Leon Reporter, Leon, Iowa
Thursday, May l, l902

'Ira Hammond on Trial at Mt. Ayr for the Murder of Miss Maude Stone.'

Witnesses (continued) and Defendant's Testimony:

Almost all of Wednesday afternoon was consumed with the state's expert medical testimony, Drs. B.R. McAllaster, F.A. Bowman, H.R. Layton and B.L. Eiker testifying at considerable length in regard to the autopsy held on the body of MAUDE STONE after it was taken to the STONE home the day after she died, being in substance that they found evidences of and operation for abortion having been recently performed and that her death was caused by septic peritonitis or blood poison, the result of such operation, it being their opinion that the dead girl had been pregnant for two and a half or three months. Their testimony was published in full in The Reporter during the trial of DR. J.W. CROFFORD, and we do not consider it necessary to republish the details, as they cannot be generally understood by the public. Dr. J.W. Greenman also testified theoretically as to the cause of death based on the testimony of the other physicians.

During the cross examinations of Dr. McAllaster the defense made what they claimed was important evidence, he testifying that at the post mortem examination the womb of the dead girl was removed from the body and placed by him in a glass jar, being kept at his office until some time last December, when it was returned to RUE B. STONE, who got it at the request of the family and buried it.The state claimed it would have been an important piece of evidence in DR. CROFFORD's trial had they known of its existence and had it brought into court to be examined by the physicians for the defendant.

MRS. M.F. SPRINGER, being recalled, testified she did not see MAUDE STONE after she left home until she went to Lamoni, Jan. 30 and found her a corpse. Her mother, MRS. MARGARET STONE, MRS. HAMMOND, IRA HAMMOND, DR. CROFFORD and wife and others were present when she entered the room. On cross examination said when MAUD STONE's box was opened she saw only one bottle of medicine in it. There were some other letters besides the ones introduced in evidence. After the box was examined it was locked again and her husband took charge of the key and box.

MENDEL CLUM, the Lamoni undertaker, who prepared the body of MAUDE STONE for burial, testified he was called by DR. CROFFORD the night she died, about l0 or ll o'clock. The body was still warm and she had not been dead over an hour.

DR. DERWENT, of Lamoni, testified as to having been in DR. CROFFORD's sanitarium at Lamoni which he conducted as a sanitarium and hospital. Said there was an office, operating and bed rooms, and he had the various surgical instruments used by surgeons, including dilators and vaginal speculums.

MRS. M.F. SPRINGER, testified she brought the valise containing MAUD's underclothing from Lamoni, and the valise containing them was locked, she carrying the key.

MRS. AVIS RUMLEY, testified she took the clothing from the valise and they were damp and wet, as though they had been washed.

Court then adjourned until Thursday morning at 9 o'clock, the first witness being:

DR. B.L. EIKER, who, on cross examination testified he testified at CROFFORD's trial entirely without notes. At that trial he swore no parts of the body were saved for microscopic examination, the question whether the uterus or other parts were saved not being asked him in that form. The parts saved were the uterus and appendages, ovaries and fallopian tubes. Dr. McAllaster, the coroner, took charge of them. On redirect examination he said the womb could not have been preserved for any great length of time so as to show the bacteria. The last time he saw the parts was in November, l90l. They were in a glass jar which would hold about two quarts.

CHARLES BRENIZER, the Lamoni liveryman, was recalled and testified that when IRA HAMMOND came to Lamoni the second time in January, l90l, he drove a gray and bay team, the bay horse being the same one he rode there the week before.

CLARENCE SPRINGER, his partner, testified their barn was closed shortly after midnight on Jan. 23, and IRA HAMMOND was not there when he closed the barn and went home, but was sleeping in the office the next morning.

DR. DERWENT, was recalled to explain the use of various surgical instruments and dilators which were used.

