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The story below
follows the 1937 newspaper reports of this incident. LPP
MISSING WOMAN IS FOUND DEAD
NEAR HANNIBAL
Mrs. Dennis Kelly with her
two sons, Francis and Gene.
Hannibal, Mo., July 13 –
Police of two states traced a path marked by blood,
including spots on the Mark Twain bridge, to identify the
body of a woman found 25 miles down the Mississippi river as
one who disappeared from her home last night. The body
was declared to be that of Mrs. Dennis Kelly, missing from
her Paris, Mo. Home after drawing $1,900. She
previously had deposited $2,000 after the sale of some
property. She had, according to her husband, left a
14-page note directing the education of their 12 year old
son, Francis. The body was identified by her
brother-in-law, Charles Kelly. There were cuts on the
scalp and apparent skull fractures from a beating the woman
had received before she fell or was thrown into the river.
Source: Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1963); Jul 14,
1937; ProQuest Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune
(1890-1984) pg 10.
“I BEAT HER TO DEATH”,
PASTOR CONFESSES
PITCHES BODY INTO RIVER ON WAY
BACK HOME
Wife’s Story Helps Trap
Missourian.
Pittsfield, ILL., July 15 –
[Special] – The Rev. C.E. Newton, 51 years old, veteran
Baptist minister, confessed tonight that he slew Mrs. Dennis
Kelly, 45, for many years his friend and parishioner in
Paris, Mo., early last Tuesday and threw her body into the
Mississippi river. The stolid minister made his
confession to State’s Attorney Merrill Johnston of Pike
county after steadfastly denying for two days that he had
any connection with the crime. He was brought to the
jail here from his Paris home after Mrs. Kelly’s bruised
and battered body was recovered late Tuesday from the river.
His Story of Crime.
“Mrs. Kelly and I were
riding along in my car,” Prosecutor Johnston quoted Newton
as relating. “I wanted to turn back home but she
didn’t. We began to scuffle in the car and she fell
out, striking her head and injuring herself. Trying to
get her back into the car, I fell out, too. I got
panicky and struck her on the head with a hammer, and then
drove back to the bridge {the Mark Twain bridge across the
Mississippi at Hannibal, Mo.} and pushed her over the
banister.”
Wants to Catch Train, He Says.
The minister then explained
that Mrs. Kelly had persuaded him to drive her to some point
where she could catch a train or bus “because she was
leaving her husband.” In a note to her husband she
had stated she was “leaving and he never would find
her.” “When we got to Hannibal, Mrs. Kelly insisted
on going on,” said Newton. “We asked the
bridge-tender on the Illinois side about Hull, Ill. He
said we could make no connections there, but we drove on
anyway.” Then he related the quarrel and scuffle, the
blows by the hammer, of driving back to the bridge. “I
knew she was dead,” he said. Authorities who heard
the minister’s statement said they were not satisfied with
his explanation of the crime and planned to question him
further regarding his motives.
New Evidence Piled Up.
Newton’s confession followed
a succession of swift developments today in which
circumstantial evidence pyramided against him. These
developments were:
1. The
contradiction of the minister’s alibi – that he was at
home during the time fixed for the tragedy – by his
wife’s story that left at 11 o’clock Monday night and
did not return until after dawn.
2. The recovery
from Newton’s adopted daughter, Miss Myra Hanan, 36 years
old, of $1,930 presumed to be part of the $1,950 Mrs. Kelly
had withdrawn from a bank.
3. The statement
of Prosecuting Attorney Walter Stillwell of Marion county,
Mo., that Miss Hanan had told him that her foster-father
admitted to her that he had “done away” with Mrs. Kelly.
Clews(sic) Found at Home.
Newton was first connected
with Mrs. Kelly’s disappearance when it was learned she
mentioned his name in a 14 page farewell note to her
husband. A search at the minister’s home revealed
wisps of hair and stains under the floor mat of his freshly
washed automobile, four loaded revolvers, stained clothing,
and a deep, long hole, resembling a grave, dug in his
garage. He was arrested by Sheriff Russell Wilkes of
Monroe county, Missouri, and brought here because it was
believed the crime was committed in Illinois. The money
was turned over to Prosecuting Attorney Tom Proctor of
Monroe county today by Miss Hanan. Proctor said Miss
Hanan told him the money had been given to her in an
envelope by Newton as “valuable papers” to keep for him. Asked
by Prosecutor Johnston about the money which Mrs. Kelly had
with her, Newton stated: “She had put the money in the
pocket of my car. I didn’t think any more of it until
I got home. Then I gave it to Myra Hanan. She and
my son, Noel, took the luggage belonging to Mrs. Kelly from
my car and burned it up.” The charred remnants of
Mrs. Kelly’s luggage, Proctor said, were found by a
roadside in Shelby county, Mo., 31 miles northeast of Paris,
where Miss Hanan and the minister’s son, Noel, had
admitted burning two suitcases they recognized as Mrs.
Kelly’s.
