People v. Holtz

• Decision Date: 08 October 1920
• Docket Number: No. 13306.,13306.
• Citation: 128 N.E. 341,294 Ill. 143
• Parties: PEOPLE v. HOLTZ et al.
• Court: Illinois Supreme Court

294 Ill. 143

128 N.E. 341

PEOPLE

v.HOLTZ et al.

No. 13306.

Supreme Court of Illinois.

June 16, 1920.

Rehearing Denied Oct. 8, 1920.

Error to Circuit Court, Vermilion County; A. A. Partlow, Judge.

Martha Holtz and another were convicted of murder, and they bring error.

Reversed and remanded.

Cartwright, C. J., and Thompson, J., dissenting.

Acton & Acton, S. F. Schecter, and Lindley, Penwill & Lindley, all of Danville (William M. Acton and Walter C. Lindley, both of Danville, of counsel), for plaintiffs in error.

Edward J. Brundage, Atty. Gen., John H. Lewman, State's Atty., of Danville, Sumner S. Anderson, of Springfield, and Samuel Levin, of Danville, for the People.

DUNN, J.

About 4 o'clock in the morning of August 9, 1919, the sound of two shots, one following the other at a short interval, was heard proceeding from the second story of a dwelling house at No. 11 McVey street, in the city of Danville.The first shot wounded Charles Holtz, and the second killed Walter Whisman.The grand jury, at the October term of the Vermilion county circuit court, indicted Martha Holtz, the wife of Charles Holtz, and Grace Whisman, the widow of Walter Whisman, for the murder of Whisman.They were tried at the same term and found guilty.They were sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary, Mrs. Holtz for 20 years and Mrs. Whisman for 14 years, and have sued out a writ of error.

The scene of the tragedy was the residence of Charles Holtz, where he had resided with his wife for 11 years.They had been married for 26 years, during which time he had been employed as a motorman, first at Champaign, and after their removal to Danville, by the Illinois Traction System.Mrs. Holtz was 47 years old.The title to the property, which was worth about $6,000, had been in Holtz; but on March 16, 1919, he and his wife conveyed it to Anna E. Smith, who on the same day conveyed it to Holtz and his wife as joint tenants, and not as tenants in common.Mrs. Holtz was an aunt of Grace Whisman, the sister of her mother, Mrs. Sexton, who lives at West Lebanon, Ind.Mrs. Whisman was 29 years old, and had lived with Mr. and Mrs. Holtz from the time she was 9 years old until her marriage to Walter Whisman, 5 years before his death.She was a stenographer, and had been employed by the Burroughs Adding Machine Company in its office at Danville for several months prior to August 9, 1919.Her husband was assistant manager of the Savoy Hotel.They lived in Danville after their marriage, keeping house in rented apartments until November, 1918, when they gave up housekeeping and rented a room in the Holtz house, in which they afterward lived.This was the southeast corner room in the second story, and immediately north of it was the northeast corner room, which was the bedroom of Mr. and Mrs. Holtz.These four were the only occupants of the house.The Whismans did not board at the Holtz house, except that Mrs. Whisman had breakfast there.His hours at the hotel were from 7 in the morning to 7 in the evening, and hers at the office from 8:30 in the morning to 5 in the evening.Their meals at noon and in the evening they got at various restaurants, having them together when it was convenient to do so.His salary was $125 a month, hers $17 a week, and they kept separate bank accounts.