'DEFENDANT'S TESTIMONY'

H.B. LUNBECK, the Decatur liveryman, testified he charged one dollar for a team to Leon and two dollars for a team to Lamoni. He charged IRA HAMMOND one dollar for the team he had on Jan. l2.

RUE B. STONE, testified he buried the parts he received last December from Dr. McAllaster, and the court ruled he was not required to tell where he buried them.

MRS. MARGARET STONE, testified IRA HAMMOND was not at her home on the Sunday evening before MAUDE went to Lamoni, to the best of her recollection.

The defense then put on their medical expert testimony, which was much shorter than at the CROFFORD trial.

DR. A. BROWN, testified at some length as to the time death would ordinarily ensue from septic peritonitis, claiming that in his opinion MAUDE STONE could not have died from the effects of an operation for abortion within the time it was claimed she first went to CROFFORD's sanitarium, the condition of her body being as described by the physicians on the part of the state. He denied knowing the parts of her body were in Dr. McAllaster's possession, although Geo. W. Baker stated he had told him of this fact and requested him to go to Dr. McAllaster's office and examine them, and said Dr. Brown asked him to get them and bring them to his office as he and Dr. McAllaster were not on the best of terms. He also admitted that the physicians who testified on the part of the state were honorable men and he would not refuse to believe their statements.

Drs. J.W. Horne, S. Bailey and J.W. White, testified along the same lines as to the character of septic peritonitis and other conditions, but their examinations both direct and on cross examination were very short.

S.W. KEHLER, clerk of the Decatur District Court, produced certain letters from MAUDE STONE used in the trial of DR. CROFFORD as exhibits and swore they had been in his custody since that time.

C.B. TOWNSEND, identified the letters as being in the handwriting of MAUDE STONE.

Three letters from MAUDE STONE were then read. One dated May 2l, l900, stated she had been to see the doctor and he gave her some medicine which would make her all right by the last of the week. Another dated Dec. l4, l900, spoke of troubles she was having and hoped they could soon be married. While the letters in some places were rather broad, they could not be compared with those written by HAMMOND and the language used could be construed in two different ways.

Court then adjourned until afternoon, when the first witness put on the stand was:

EDWIN HOWARD, of Lamoni, testified that on Saturday, Aug. l8, l900, he went with IRA HAMMOND to Ferd Rauch's home in Lamoni to see his girl. Mr. and Mrs. Rauch were away from home, and HAMMOND inquired for MAUDE STONE, but she was not there. He saw HAMMOND and MAUDE STONE drive away from DR. CROFFORD's sanitarium the following afternoon.

HARRY CORRINGTON, of Decatur, swore that on Saturday, Jan. l2, l90l, he and Fred Townsend Drove from Decatur to Leon, leaving Decatur about 3 o'clock. That they met IRA HAMMOND and John Woodard in a sleigh just west of the K. & W. depot at Leon, driving toward Decatur. They had one of Lunbeck Bros.' livery teams.

FRED TOWNSEND, testified to substantially the same thing as Harry Corrington.

JOHN WOODARD, testified he went with IRA HAMMOND from Decatur to Leon on Saturday afternoon, Jan. l2, in a sleigh and one of Lunbeck's livery teams. They started home between 4 and 5 o'clock and met Fred Townsend and Harry Corrington near I.N. Clark's residence, west of the K. & W. depot in Leon. On cross examination he denied he had stated in the presence of Abe and Jink Wells that he would swear to anything to help HAMMOND out of his trouble, or that he had asked Abe Wells to give him a receipt for some money he had paid him and date it back to that date, so he could prove his testimony in behalf of HAMMOND, and claimed the statements were merely made at a mock trial.

DR. S. BAILEY, recalled, testified that a bottle of medicine with directions to take a teaspoonful after meals would indicate it was for indigestion or a tonic. In his opinion the bottle found in MAUD STONE's box had contained a bitter tonic.

To Be Continued . . ."Witnesses and Defendant's Testimony. . ."

Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert
"With permission from the Leon Journal Reporter"
December l9, 2002