Newton and the red-haired,
attractive church worker who was the mother of two sons had
long been friends. Mrs. Kelly championed the pastor in
a church controversy here last year that resulted in his
resignation after 13 years service. Proctor said Mrs.
Kelly’s husband and friends “were well aware of the
strong bond between his wife and the minister.” Questioned
yesterday, Newton said Mrs. Kelly had told him she was
discontented at home and planned to leave. He also knew
she had withdrawn close to $2,000 from the bank, he said. Newton,
who was a former mayor at Kahoka, Mo., has been a Baptist
minister for thirty years. He is the father of two
children. Source: Chicago Daily Tribune 1872; Jul 16,
1937; ProQuest Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune
(1890-1984) pg 1.
ADMITS KILLING WOMAN; PASTOR
READY TO DIE
TOILS OVER HIS CONFESSION ALL
NIGHT LONG.
The Rev. C. E. Newton, age
51, in cell at Pittsfield, Illinois after being arrested.
Pittsfield, Ill., July 16 –
[Special] – The Rev. E. Ellsworth Newton, a gangling
country pastor from Paris, Mo., smoked cigarets in an
endless chain in his cell tonight, after expressing a
willingness to face the electric chair for the roadside
murder of his “dear friend,” Mrs. Dennis Kelly, a
parishioner. Her battered body was taken late Tuesday
from the Illinois side of the Mississippi river, opposite
Louisiana, Mo., where the Rev. Mr. Newton said he threw it
earlier in the day. The pastor confessed he clubbed her
to death “with a hammer, a dumbbell, or something”
during a quarrel as he drove her on a flight from her
husband and two children.
Signs 11 Page Confession.
State’s Attorney Merrill
Johnston of Pike county told of the minister’s desires to
accept whatever punishment the state chose to inflict after
the prisoner, who weighs only 125 pounds despite his 6 feet
height, signed an 11 page confession. Prosecutor
Johnston also said a statement given him by an intimate
associate of Newton supported a theory that the pastor had
planned to “rid himself” of his wife, but he refused to
elaborate and withheld the name of the associate. All
night long, in rolled shirt sleeves and stockinged feet, the
51 year old parson toiled over his masterpiece, an amazing
document which described in meticulous detail his long
intimate friendship with Mrs. Kelly and the events on the
night of her murder. These included a midnight dash
through the rain in his automobile, he wrote in his
confession; their quarrel and her murder; his consolation
from a whisky bottle which his foresight provided; and the
Mark Twain bridge across the river from Hannibal, Mo., where
he heaved her body into the muddy water.
Pastor Takes All Blame.
Despite a clear web of
circumstantial evidence, including the mention of his name
in a farewell note Mrs. Kelly left for her husband, a rural
mail carrier, the Rev. Mr. Newton maintained his innocence
until late yesterday. Then, confronted with the
statement of Miss Myra Hanan, 36, who had been reared in his
household, the minister confessed. Miss Hanan told
Prosecutor Johnston that Newton gave her $1,930 of Mrs.
Kelly’s money to dispose of, and that after the murder she
and one of his three children, Noel, burned part of her
clothing. The Rev. Mr. Newton was insistent in his
confession that neither his wife, Miss Hanan, nor any other
relative, had any prior knowledge of his actions on Monday
night when he killed the 45 year old woman who had brought
him dressed chickens, vegetables and butter for years. None
of the others was held.
Takes Problems to Him.
His friendship with Mrs. Kelly
developed during the normal relations of a pastor with a
member of his congregation, the minister’s confession
related. She came to him with her problems, he
declared, and he learned of her growing domestic unhappiness
and a physical ailment which doctors told her would soon
cause her death. Then came her decision to leave home
and hearth. The pastor, after inveighing against this
action, declared he bought suitcases and agreed to let her
use his car. Mrs. Kelly said she would try and get some
one else to drive, he wrote, but if she could not, Newton
said he agreed to help her in this way despite the danger of
trouble from Dennis Kelly and his own wife. Monday
evening, by arrangement, the parson said he left his
automobile in the driveway with the ignition key in the
switch. If no one came for it by 11:30, he said he
understood that he was to do the driving.
Goes for Ice and Groceries.
“After supper I went over to
my youngest son’s,” read the confession, “and together
we went to the ice plant and loaded fifty pounds of ice on
the ice carrier of the car and went to the baker’s, where
I had left groceries and other things, loaded these in and
went home. I later went back downtown and out to the
house. I have been using whisky for two and a half
years and remembered that I had none and was feeling nervous
and upset, anticipating trouble. I went back and got in
the car and drove to Madison, Mo., twelve miles west of
Paris and went to the drug store and got a pint of whisky
which I put in the dash pocket of the car, returned to Paris
and took the whisky to my study and put it in my desk
drawer.” After waiting for the substitute driver to
appear, Newton wrote, the 11:30 deadline arrived, and he
prepared to play Lochinvar to Mrs. Kelly. “I think I
went out to the car,” his confession continued, “then
returned to the study and took the whisky out of the desk
drawer, also a revolver, and put them in the car. I had
been out several days and was weak and nervous and felt like
I wanted whisky and also anticipated possible danger and
wanted the pistol along. I backed out of the driveway
and drove north.” There follows in the confession a
detailed account of his meeting Mrs. Kelly at the side door
of her home and how he helped her load her belongings into
the car.
