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Mrs. Hart tells jury of seeing her husband killedBy FRED ©DIETMrs. Paul David Hart told a Howard Circuit Court jury Friday afternoon of witnessing the slaying of her husband on Nov. 9, 1972, She said the fatal shooting occurred in a parking lot at the Kokomo Mali after William Howard Jr. had suggested that the two men settle their differences “in the country” and were exchanging further words beside Howard’s car. Howard is Mrs. Hart’s ex-husband.Patricia Hart said her husband reached for Howard while the 21-year-oid defendant was leaning against his car, then he turned away, but again faced Howard after the latter “called Paul a name.”At that point, the 19-year-old Mrs. Hart said Howard stepped away from the car, drew a gun from his right pocket and fired three times.Hart, also, 19, was dead on arrival about 4:15 p.m. at Howard Community Hospital. He had been fatally wounded in the chest by a .25 caliber slug, an autopsy showed.Defense attorney Charles Scruggs posed many qucsttions during cross-examination in an attempt to impeach Mrs. Hart’s testimony given on diroet examination by Prosecutor Ronald H. Smith. Frequently she responded: “You’re getting me confused.”She stuck to her basic story, although at times she appeared ‘to be on the verge of tears. She had visibly broken down on the stand earlier and Judge Robert J. Kinsey recessed pro-Artinnfeedings longer than usual for the lunch period.In an attempt to establish Mrs. Hart’s frame of mind at the time she saw the shooting, Scruggs suggested that she might have been upset, nervous or may have closed her eyes.Mrs. Hart agreed that she was upset, insisting, “But I was still watching,” and adding: “I was scared to death at that point that me and my baby both would be shot.”During questioning Mrs. Hart said she married Howard on March 20, 1971. She testified she divorced him Aug. 9, 1972, and married Hart a month later. She said she had known Hart for about three years before their marriage and had dated him while her divorce from Howard was pending.The court had difficulty impaneling a jury for the first degree murder trial Thursday, when it ran through its list of prospects, but 12 regular jurors and one alternate were finally seated Friday.Jurors hearing the case are Ronald W. Carter, John B. Wilkins, Lydia A. Alien, Katherine Northeutt, Mary A. Trapp, Anne M. Knudsen, Joyce Hensley, Robin L. Longwith, Margaret A. Pickett, Mary H. Christie, Eula M. Kersey and Jane Catron. Cecelia A. Smith is the alternate.J udge Kinsey recessed the trial until 9 a.m. Wednesday. The courthouse is closed for Discovery Day on Monday, and the judge has an appointment Tuesday in Indianapolis.I ina
Newspaper Details
Kokomo Tribune
Kokomo, Indiana, US
Sat, Oct 06, 1973
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Rhiannon H.
NA, 15 Sep 2024
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