Miller v. Commonwealth

21 S.W.2d 840, 231 Ky. 527, 1929 Ky. LEXIS 319
Court of Appeals of Kentucky (pre-1976)·Decided November 15, 1929·Published·Cited by 13 cases

Opinion

Opinion of the Court by

Commissioner Tinsley—

Affirming.

Under an indictment in three counts (1) charging the appellant alone with the murder of Lula Kirchner; (2) charging him with entering into a conspiracy with Will Parris to murder Lula Kirchner, and that pursuant thereto and whilst the same existed he did so do; (3) that one or the other of them murdered LulaKirchner, and that the other of them was present and aided, abetted, and assisted the one so doing, the appellant was convicted, and his punishment fixed at confinement in the penitentiary for life. In view of the grounds urged for a reversal, a somewhat lengthy and detailed statement of the testimony is made necessary.

Will Parris, with whom it is charged in the indictment appellant conspired to kill and murder Lula Kirehner, was a native of Hart county, Ky.; but for about 20 years prior to the death of Lula Kirchner he bad resided in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was a denizen of its underworld. .Some years prior to the death of Miss Kirchner, he went to board at the home of a Mrs. Weis, who resided near to the home of Miss Kirchner in Cincinnati, and shortly thereafter he became acquainted with the latter. As time went on, there developed between them an intimate friendship, if not relations of a more amorous nature, and these relations had existed for about 5 years prior to her death. It is shown, however, that during all of this time he called at her home only once, and thereafter their meetings were had elsewhere, and were more or less clandestine.

*529 The latter part of July, 1928, Will Farris went to the home of his mother, Mrs. Nora Farris, in Hart county, Ky. About that time Lula Kirchner informed her family that she contemplated a visit to Hicksville, Ohio, to see about taking up some sort of work there. On August 17th, following, she informed them she would go to Hicksville the next day, but at the same time she told a friend and neighbor, a Mrs. Englehart, that she was going to Mammoth Cave, Ky., to meet Will Farris and to marry him. However, she requested Mrs. Englehart to keep the matter secret for a few days, saying to her that she was confiding in her so that, in event her mother, who was an invalid, grew worse, Mrs. Englehart would know where she could be reached. She left Cincinnati on August 18th, on Louisville & Nashville train No. 7 at 11 o ’clock.

Between 12 and 1 o’clock on that day Will Farris borrowed from his sister, Mildred Martin, her horse and buggy, a lantern and a feed sack, saying to her he was going Qver into another section of the country to procure some whisky, as he intended to return to Cincinnati the next day, and that he would not get back until late that night. Instead, however, he drove to Mammoth Cave, where he met Lula Kirchner, as she alighted from the train, about 6:30 o’clock p. m. He was seen on the road traveling in that direction by two witnesses, and had with him a black-jack and a pistol, and it seemed to these witnesses he was under influence of liquor. He was seen by other witnesses to meet Lula Kirchner, as she got off the train, and to put her in the buggy, and start in the direction of the place where her body was subsequently found. This is the last time she was seen alive.

About midnight of August 18th, Will Farris returned to the home of his sister, Mildred Martin, with her horse and buggy. She got up, and prepared him something to eat. There had been a heavy storm, and rain between dark and midnight. His clothing was muddy, and he accounted to her for that condition by •saying the buggy turned over with him. He spent the remainder of the night at his sister’s home, but went to the home of his mother early next morning, and shortly thereafter, on the same day, returned to Cincinnati.

About 5 years prior to the death of Lula Kirchner, appellant became acquainted with Mildred Martin, sister to Will Farris, and shortly thereafter their relations be • *530 came so intimate tliat she was, in fact, his mistress, and one is led, from the rceord, to believe his visits to her were of almost daily occurrence. On the morning of August 17th (the day Lula Kirchner left Cincinnati to go to Mammoth Cave), he made his customary visit to the home of Mrs. Martin. Upon arriving there, he learned from Mrs. Martin that her brother, Will Parris, would take her horse and buggy some time that morning, and go for whisky to take back to Cincinnati, and he said she advised him to go away and hide out until after Parris had gone; that he did this, and returned about 1 o’clock and spent the afternoon with her; that she told him her husband and brother, Beckham Parris, would be gone the next day (Saturday), and for him to return then.

About 5 o’clock on Saturday morning, August 18th, it is shown that appellant bought some lemons and oranges at a store in Horse Cave, and about 5:15 o ’clock got on an ice truck, and rode on it to a point near to and from which he could cut across the field to Mrs. Martin’s house. He also bought 50 pounds of ice from the man in charge of the truck. Between 6 and 7 o’clock he went to the top of a small hill, or rise, from which he could see the Martin residence. He says he saw Mrs. Martin’s husband engaged in some chores about the barn, and saw Will Parris tinkering about or rubbing off the buggy, and presently saw Mrs. Martin’s husband, Garland Martin, and her brother, Beckham Parris, leave, and a few minutes later saw Will Parris go down into a gully back of the house and near the barn, and cut some small brushes and throw them into the gully; that he surmised from these actions that Will Parris was hiding the whisky Mrs. Martin told him Parris went after the day before. Shortly thereafter, he says, Will Parris left, going in the direction of „his mother’s home. He then went to the house, and only Mrs. Martin and her little girl were there. After a while he asked Mrs. Martin if Will Parris brought any liquor the day before, and was answered in the negative. He went to the gully where he thought Parris had hidden the liquor. He found the place, but did not find any liquor. He says, however, that he found five lady’s slippers, which he threw upon the bank of the gully by the side of the Martins’ woodpile, and then returned to the house and told Mrs. Martin about the slippers, and that her little girl went and brought them to the house.

*531 On Sunday afternoon, the 19th, appellant again went to the Martin residence, took a mess of fish he had caught earlier in the day, and stayed until time for milking the cows and doing the other work about the farm, and assisted Garland Martin in doing this work. He says on their way from the barn back to the house Garland Martin found a suitcase, which was locked, but which had one side cut out of it, and that appellant found another slipper. He and the Martins talked about the suitcase and slippers, and speculated as to how they came to be there, finally concluding that, as a number of robberies had been committed in the neighborhood recently, the suitcase and slippers had been thrown there by robbers.

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Miller v. Commonwealth, 21 S.W.2d 840, 231 Ky. 527, 1929 Ky. LEXIS 319 (Ky. 1929).

21 S.W.2d 840 (Miller v. Commonwealth) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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