Suggested That He Return Home.
Then their drive began. Newton
told of suggesting that he leave Mrs. Kelly at some town not
too distant, so that he might return to his own home without
being missed. But she would nave none of it. “We
had to drive slowly because it had been raining ever since
we left Paris,” continued Newton’s confession, “and I
began asking her what she thought we could do, where I could
leave her most consistently and be back in Paris by
daylight. She repeated that she didn’t know and that
she was depending on me. I repeated that I didn’t
know these towns, but thought she had better stop the first
place we could find a decent hotel so I could go home.”
Stops Car to Talk It Over.
“She said, ‘Are you going
home?’ By this time we were some distance this side
of the river, but I cannot say how far. I stopped the
car that we might decide definitely what we were going to do
and said, ‘Maybelle, you know that I have to be home by
daylight and it is getting late now. We can’t go very
far. Also we might get caught in the high water and
kill ethe engine and then we would be in a jam.” But
Maybelle had different ideas. Unless the elderly
parson, who does not look over 37, would go with her,
Maybelle said, according to his confession, that she would
not move. In fact, the preacher wrote, she became
hysterical, and “to quiet the spell,” he got out of the
car. So did Mrs. Kelly. “She half screamed that
she would never get back in the car unless we were going
together,” Newton continued. “I tried to pick her
up to put her in the car.”
Moves Her Toward Car Door.
“I don’t know how I took
hold of her. She was facing me and I lifted her up and
as I did with some difficulty she turned partly around as I
held her and moved her toward the card door which was not
fastened and I was about worn out and although she was small
it was about I could do. I got one foot on the running
board and tried to support her with my knee and with my
elbow tried to get the door open. It possibly was
opened about four to six inches. She struggled and put
her hand against the car and shoved me back, thinking only
to shove herself back perhaps, and I lost my balance and
staggered, I don’t know how far, but it seemed to me my
impression is about to the rear of the car by the side and
fell, she falling over m shoulder and back and I fell on
her. I think her head struck the pavement, for when I
bent over her to pick her up and spoke to her she didn’t
reply, seemed unconscious and limp. I picked her up
with some difficulty, staggered under her weight and in
trying to go to the car door I stepped off the edge of the
pavement on the south side, for the car was facing east, and
fell again, dropping her either on her face, or back of the
head, I do not recall, and fell with her.”
Feels Faint; Gulps Whisky.
“I think I picked her up the
third time or tried to. At any rate while both of us
were on the pavement I lifted her head and blood was
spurting from it in a stream over my shirt and some in my
face. I was feeling faint, so I took two or three
drinks of whisky.” The pastor said he tore a strip
from his shirt and tried to staunch the flow of blood. “I
became excited and I don’t remember all that happened,”
he continued. “I think I struck her with something,
hammer or a dumbbell, and then I, with much difficulty, got
the body into the car.” The minister started back
towards the river. On the Mark Twain bridge he rolled
her body over the railing into the water, following it with
the old iron dumbbell used in the murder, which later was
recovered. “I went home and I think for the first
time remembered that the money Mrs. Kelly had drawn from the
bank before she left was still in the car,” the preacher
said. “It was he own suggestion that she put it in
the dash pocket and I think she forgot about it. I took
it into my study and put it in my desk.” Source: Chicago
Tribune Press Service.
OTHER WOMEN SOUGHT TO TELL
MORE OF KILLER
PASTOR NEWTON’S INSURANCE
SALES STUDIED.
Pittsfield, Ill., July 17 -
[Special] – State’s Attorney Merrill Johnston said today
he would question the Rev. C.E. Newton further her tomorrow
about his alleged friendship with other women. Johnston
indicated a belief that the parson has not yet told all the
facts concerning the fatal beating of Mrs. Dennis Kelly,
Paris, Mo., mother. Newton, who is 51 years old, has
admitted he slugged Mrs. Kelly, described as one of his most
loyal women followers, with a hammer and then tossed her
body into the Mississippi river, near Hannibal, Mo., last
Monday night. The state’s attorney expressed the
opinion that the minister’s goal was eventually to get rid
of his wife as a result of his interest in other women. He
will ask Newton’s indictment before a special grand jury
next week, probably Monday. Source: Unknown.
CLERIC ACCUSED IN DEATH, LOSES
FIGHT FOR LIBERTY
Pittsfield, Ill., Aug 9 –
The Rev. C.E. Newton, of Paris, Mo., was back in his cell
with his Bibles tonight, ready to fight charges that he
murdered Mrs. Dennis E. Kelly, his “devout friend” and
former parishioner, during a quarrel last month. In a
brief court appearance today, the former minister pleaded
innocent, shortly after Judge A. Clay Williams overruled a
defense motion to quash the indictment. The court set
his trial for November 15. Source: Unknown.
