't remember being in the
Speaker 1: store and didn't know how he got to the store.
Speaker 1: He didn't remember stopping at the homes of the Browns
Speaker 1: and asking for mister Foreman. He didn't know when he
Speaker 1: recovered from the drunk. I supposed it was before he
Speaker 1: talked to the sheriff in jail, but he didn't remember
Speaker 1: any conversation with Bots. He remembers being at Cuba, being
Speaker 1: sick at the edge of Cuba, vomiting. Thinks he was
Speaker 1: sitting down and commenced to come to his senses. Walked
Speaker 1: into Cuba, thought it was Cuba. Either turned around or
Speaker 1: thought the town was so he sat down and was
Speaker 1: sick again and tried to figure out what had become
Speaker 1: of his automobile. He heard chickens crow. He thought it
Speaker 1: was morning, so he started for the home of his
Speaker 1: brother Ira. He went there frequently. He didn't like to
Speaker 1: go home or to Cooper's when he had been drinking.
Speaker 1: Testified that he could remember what happened from this time on.
Speaker 1: He went toward Clarksville, met an automobile coming toward Cuba.
Speaker 1: It was running fast, and went to where the road
Speaker 1: turns to the left. He heard the shots before crossing
Speaker 1: the bridge. He couldn't tell where the shots were, but
Speaker 1: they sounded a good piece away. When he was near
Speaker 1: the bridge, near the house where his wife lived, he
Speaker 1: heard a noise like children crying. Sounded like his children.
Speaker 1: When he saw someone come from the house and pass
Speaker 1: to the road, he couldn't say whether it was Robert
Speaker 1: or not. He run up to the front door. The
Speaker 1: screen was hooked. He run to the left hand kitchen door.
Speaker 1: He saw Susan on the floor. She said, oh my God, Oliver,
Speaker 1: is that you, Oh, go to them children. The children
Speaker 1: were pulling at their mother. He lifted her head up
Speaker 1: but guessed she was dead, though he thought her lips moved.
Speaker 1: He asked if she had been shot, and she didn't reply.
Speaker 1: He heard the children screaming and went back to the children.
Speaker 1: He told Susan Bertha was all right, but Susan said, no,
Speaker 1: she's dead. They did it. Go get them. He felt
Speaker 1: the murderer might still be there, so he started upstairs,
Speaker 1: but got scared. Finally he went up but found no one.
Speaker 1: He asked Susan again, who did it? She said, oh,
Speaker 1: they've killed my girl, the dirtys. The witness said he
Speaker 1: was crying and exited. The defendant said that he missed Robert,
Speaker 1: and Susan said that he had gone to the telephone.
Speaker 1: So he went out to find Robert. Susan said to
Speaker 1: take the other children with him. He said he was
Speaker 1: so scared he didn't know whether the children were dressed
Speaker 1: or not. He started toward where Pope lives, just this side.
Speaker 1: He met Robert, who was scared and had run down
Speaker 1: into the ditch. He said, oh, Papa, is that you.
Speaker 1: Robert was crying and said grandma and mother, and a
Speaker 1: man was shot. He said two men did it, but
Speaker 1: he didn't know who they were. He said the one
Speaker 1: man had on a funny belt. One man shot Grandma
Speaker 1: in the kitchen. Robert said he ran out through the
Speaker 1: kitchen door, said he had not called anyone, as frasiers
Speaker 1: were not up. Robert wanted to go back home. Robert
Speaker 1: was scared and fired off the gun accidentally. The shots
Speaker 1: scattered the defendant, who took the gun from Robert and
Speaker 1: put it in his pocket. Then he either put the
Speaker 1: gun in the kitchen or it fell out of his pocket.
Speaker 1: Pope came out of the house and Robert and the
Speaker 1: defendant both tried to tell what had happened. Pope went
Speaker 1: back to the house. Then Robert said, wish you'd gotten
Speaker 1: there sooner, Papa. Robert told about Stanley Thompson being there
Speaker 1: the night before and was expected that night. Robert said,
Speaker 1: don't know who's been here tonight, Papa, Because Grandma had
Speaker 1: his kids upstairs. Pope built a fire. Missus Whitlow was called.
Speaker 1: Someone covered her up or put something under her head.
