Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 284, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 December 1911 — POOLE'S BROTHER TELLS OF JOHN’S ERRATIC LIFE. [ARTICLE]

POOLE'S BROTHER TELLS OF JOHN’S ERRATIC LIFE.

Testifies tsi Several Freaks Committed by Bret er and of Resemblance i,? /7 to His Harsh Father. But two witnesses, Poole’s brother. Williaii W. Poole, of Wabash county, and his niece, Mrs. Alvertie Hauk, of Goodland, Ind., were cn the. witness stand for the defense in the John W. Poole murder trial Friday. Both made very good witnesses for the defense in the insanity plea. WiiltaA' Poole has been in court, with his brother constantly during the course qf the trial and the defendant seems to take comfort in his presence. He is Q’dSf and larger than the defendant, but bears a striking resemblance. He gave his testimony in a’ slow, distinct voice, tefling of his early home, of his father and of the life of the defendant Several times in the course o's the testimony, as he spoke <of his father and brother, hie voice became >”i«kv with emotion. At the end of his testimony in an almost inaudible voice he said that he thought his broth er John of unsound mlhd. Mrs. Hauk, who was on the witness stand first and who was the first relative to be called by the defense, told of the incidents connected with her uncle during the twenty-one year ? that she had known him. Both of the witnesses’ testimony was unshaken by the cross-examination of the state. At the beginning of the afternoon session, proceedings in the trial came to an unexpected standstill when sheriff Frazier told Judge DeHart that Poole was threatened With pneumonia and was iIL He sat in his seat, with his head low and eyes closed and his every appearance was that of a sick mag. His face was dull and asheu and there was a pathetic stoop to his shoulders. Judge DeHart immediately summoned Dr. C. W. Shill, the jail physician, who came to the court room and examined Poole. He reiorte-l that it would not endanger the defendant to proceed with the trial, so it was resumed. Judge DeHart said that he would.not keep a sick man in the court room under any circumstances and made sure that Poole was not in danger before he would* allow the case.to continue. Mr. Barce, attorney for the defense, said to a- reporter Friday that he would require about two more days to complete the examination of witnesses for the defense. In that case the trial will probably not last more than another week. Judge DeHart adjourned the trial Friday until Monday morning at 10 o’clock.

When court convened, the defense attempted to present as evidence a transcript of an insanity inquest held before a justice of the peace and physicians in Benton county who sent Poole to the insane hospital. The state' objected to the introduction of the record and Judge DeHart retired the jury while the attorneys argued the question of the admissibility as evidence. The state's objection was base* 1 on the ground that the law does not require the insanity Inquest commission to determine whether the person is insane, but only to ascertain if he is a person in need of treatment at the insane hospital. The second point in the state’s objection was that the law requires no record of the inquest to be kept and the third objection was that the state had no opportunity to inquire into the truth and accuracy of the records. Mr. Barce, for the .defense, held that the mere fact that the justice of the peace committed Poole to the insane hospital was prima fade evidence that Poole was regarded of unsound mind. Judge DeHart said that he had been considering the question for some time. He quoted jseveral authorities, then ruled the matter incompetent and sustained the state’s objection. Mrs. Alvertie Hauk, of Goodland, niece of Poole, told of his erratic man ner and said she thought him insane. William W. Poole, of Wabash county, the brother who has been constantly with his brother in court, was the next witness called by the defense. He Is 61 years old and was born in Maryland, one of six children. John W. Poole was next to the youngest child he said. The father died when the witness was fourteen years old. "My father was a man who looked like John,” the witness said, "being heavy set and Hot very tall. He was of a nervous temperament, was wild when excited and had a bad temper. He often beat the children. When anything would happen suddenly, my father would become excited and whip all of us children. Onee when a pole my brother was holding slipped and nearly hit my father, he took a heavy rope and hit my brother with such force that he