PASTOR ON TRIAL AS SLAYER OF
HIS NEIGHBOR’S WIFE
STATE TO ASK DEATH IN ELECTRIC
CHAIR
By Marcia Winn, Chicago
Tribune Press Service.
Pittsfield, Ill., Nov 14 –
[Special] – The Rev C. Ellsworth Newton sat somberly in
his cell here today, his gaunt frame doubled over the Bible. Between
furious puffs at a cigarette he read his favorite author:
Job. Tomorrow the Rev. Mr. Newton, a gangling Baptist
minister from Missouri, goes on trial for the murder of his
lifelong friend and parishioner, Mrs. Maybelle Kelly, whose
body floated to the surface of the Mississippi river on July
13. The state will ask the electric chair, but the
minister is calm. Pittsfield’s population is expected
to be doubled when the trial opens, as the Rev. Mr.
Newton’s defense is being financed by half the Baptists in
the state of Missouri. He has been a preacher for 30
odd years.
Three Attorneys from Missouri.
Contributions have been so
numerous that three attorneys have been imported from Kansas
City, Mo. They are Daniel P. Johnson, Martin F. Turner,
and James McPheely. The story of the pastor and Mrs.
Kelly, a postman’s wife, has stirred the countryside for
many months now. Long before Mrs. Kelly’s body was
found and long before Mr. Newton’s alleged confession that
he beat her to death “with a hammer, or dumbbell or
something,” their association had been common gossip in
Paris, Mo. Mrs. Kelly was 45 and the mother of two
children. She lived about a block from the parsonage. The
Rev. Mr. Newton is 51, but looks 35. He is 6 feet tall
and weighs 125 pounds. He was pastor of a Baptist
church in Paris until 1936, when a rift came in his
congregation. Despite the ardent support of Mrs. Kelly,
he had to resign.
$1,950 Withdrawn From Bank.
At the trial State’s
Attorney Merrill Johnston of Pike county will bring out the
full story of Mrs. Kelly’s disappearance on July 12, of
the $1,950 she withdrew from the bank, and of the 14 page
letter she left for her husband, Dennis; of the charred
remnants of her luggage found 31 miles northwest of Paris. The
state’s evidence includes stains and wisps of red hair
found under the floor mat of the minister’s automobile,
four loaded revolvers found in his house, and a pair of
stained trousers, as well as the iron dumbbell fished up
from the floor of the Mississippi river beside the Mark
Twain bridge, over the railing of which the minister tossed
the body. Source: Chicago Daily Tribune
(1872-1963); Nov 15, 1937; ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Chicago Tribune (1890-1984) pg 6.
DEATH MAY BE ASKED FOR PASTOR
IN SLAYING
Pittsfield, Ill., Nov 14 –
State’s Attorney Merrill Johnston said tonight “I think
I will” ask the death penalty for the Rev. C.E. Newton,
charged with murdering Mrs. Dennis Kelly, 45, of Paris, Mo. Mrs.
Kelly’s body was found in the Mississippi River near
Louisiana, Mo., in July. Two days later, Johnston
announced the minister confessed he tossed his “devout
frame” into the river after striking her on the head
“with something, I think a hammer.” Source: The
Washington Post (1877-1954); Nov 15, 1937; ProQuest
Historical Newspapers Washington Post pg 3.
PICK 8 JURORS TO TRY PASTOR IN
RIVER DEATH
By Marcia Winn, Chicago
Tribune Press Service.
Pittsfield, Ill., Nov 15 –
[Special] – A long and grueling session in Circuit court
here today produced only eight of the 12 jurors necessary
for the murder trial of the Rev C. Ellsworth Newton,
cadaverous Baptist minister from the bottomlands of
Missouri. The Rev Mr. Newton guided the spiritual
destinies of some northern Missouri Baptists for the last 30
years. Now he is charged with the murder of Mrs.
Maybelle Kelly, his most devoted parishioner, whom he once
called “a very helpful, devoted Christian woman.” Since
the slaying of Mrs. Kelly, matronly red haired wife of a
Paris, Mo., rural mail carrier, took place some 30 yards on
the Illinois side of the Mississippi river, the trial is
being held here in Pike county, with half the women in Paris
crossing the river to attend.
All Farmers on Jury.
This is one reason why of the
56 lean, taciturn farmers who entered the jury box today,
only eight were permitted to remain. Of those eight,
only one is a bachelor; all are farmers in the river
country. Of the others who streamed in and out of the
jury box since 9 o’clock this morning, their faces devoid
of emotion, their voices low by emphatic, six had
conscientious scruples against the death penalty which the
state will ask. Others admitted preconceived opinions. Judge
A. Clay Williams excused seven from jury service. Harvey
Scott begged freedom because he has “a good many hogs to
look after and corn schuckin’ on hand.” Russ
Laurel’s apple crop is ready for the warehouse and
“it’s purty hard to get away.” Another’s wife
is “poorly.”