Speaker 1: Pope went to the telephone for a doctor so the
Speaker 1: defendant could day with the children. He kept the children
Speaker 1: out of the room where the mother was. He rubbed
Speaker 1: Susan's arm. Can't say how long Pope was gone. Brian
Speaker 1: finally came. The defendant took care of the children. Pope
Speaker 1: came back, and other people came, but he didn't know
Speaker 1: who they were. The defendant saw mister Lehman in the
Speaker 1: house and saw doctor Basinger come. The witness said he
Speaker 1: was sitting near the door that went into the front room.
Speaker 1: The doctor talked to missus Whitlow asked her who did
Speaker 1: the shooting, and she couldn't answer until the doctor told
Speaker 1: her that he saw no hope for Then she said
Speaker 1: that young man there, Oliver did the shooting. The witness
Speaker 1: sank into the chair. The accusation was such a shock.
Speaker 1: As soon as he found his tongue, he said, for
Speaker 1: God's sake, Susan, you're not going to lay this on me,
Speaker 1: are you? You know I didn't do it. Robert said,
Speaker 1: Papa didn't shoot you. You know he didn't. I saw
Speaker 1: the man that shot you and it wasn't Papa. You lie,
Speaker 1: you old fool you, and I wish you would die.
Speaker 1: Nicky asked, did you shoot mama? And did you shoot grandma,
Speaker 1: but did not accuse him of the shooting. Then someone
Speaker 1: told him to keep quiet and sit down. Doctor Basinger
Speaker 1: searched him but did not find a gun, so he
Speaker 1: ordered the witness to sit down and had Sachell watch him.
Speaker 1: Sachell had a gun in his hand, and the doctor
Speaker 1: said shoot him if he tries to get away. They
Speaker 1: remained this way until the sheriff came, not much talking
Speaker 1: going on. Then the undertakers came. He saw mister Lehman
Speaker 1: talking to Robert, the sheriff, and the deputy came in,
Speaker 1: walked over and shook hands with him. He didn't remember, saying,
Speaker 1: I suppose you have come after me. He told the
Speaker 1: sheriff there had been a shooting scrape and that the
Speaker 1: old lady laid it on him. Robert told the sheriff
Speaker 1: that Papa didn't do the shooting and that there were
Speaker 1: two men who did it, one of them dressed like
Speaker 1: a soldier. The sheriff deputy didn't pay much attention to
Speaker 1: the defendant. Missus Whitlow was taken to the ambulance. The
Speaker 1: children asked their father to stay with them, and he
Speaker 1: said he would if he could, but he might be
Speaker 1: arrested and locked up. Robert asked to be taken to
Speaker 1: his grandfather's. The sheriff took the witness and the children
Speaker 1: to Jeff Whitlow's. He told the sheriff what he could
Speaker 1: about how he got to the house and what he
Speaker 1: knew about the shooting. He told Jeff Whitlow what happened.
Speaker 1: Robert told Grandpa that it wasn't his father who did
Speaker 1: the shooting, but that there were two strange men. The
Speaker 1: sheriff said, Oliver, you'd better come on to town with us.
Speaker 1: He asked Jeff Whitlow to take care of the children
Speaker 1: for a few days. He kissed the boys and came
Speaker 1: to Wilmington. He has not spoken to his children from
Speaker 1: that time until he saw Robert in the courtroom, but
Speaker 1: he had seen them from the jail window. It was
Speaker 1: not daylight when he was put in the jail. The
Speaker 1: sheriff first questioned him about the matter on Sunday morning,
Speaker 1: and then questioned him several times during the day. Nobody
Speaker 1: else was in the jail. Then he was asked the
Speaker 1: direct question three times whether he killed each of the parties.
Speaker 1: His answers were, I did not shoot Bertha Vandervoort. I
Speaker 1: did not shoot Susan Whitlow. I did not shoot Howard Bosier.
Speaker 1: He did not stamp their faces. Susan Whitlow treated the
Speaker 1: defendant pretty mean and didn't like him, hadn't liked him
Speaker 1: since the short time after the first marriage. He had
Speaker 1: never had any trouble with Howard Bosier, but he did
Speaker 1: know Boyseer was going to see Bertha. The defendant was
Speaker 1: shown a cold automatic and denied ever owning a gun
Speaker 1: like it. His brother Ira had one, which the defendant
Speaker 1: borrowed last fall. After he had it two or three weeks,
Speaker 1: It was stolen from under the cushion of the automobile.