was bedfast for days from the injury. "Father died when he was 51 years '"r. Poole, then told of coming wee' ♦nd later of bringing John Poole with Idm. He said in part: a Came west in 1871 alone, bringW.tag Jphn with toe later when I recorned borne. We came to Wabast county where 1 now live. John wu there about year, and went |n Kentland. Newton county, then to v Goodland and then to, Benton, county. He was 16 years old when I brought him back with ma. From childhood he has always been nervous and exWilliam W. Poole resumed his testimony at the afternoon session. He |-said in part: "John would often, when corrected for doing something, fall down, kick, scream and throw his head against the ground until ex hausted. That was when he w j as a child. "While he was with me in Wabash county he was always easily angered and seemed to key up to a high pltci; . He was also ' axcitaßle and impatient. i . "We were working at Kokomo with some other men. On ope occasion John was coming in and seemed to be very violent. He went to the table, sat down and. looking toward the hotel kichen, jumped up and went into the kitchen. He said ‘D— you. if you are going to wait on me, hurry on. ( want some coffee.’ He had a wild expres- . sion on his face, his eyes protruded and there was a pallor on his .face That was ta 1890, ’ "Once at Monon we boarded at a private boarding house. John had gon. there to work and I went after him, having received a letter asking me to come. John wasn’t there when 1 got there. He came in’one evening and wasn’t very talkative. He went ft bed and in the night he began to shout that he was dying. We got up rubbed his head and neck. We worked with him about a half hour and got Mm quiet "After 1890 I next saw my brother ia 1893 at the Benton county jail. He appeared wild, his eyes had a glassy appearance, his countenance was oppressed, he seemed to be in agony. I asked him if he was suffering pain and be said that it Whs only a headache. After I Inquired-into his health,I told him I was sorry to find him in that condition and that I came down to help him. He told me the only thing I could do was to go and reconcile those people at the farm. He told me that all Benton county was against him. especially his mother and brother Daniel. He said they wouldn’t let him do anything he wanted to. -- “I made arrangements for him to ga to the farm the next day. He talked about these things jerkily. We went to the farm the next day, he in custody of an officer. The officer left him there in my care. We went all over .the., form. ...> ..C "He took «ne to the road and tried to show me some tracks which he ...said were- made at night prowling around his house. I told him that there were no tracks there. He took me to the house and showed me a string he had tied between trees and said, "there is how 1 catch these fellows who comq here after my wife. I get them with those strings.’ He showed me other places where he said men had been hiding and watching him while he worked. * "I could see no human track where John tried to point them out. • His neighbors were all against him and trying to keep him from getting along, he said. I told him he was mistaken and he said, ‘D— you, you are just like the rest of them? You are against me too.’ That day he was wild, but seemed deadly in earnest and be- & H«red what he said. “ I next saw' John in 1909 at my house during, the last of August. He came there while I was in the orchard dressing the injury of a horse that was hurt He walked up to me and spoke of the wound, telling me what to do for it. L put the bandage on it he walked about a rod away and said 'What kind,of a plum is this’’ I said that the plum had two names. H wasn’t until then that I recognized r him. It . had been sixteen years slupe I saw him. My son had seen bimta year before and. didn't recognize him until'l did. 1 asked him why he looked , sp bad and he said he had been siok. I asked him how he came and he said that be started with a horse and then walked. We went Into the house and had dinner. He said that everything was getting along alright, but that he

everyone ta. Hentop '“nut”/ wJ against him, ,7> > ! "I. rtggesteOta*’ evening that we breakfast hp said he.wjm going and I. told him he bad promtoed to go fishing. He said he had to go home because he didn’t have help. I insisted that he stay but he wouldn’t He said to me. ’l’m going. If you want to see me, come to my farm. It you don’t alright’ "I said that I would hjtch up and take .him and naked where he wanted to he was going to Del phi. I then told him that his horst was at Chili; he put his hands to hi: head and finally said that he remem bered that he did have a horse, but that it was at Delphi. Before I could get a horse hitched, he started to wal: toward Wabash and had gone some distance before my son overtook him. He was dressed very shabbily and I bfelieve that that was one of the reasons I didn’t recognize him. "J believe my brother John to be a person of unsound mind,” was the final statement of William Poole foi the defense. . ---..riles Barce told the court that he didn’t have any more witnesses at hand and Judge DeHart adjourned court until 10 o’clock Monday morning. . \ .... .. v,.' . .