Victim Long a Friend.
Mrs. Kelly has been Newton’s
friend ever since 1923, when the preacher first came to
Paris, Mo. She plied him and his wife with fresh
vegetables and dressed chickens, served him as president of
the Woman’s Missionary society and on the night of last
July 12 left town with him. The next day her body was
found floating in the Mississippi river. Although the
questioning of the prospective jurors, Newton, a thin lipped
man with a gaunt frame appropriately draped in black, seemed
nervous.
Courtroom is Filled.
The courtroom, a great
octagonal place, bright with golden oak and dull with
stained glass windows, was filled. All the spectators
looked toward the Baptist preacher, who in the past had been
called “handsome, almost boyish.” Right now he is
neither. He looks his age, which is 51. Although
tall, he is so thin he seems frail. His features are on
the foxy side, long, lean jaw, small pointed chin, and quite
a nose. His blue gray eyes are blurred behind thick
lensed spectacles with gold rims. State’s Attorney
Merrill Johnston says he will dwell on the minister’s
“winning way” with women and will seek to prove he took
from Mrs. Kelly, his richest admirer, the $1,950 she had
with her.
Defense is Mysterious.
Defense Attorney Daniel P.
Johnston, however, is mysterious. Thus far he has
subpoenaed no witnesses; has done little, in fact, except
issue a repudiation of Newton’s confession of July 15. In
that confession the minister implied he was merely trying to
help an old friend flee by automobile from a husband she was
sick of unto death. When he told her he intended to
drop her at a hotel so he could get home she “became
hysterical.” To give his nerves the calmness which a
pint of whisky had failed to do, he got out of his car into
the rain. She followed, and they grappled and fell, her
head striking the pavement, he said. Seeing she was
unconscious, he then “became excited,” by his own words,
administered a brief clubbing, and tossed her from the Mark
Twain bridge, 35 miles from here. Source: Chicago
Daily Tribune (1872-1963); Nov 16, 1937; ProQuest
Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune (1890-1984) pg 1.
PASTOR HEARS KIN AID STATE
WEEPING SON RECITES EVENTS IN
SLAYING CASE
Tells of Destroying Woman’s
Baggage
By Marcia Winn, Chicago
Tribune Press Service.
Pittsfield, Ill., Nov 17 –
[Special] – The son and the foster daughter of the Rev. C.
Ellsworth Newton took the witness stand in Circuit court
here today to testify against the gaunt Baptist preacher
from Missouri. Before the day’s session of court was
ended it was apparent that the pastor’s defense will be
that Mrs. Maybelle Kelly, whom Newton is accused of killing,
was beaten to death by jealous women.
Son a Tearful Witness.
The son, Noel, a tally youth
of 22 with ruddy cheeks and dark hair, made a reluctant and
sorrowful witness, but Miss Myra Hanan, the pastor’s
adopted daughter, an angular spinster of 37, made a grim
one, with folded arms and sardonic, spectacled eyes flashing
from behind a voluminous black veil. The pair
undoubtedly are the state’s key witnesses in the trial of
the Rev. Mr. Newton for the murder of Mrs. Kelly, his red
haired parishioner and admirer whose body came floating down
the Mississippi river on July 13. For not until
Missouri authorities heart their story, at 3 a.m. on July
14, was suspicion directed against the minister. The
story both told today, in widely divergent manner, but to
equally dramatic tempo, was of the finding and burning of
Mrs. Kelly’s shawl and suitcases which they discovered in
the rear of the Rev. Mr. Newton’s car the day after her
disappearance and death.
Avoids Glancing at Father.
The similarity ended with
direct examination, Noel Newton, a stricken, anguished
figure, was released without cross-examination and darted
from the courtroom without a glance at the emotionless,
white face of his father. But Miss Hanan, swarthed
smartly in a bright green coat and dress, was kept on the
stand for a grueling cross-examination that lasted until 8
p.m. From this questioning came the first inkling of
what the Rev. Mr. Newton’s defense will be. It was
indicated that he will take the stand and deny the murder,
repudiating his confession of July 15, and seek to continue
his reputation as the swashbuckling Don Juan of Paris, Mo.
[a reputation his cadaverous appearance does not support],
by contending that a jealous woman, or women, hammered Mrs.
Kelly to death. Miss Hanan bore up like an automation
under the verbal barrage of Defense Attorney Martin S.
Turner of Kansas City. She folded her arms, ventured an
occasional thin, tolerant smile and time and again answered
monosyllabically, “I did not.” The Rev. Mr. Newton,
his face bland and shining with aggrieved innocence, watched
her intently.
Denies Meeting Minister.
“Did you, at 4 o’clock the
morning of July 13, meet Colonel [his first name] Newton
near Monroe City, Mo.?” Attorney Turner demanded, veering
suddenly from his discussion of the delicate matters such as
where the pastor’s study was located and how many sermons
he wrote. “Why,” bridled Miss Hanan, “I did not. I
was at home asleep.” “Did you say to him at that
time,” Attorney Turner persisted, “’Daddy, did it hurt
you much? We are sorry for you. This is a terrible
case. Everything has gone haywire.’ Did you say
that?” “I did not.” Q- At that time in response
to his question, “Whose blood is that?” did you say
“That’s hers. You had better forget it.” A. – I
did not.
