Iowa
Old Press
Boone News Republican
Boone, Boone co. Iowa
November 1, 1934
Iowa Woman’s Fate in Hands Mt. Ayr Jurors —
Mrs. Pearl Johnston Charged With Murder of Husband—Claims
Self Defense.
(By the United Press) Mt. Ayr, Ia., Nov. 1— The
fate of Mrs. Pearl Johnston, charged with murdering her husband,
was in the hands of a jury today. The jury received the case at
5:40 p.m., deliberated until 10 p.m. and retired for the night
without reaching a decision. It went back to its task at 8 a.m.
today.
Mrs. Johnston was accused of shooting her husband, Herbert
Johnston, automobile dealer here on June 7th. She was herself
wounded, but recovered. She related in her own defense during the
trial that her husband had been drinking, that he threatened to
strike her with an empty bottle and that she had shot him to
defend herself.
[transcribed by L.Z., November 2015]