Speaker 1: He said the gun was stolen by Alva Wallace, the
Speaker 1: youngest brother of Red. Red told the witness that Alva
Speaker 1: had the gun. So they went to Alva, and Red
Speaker 1: got the gun and gave it to the defendant and
Speaker 1: put it in the machine. Red gave back the gun
Speaker 1: he had borrowed. Both guns were in the machine. He
Speaker 1: took them out to Cooper's and put them on the press.
Speaker 1: On the Saturday before the shooting, he was going to
Speaker 1: Iris and put the gun in the machine to take
Speaker 1: it to him. He changed his mind about going to
Speaker 1: Iris and left the machine in front of Murphy's Theater.
Speaker 1: When they got back to Cooper's that night, the gun
Speaker 1: was gone and he has not seen it since. March third,
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty two, Thomas Oliver van Dervoort was sentenced to
Speaker 1: life imprisonment in the Ohio Penitentiary by Judge Frank M.
Speaker 1: Clevenger of the Common please Court. The final scene in
Speaker 1: the greatest murder trial Clinton County has ever known was
Speaker 1: brief in the extreme. At two twenty eight, Vandervoort was
Speaker 1: brought into the court room. Exactly at two thirty, he
Speaker 1: was led out of the court room. Attorney Rogers, speaking
Speaker 1: for the defense and presenting the written motions for a
Speaker 1: new trial, said he would not urge the matter at present.
Speaker 1: Judge Clevenger asked if the prisoner or council had anything
Speaker 1: to say. Both answered, we have nothing to say. Judge
Speaker 1: Clevenger then said that he had no discretion in the matter,
Speaker 1: that only one penalty was provided by law. He then
Speaker 1: sentenced Vandervolt to the Ohio Penitentiary for the term of
Speaker 1: his natural life and to pay the costs of prosecution.
Speaker 1: The only ones in the court room when sentence were
Speaker 1: pronounced were two of the prisoner's brothers, a news journal reporter,
Speaker 1: and the attorneys in the case. The triple murder, which
Speaker 1: took place on a lonely road near Cuba on the
Speaker 1: night of November nineteenth, was one of the most tragic
Speaker 1: affairs ever recorded in the annals of history in Clinton County.
Speaker 1: Vandervort was indicted on three counts of first degree murder,
Speaker 1: that of shooting his twice divorced wife, Bertha W. Vandervoort,
Speaker 1: her mother, Missus Susan M. Whitlow, and Howard Bozier, a
Speaker 1: friend of Missus van Dervoort, who was calling at the
Speaker 1: Whitlow Vandervort residence. Throughout the preliminary proceedings leading up to
Speaker 1: the trial and during the trial, Vandervort maintained his innocence,
Speaker 1: claiming that he was walking down the road near his
Speaker 1: divorced wife's residence the knight of the slaying, and that
Speaker 1: he heard a commotion in the house. As he entered.
Speaker 1: He declared he heard shots fired and saw a man
Speaker 1: leap from the door. Going inside the house, he found
Speaker 1: his wife and Bozier lying on the floor, dead and
Speaker 1: his mother in law in a dying condition. The dying
Speaker 1: statement of Missus Whitlow, who declared Oliver did it, and
Speaker 1: the testimony on the stand by some of the witnesses
Speaker 1: that Vandervoort's three year old boy had said that night
Speaker 1: Papa shot were two of the strongest arguments used by
Speaker 1: the state in weaving its case against Vandervoort. Conviction of
Speaker 1: murder and the second degree in the sentence of life
Speaker 1: following it carries with it an opportunity for pardon or
Speaker 1: parole later that was the boy said Papa shot. The
Speaker 1: Cuba triple murder called from the historic pages of the
Speaker 1: Wilmington News Journal and other newspapers of the era. True
Speaker 1: Crime Historian is a creat of popular media. Opening theme
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Speaker 1: Closing theme by Dave SAMs and Rachel Shott, engineered by
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Speaker 1: graphics for all new episodes by Sean R. Miller Jones.
Speaker 1: And as for me, I'm killing it, I'm True Crime Historian.
Speaker 1: Richard O. Jones signing off for now.