Insists She’s Home in Bed.
Q - To his question, “What
happened to Maybelle?” did you say, “She is dead.” A -
I did not. Q - To his question, “Where did it
occur?” did you say, “Right where we caught up with
you?” A. – [primly] I was at home in bed. Q – To
his question, “What has become of the body?” did you
say, “She’s gone down the river?” A – I was at home. We
had no such conversation. Q – Did you say, “Could
Loy or Ella or E.P. identify that old hammer?” A – I was
at home and not in a car with him. No such conversation took
place. Q – And did he say, “I expect they could”? A
– No. I didn’t say that. Q – When he said, “Was
it used?” didn’t you say, “Never mind. What you
don’t know won’t hurt you”? A – I did not. Q
– “Did you say, “You’d better keep your mouth shut
or you’ll have everybody into this.” Did you say
that? A – I did not.
Here’s Elaborate Reply.
Q – When he said, “I want
to know the truth,” did you say, “What good will it do
you or anybody else? It’s done and that’s that”? A
– I did not. Q – Later, the afternoon of July 13,
did you say, “What do you know or are you just guessing? For
Pete’s sake, keep your head”? A – No [smiling
broadly], I did not. Miss Hanan’s one elaborate reply
came when she was asked where she was at 1 a.m. on July 13. She
said she had gone out to look for the minister. “Why?”
he demanded. “I was uneasy about him,” she said. “I
thought something might have happened to him.” Although
the many women in the audience followed her testimony
intently the witness who drew the breathless attention –
and the sympathetic attention – of men and women alike was
the minister’s son, Noel. Noel’s steps lagged as he
walked to the witness stand. Once there, he clenched
his fists and steadfastly turned his gaze away from his
father. Noel often hesitated as long as two minutes
before replying to the questions of State’s Attorney
Merrill Johnston, while a tense courtroom of farmers and
townsfolk leaned heavily forward and a jury of eleven
farmers and one barber eyed him with amazement. Judge
A. Clay Williams often prompted him with a sympathetic “Go
on, go on, boy.”
Asked About His Father.
When Noel first ascended the
stand his preacher father looked at him intently. But
as the questioning continued, and the youth’s anguish
became acute, the Rev. Mr. Newton huddled up in his black
suit, shot his long chin down toward the table, and shifted
two pieces of paper together, again and again and again. “Did
you see your father on Monday, July 12?” Prosecutor
Johnston asked. Noel crossed one leg, clasped an ankle with
both hands, and said nothing. Finally, looking
pleadingly at his father, he replied that he had. Q –
Tell the jury when and where, Noel. A – [again a long
silence, as he rubbed his chin} About 10 that evening. Q
– Where? A – At my filling station. Q – How
long was he there? A – About and hour and 15 minutes. Q
– When did you close? A – About 11:15.
Witness Shifts in Chair.
Defense Attorney Daniel T.
Johnson of Kansas City, Mo., shifted uncomfortably. Previous
witnesses had told how, on the morning of July 13, the Rev.
Mr. Newton had said he stayed at his son’s filling station
until 1 a.m. Q – Then where did you go? A – To
a café and then home. Q – Did you see your father
any more that evening? A – [slowly shifting in the
witness chair] No. Prosecutor Johnston paused
dramatically before asking his next question. “Do you
know Myra Hanan?” he asked clearly. Noel’s answer
came faintly, almost inaudibly. Again and again, Judge
Williams admonished the spectators to quiet the shuffling of
their feet. “Yes,” Noel said, “I do.” Q
– Shortly after noon on July 13 did you see Myra Hanan? A
– [in a low voice] Yes, sir. Q – Where? A –
At my filling station.
Tells of Finding Shawl.
Q – What happened at that
time? A – [turning his gaze around to the windows
behind him and coughing] I don’t know if anything
happened. She started to drive away. She was in my
father’s car, and I noticed that the back seat was jutting
out. I told her to wait a minute and I would put it
back in place. [Again he lapsed into a long silence]. Q
– What happened then? A – [slowly] It wouldn’t push
in, so I pulled it out to see what was the matter. Q
– Then what? A – The first thing I saw was a shawl. I
don’t know what kind it was. Q – Had you seen it
before? A – Either it or one like it. Q –
Where? A – On Mrs. Maybelle Kelly. A murmur of
conversation rippled through the courtroom. Judge
Williams turned a stern face toward them. His bailiff
rapped for order. Q – What else were there? A
– Two suitcases. Q – Did either you or Myra open
them? A – No sir.
Meeting with Myra Told.
