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Show oo IEUHEII HARRIS TELLS F FORMER WIFE NOW REID FOR MURDER Leander ? Harris of Harrisville is I the father of Leland Harris, who is jbeing held with his brother, Eugene, 'and mother, Mrs. Alice Harris, in the Salt Lake county Jai! in connection 'with the murder of Jecse H. Cone, a Tnuh f fumiv r.-inrhiT nnd Ihp severe wounding ol Deputy Joseph W. Sabey at the Harris ranch at Trout Creek, Juab county. The father is leaving i Ogden today to visit his -sons in Salt, Lake lf does not belieye that any of his children are guilty of killing! Cone or wounding tho drput I. ' land Harris recein.lv returned i from military service and after a visit with his father at Harrisville, he went! to his mother in the southern part of the state. ."Leland is not the kind of a boy to shool down B man like Mr Cone was.", said the father last erenlng. "I am so confident that the bo had nothing, to do wiLh the shooting that I am going: to Salt Lake to see him I want to learn his story and help him if I can." I I In discussing the shooting Mr. Har- ! ris riM-ountod many instances in hi.s life as they affected tbe woman, who with her two sons and a hired man are charged with murder. "It wat while I was on a mission that she divorced me,' said Mr. Harris. Har-ris. "And when I left on a mission, It gave her the chance she seemed to have waited for. "I kissed my family goodbye and boarded the short Line train at Harrisville. Har-risville. That was in ISO. I 1 ft my three (hildren tho two boys, who are now mixed up in this murder case, and i their sister with their mother. Thej train had not gone many feet. I was told by my friends, when my wife re-i re-i marked, 'Well, he's gone and gone for good.' Gets Divorce "While 1 was absent she got a di-vorce di-vorce by default. I knew nothing of( lit and of course could not contest the i action. Judge H H. Kolapp gave her the decree and awarded her the cus tody of the children "When 1 r turned home I found that jsbe had sold all my personal property, i my horses, wagons and farm implements imple-ments She also sold 40 acres of my i land in Cache vallej and 150 acres in1 i Oregon, in addition to two houses and several lots in Nevada. She even tried to sell my mother's place where we lived but the deed was in my mother's name and Bhe could nol get it. Mames A Soldier "During this time she married a toldier by the name ol Merrill, It was at the time there were a number of soldiers In opden on their way to ilhe Philippines during the Spanish-American Spanish-American war With him .--he went to Washington and with the money she (realized from the sale of my property !she took out an Insurance policy for '$35,000 on his life, with her.self as I beneficiary. "The war ended and Merrill returned to her crippled with rheumatism. She led him and later I induced her lo bring the children to Ogden where they could secure an education While she was here 1 filed action In the court and Judge Kolapp reversed his decision, after I had presented proof of her RC tion and 1 was awarded Ihe children. ' A number of times she had threat- ened to use force to get the children I One day I had to co to Ogden and I j took the children to the home of a relative in North Ogden She came to mo armed and thn a'ened -he would not leave a grease -spot of me if I did not return the children to her. Her threats had no effect I knew the children chil-dren were in good hands. Gets Children Again "When I had gone tc town, she learned from some of thp neighbors where the children were and with her brother Lorenzo Jensen of Salt Lake, she wont to North Ogden and took the children awav from the family 1 bad left them with, threatening violence If anv one interfered. "I learned thai a lawyer in Ogden he is now dead advised her lo leave the country with them if she wanted to keep them with her She did. First J i she went to Chicago and then to ( an I ada, whore she stayed until the ehil ' dren were of age and out of mv power. pow-er. It was not until then that she re turned (o the states, tirst sciiim- m Washingon. Later she brought the children to Utah and settled in Juab county, where the recent shooting tool: place "My boy s and "irl have been to visil me often since. They are good children chil-dren but her dragging them around the country has not been of any benefit to them. My daughter Is now Mrs. Ben Wood, wife of a Utah cattleman. She Stayed with me all lart winter and the bos have been to see roe this summer "The boys, I do not believe, had any part In the shooting. 1 am going to Salt Lake to see' Leland and try to straighten out this trouble I don't know what I can do, but the boys are going to have my soriees if I can be of any help to them." Mr. Harris is a well known farmer of Harrisville. He is related to the I Harris family of Harrisville and Ogden. Og-den. He said yesterday that he knew nothing of the shooting save what he had read in the paper-Held paper-Held in Jail The mother and her two son? are in the Salt Lake county jail. It is probable that they with Wm Edward H. 'Packman, the ranchhand, alleged to have been implicated in the shoot-' in'. will bo taken to Nephi the first part of next week for arraignment and preliminary hearing in connection with the shooting. Before the preliminary hearing can be held it will be necessary to brine to Nephi a groat number of witnes el who live a great distance from the county seat at points around the Har-i ris ranch and Gold Hi1!. Although these witnesses were heard at the inquest, in-quest, held after the death of Cone, It will be nOCSSary for these witnesses to appear again to offer direct testimony testi-mony at the preliminary hearing. oo |