McVey street is a short unpaved street of one block, running west from Gilbert street to Logan avenue.The Gilbert street bridge crosses the Little Vermilion river immediately south of the Gilbert street intersection.On the north side of McVey street are six dwelling houses, of which the Holtz house is the second from the east.The house at the west end of the street was occupied by M. B. Grimes, a deputy sheriff, and his family.This house is about 140 feet west of the Holtz house.The street slopes to the west, and at Logan avenue is about three feet lower than at Gilbert street.The south side of the street is also somewhat lower than the north side, and from Gilbert street west for some distance past the Holtz place there is a brick retaining wall, which extends 2 or 3 feet above the street.On the south side of this wall it is 6 or 8 feet down to the ground, which slopes south to the river, and the ground between the street and the river is occupied by an orchard.There is a cinder walk on the south side of the street, and a cement sidewalk on the north side.On the north side the lots are 2 or 3 feet above the sidewalk, and steps lead up from the sidewalk to each of the houses.The lots are 150 feet deep, and on the north of them is an alley extending from Gilbert street to Logan avenue.On the north end of the Holtz lot is a garage.On the south side of the Holtz house was a porch, extending across the whole front.The door was near the southwest corner, and opened into a hall about 12 feet long.The stairway started up about 8 feet from the door, going to a landing on the west side of the hall, and then turning east the rest of the way.At the right was a room with a wide opening from the hall, which was the southeast room of the house.There was a light in this room at half past 3 o'clock in the morning and at the time of the shooting.Back of the hall and front room was the dining room, and beyond that on the north was the kitchen.North of the kitchen was a platform, which had no roof over it, with several steps leading up to it.The stairway landed at the second story, opposite a doorway which was the entrance to the southeast room, which was the one occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Whisman.There was a small room in the southwest corner of the house.The hall extended north, and next to the entrance to the Whisman room was a door opening into a closet.Beyond that was a door opening into the southwest corner of the bedroom which was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Holtz, in the northeast corner of the house.At the end of the hall was a door opening into a small room, which was the northwest room of the house, and on the west side of the hall, before reaching that room, was the bathroom.In the southeast room the bed in which Mr. and Mrs. Whisman slept was located in the southwest corner, with the foot pulled out from the west wall a short distance.At the foot of the bed was a table, and above that was an electric light hanging from the ceiling by a cord.On the east side of the room was a box or couch.In the northeast corner was a door opening into a closet.In the northeast room the bed stood in the northeast corner of the room, with the foot pulled out a short distance from the north wall.There was a window in this north wall directly opposite the foot of the bed.The foot of the bed was used as the head, so that, when occupied, the heads of the sleepers were toward the west.The door from the hall opened into the room in the southwest corner, opening toward the south.North of this door, against the west wall, stood a chiffonier about 5 feet high.At the top, on the north end, was a medicine closet, and on the south end two small drawers.Below these was a large drawer the full length of the chiffonier, about 3 feet.In this drawer was a loaded 38-caliber revolver belonging to Holtz.

The first person from outside the house on the scene after the shooting was Grimes, the deputy sheriff.He was awakened about 4:15 o'clock, and soon after heard a single shot.Very soon after, his alarm clock, which was set for 4:15, sounded.The alarm was short, and just after it stopped he heard some one screaming and calling for help.He was sleeping in the north part of the house, upstairs.He looked out of the window, saw some one at the north end of the house, and asked what was the matter.Mrs. Holtz answered, telling him who she was, saying that there were burglars up there, and there was shooting; that Charlie was shot, and she was afraid that Walter was hurt.When he went downstairs and out the front door, Mrs. Holtz asked him to call the police, and he went back to the telephone and did so.He then started to Holtz's house with a revolver in each hand, going pretty fast.Mrs. Holtz was talking to his wife.He went a short distance when he saw a shadow, and Mrs. Whisman stepped out on the sidewalk.He asked her what was the trouble, and she said there were burglars in the house and there was shooting, and asked him not to go up, for he might get hurt, and she might be the only one that got away.When he got to the Holtz house, the porch was dark and the door was open.He heard a noise from the inside of the house, and thought it was a burglar.He stood at the east side of the door with his revolvers in his hands.He saw a hand reach out from the inside of the house and turn on the porch light, and then saw Holtz standing with his hands to the back of his head and his eyes staring.He was staggering, and asked Grimes who he was and what he wanted.Grimes told him who he was, and that he had come to see what the trouble was, and if he could be of any help.Holtz said:

‘If you will get the women to go to bed and be still, there will be no trouble; I am shot.’

He turned around and walked up against the newel post.Grimes asked him where Walter was, and he said he did not know.Grimes then went upstairs.When he reached the landing, he noticed that Mrs. Holtz was with her husband, caring for him, and when he got to the top of the staircase Mrs. Whisman was a step or two behind him, and asked him not to go any further, for he was likely to get hurt.He asked her which was their room, and she pointed to the southeast room as their room, and the northeast room as the Holtz room.Grimes first looked into the small southwest room and saw no one.He then went into the Whisman room, and first went to the closet in the northeast corner, and opened the door, but found no one.He looked toward the bed, and saw bare feet and a body, and a gown with blood on it.It was Whisman, who was lying on his back with his head close to the baseboard of the south wall, with his feet...