Q – [sternly] At that time
did you know anything about Mrs. Kelly? A – I heard
that she was missing. The minister glanced severely at
his son as he said this, then relapsed into his apathetic
huddle. Noel continued haltingly. He and Miss
Hanan drove out to his home, southwest of Paris, Mo., he
said, and placed the shawl and suitcases in an abandoned
shed, then returned to town. That afternoon he called
on his mother, Mrs. Grace Newton, who is ill. Q – Did
you see Myra after that? A – I did. Q – About
what time? A – Between 7 and 8, at my station. Q
– What did you do? A – [in a whisper] We discussed
the disappearance of Mrs. Kelly. Q – Had you heard
she was dead? A – I had, yes, sir. Q – What
did you do? A – I wondered about those clothes and
what we should do with them. Again he paused. There
was no sound in the courtroom. The minister made little
marks on his two sheets of paper. “Go on,” said
Judge Williams. “Go on, boy.” “Well, at 9
o’clock Miss Hanan came back,” Noel continued. “We
went out to the shed, moved the suitcases and drove out to
the north, possibly 32 miles. We went off on a side
road.” Q – What did you do when you got there? A
– Burned them. Q – How? A – With kerosene
and gasoline. Q – Did you wait to see them burn? A
– [clenching hands tightly] – Yes, sir. Then we got
back to Paris about midnight, stopped by my station, and
[his voice droned off into silence]. Noel next saw Miss
Hanan at 2 a.m., he said, at his parents’ home when she
turned over some money to Sheriff Russell Wilkes of Monroe
County, Mo.
Jurors Given Rest.
Q – How much money was
delivered there? A – I saw him count it out, but
I’ve forgotten how much it was. Q – Was it $1,930? A
– I couldn’t say [whispered]. Q – Did you see the
size of the bills? A – Yes, $20 bills and $10 bills. Q
– Where was the money? “If you know,” interrupted
Defense Attorney Johnston. “I went with Myra to her
office to get it,” Noel said slowly. With that he was
excused without cross-examination and he hurried from the
courtroom, ignoring his father. Judge Williams then
dismissed the exhausted jury for a ten minute rest. The
money, the state will seek to prove, was the $1,930
remaining from the $1,950 Mrs. Kelly withdrew from the bank
on July 12 preparatory to leaving her home and husband with
the preacher. Newton later gave it to Miss Hanan for
“safekeeping” and she turned it over to the sheriff.
Miss Hanan Next Witness.
The next witness for the state
was Miss Hanan, a pleasant spinster of 37, whose features
were blurred behind a voluminous black veil. Her
testimony was similar to Noel’s. She said that
Newton, whom she served as secretary, gave her an envelope
“which had money in it.” “Did he say anything?”
Prosecutor Johnston asked her. “He said,” she replied
distinctly, “if any one asked where he was the night of
the 12th I should say he was home.” Q –
Was he at home during the evening? A – Until 8:30. Q
– Did you see him again that evening? A – No. When
Defense Attorney Martin S. Turner asked on cross-examination
if she were “uneasy” about the minister she replied,
“I was afraid something might have happened to him.” The
morning session was one with grimness and macabre relics of
Mrs. Kelly. A tuft of reddish-brown hair, a piece of
skull bone, a grimy white handkerchief, a pair of slippers,
the contents of a pocketbook – all these were spread out
on a little table, while the jury craned forward.
Tells of Seeing Hair.
Oscar Howarth, a Pike county
farmer, a tall, wiry man, dressed in his dark Sunday
clothes, testified that as he was driving along highway 66,
a mile and a half east of the Mark Twain bridge, at 6 a.m.
he saw a pair of woman’s slippers and blood on the
pavement. His testimony continued as follows: Q [by
prosecutor] – How do you know that was a pool of blood you
saw? A – Oh, I’ve seen blood before. Q – Did
you see anything else? A – I saw bits of hair near
the edge of the pavement. Q – Are these [producing a
pair of small, dark blue, kid tie-pumps] the slippers of
which you spoke? A [peering intently at them] – I
think they are. I know they are. That dent there
[indicating a tear in the leather of one heel] was where one
had been run over on the pavement. The Rev. Mr. Newton,
a look of superior resignation on his face, cast a cursory
glance at the slippers, then bent over the table to scribble
many notes. Howarth admitted on cross-examination there
had been quite a bit of rain the previous night.
Witness Evokes Titters.
Q – But there was no water
on the pavement? A – No, sir. Q – It was a
comparatively hard rain? A – Yes, sir. Q – Did
you pick up the shoes? A [emphatically] – I did not. Q
– You left them there? A [with slight disgust] – I
moved them off the pavement with my rubber boot. Q –
Did you leave them there? A – I sartinly did. The
spectators and jury both tittered audibly as the farmer,
with affronted dignity, drew back in the witness chair. Judge
Williams sat sternly upright. “There must not be
anything of that kind in her,” the judge said, frowning at
the laughter. “I give you that warning now.” “I
never touched them,” Howarth hurriedly added. “I
seen the law instead.”
Recalls Finding Spots.
Q – Was there hair on the
concrete? A – There was hair on the concrete? A
– There was hair on the concrete and on the weeds. Q
– Did you say the hair was between the bloodspots? A
– Yes, sir. Q – Did you see any footprints? A
– I saw a couple of men’s tracks right where the
bloodstains were. They looked like fresh tracks to me. Later
on the bridge, he saw more blood, he said – ‘scattered
all over.” The size was “O, a nickel or a quarter
or something like that.” James O’Donnell of
Hannibal, Monroe County, Mo., coroner, a big man with gray
hair and John L. Lewis eyebrows, testified he went with
Kelly to identify the body. A Hannibal policeman,
Bailey Brower, then took the stand. Brower went out to
the scene of the crime on Howarth’s report and found spots
of blood “the size of my hand” on the pavement and a
spot “twice as large” on the shoulder.
Women Witnesses Sob.
Q [by prosecutor] – How much
hair did you see there? A – Several strands. Q
– Where was it with reference to spots of blood? A
– Some was close by. Q – Describe that hair if you
can. A – Reddish brown, streaked with gray. Q
– Did you pick it up? A – I did later. Q –
What else did you see? A [slowly] – A piece of skull
bone with jagged edges covered with blood. A murmur of
horror went through the courtroom. The minister,
tilting his chair backward and forward, compressed his
stubby yellow pencil in his fist. Women witnesses,
awaiting their turn at the stand, began to cry. One
left the courtroom. Brower said he also saw imprints of
shoes in the mud, some two feet away from the piece of bone,
and found about four or five hairpins. Source: Chicago
Daily Tribune (1872-1963); Nov 18, 1937; ProQuest
Historical Newspapers Chicago Tribune (1890-1984) pg 1.
PASTOR FOUND GUILTY IN KILLING
WITH HAMMER
JURY DECREES LIFE IN PRISON
FOR SLAYING WOMAN WHO TAUGHT SUNDAY SCHOOL.
By the Associated Press.
Pittsfield, Ill., Nov 24 –
The Rev. C.E. Newton was convicted today of slaying his
former Sunday school teacher and the jury fixed his
punishment at life imprisonment. The 51-year-old
Missouri country preacher had pleaded he was the victim of
circumstances in the brutal hammer-slaying last July of Mrs.
Dennis Kelly, 45-year-old mother, of Paris, Mo. A
motion for a new trial was filed a few hours after the jury
returned the verdict. Merrill Johnston, youthful
State’s attorney, who read to the jury Newton’s
purported “confession” to slaying Mrs. Kelly “with
something. I think a hammer,” the night of last July
12, said: “I’m well satisfied with decision.” Myra
Hanan, 37-year-old foster daughter of the preacher, and whom
he implicated in the murder through testimony in his own
defense, testified Newton gave her an envelope of money last
July 13, said it had belonged to Mrs. Kelly and asked her to
tell questioners he had not left his home the previous
night. The minister admitted helping Mrs. Kelly flee
from her husband, a rural mail carrier, but declared she was
slain after he was abducted and beaten on a lonely road by
captors. Source: Unknown.
PASTOR GETS LIFE TERM.
JUDGE SENTENCES NEWTON AS
SLAYER OF WOMAN IN MISSOURI.
Pittsfield, Ill., Dec 11 –
Overruling a motion for a new trial, Circuit Judge A. Clay
Williams formally sentenced the Rev. C.E. Newton to life
imprisonment today for the murder of Mrs. Dennis Kelly, his
“devout friend and loyal co-worker,” at Paris, Mo. When
the judge asked if he had anything to say before sentence
was pronounced, the 51-year-old minister rose and responded: “Nothing,
Your Honor, except that I’m not guilty.” He was
convicted by a jury Nov 24 on a charge that he hammered Mrs.
Kelly to death to last July 12 while helping her desert her
husband, a rural mail carrier. The body of the
45-year-old mother was found floating in the Mississippi
River the next day. Newton, pale from his long jail
confinement and visibly nervous, was present in court during
a hearing on the motion for a new trial. His attorneys
changed that the conviction resulted from “passion and
prejudice” and “misconduct of the jury.” Defense
counsel filed notice of an appeal to the State Supreme
Court. Source: Unknown article.
MINISTER CONVICTED OF SLAYING
WOMAN BEGINS LIFE TERM
Pittsfield, Ill., Dec 18 –
[Special] – The Rev C.E. Newton, convicted of the hammer
slaying of Mrs. Dennis Kelly and sentenced to life in
prison, was taken to the Menard penitentiary today by
Sheriff Wendell Johnson. Since his conviction Nov 24,
the pastor has insisted he is innocent of the slaying, and
attorneys have said an appeal will be taken. Mrs.
Kelly, described as a loyal friend and devout church worker,
was slain at Paris, Mo., and her body was thrown into the
Mississippi river. Newton was arrested July 14, the day
after her body was found. Since the conviction the
preacher, who is 51 years old, has expressed eagerness to be
taken to the penitentiary. Levi Collins, starting a one
to ten year term for hog theft, was taken with the pastor to
Menard.
Source: Unknown article. |
