Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1868-02-11
THE EVENING STAR
The TRAGEDY IN CLEvELAND.
minasiss Of the Wsaas Aeessel Q
psisouinx Der Brother.


The Cleveland papers Of THURSDAY give isax
accounts OF the el am ton OF Mrs. sarah W.
Victor, In that city. on the charge OF poisoning
Der brother, VIM. ParQuet with Arsenic about
last weck. ,xaminstioa made by Prots..sr
Casssls and Dr. Tbaycr. These gcntemee
touno large quantities Of white arsenic IN ths
oody-the stomach. the spine, the liver. tAs
lungs &c, showing the presence or the uas'>
OF u. The body Was remarkably well pre-
srNen oy NE arsenic, the lungs IN particular
bring 30 perfect ths, they could b. inflated
The Circumstances Of the case the Leader givs
~ fellows:
On the evening OF Saturday, ths ssth day OF
January, 1907, " lillian, then living with has
OF suffering considerable pain durinc lhs too
following days. On Monday ne seemed some
what better, snd walked out during the afl1r-
noon. He returned about tea tune, and re-
marked soon afterwards that he would 70 .nss
the pantry, take n slight lunch, and 90 20 b~d
On his way home he had stopped 81 the
house OF the other sister-Mrs. Gray-a .hort
distance from his own house. IL appears
from the evidence Of the accused beters
the coroner's Jury, that while there he
had taken from his pocket q small pie, whics
IL seems thai Mrs. Gray west home win him.
and the pie was placed in the pantry, although
whether n first passed through Sarah bands
does not appear. When William went into the
pantry he ate his pie and shortly afterwards
ured. About midnight he was taken suddcaly
i'll, and NJ Was found necessary TO call a physt-
clan. He lived until the following Monday
morning, suffering from frequent spasms, &C
companied by vomiting and purglng He
died on the night OF Monday, February 9Th, ana
v ~ buried on the 6th-one year ago yesterday
PROPOSED 10 the sister-now under sTre-t-but
she strenuously opposed H. She would not
give her consent under any consideration,
and the MATER was dropped for the time
A few weeks after his death. Sarah received
from Mr.. q. q. Carleton, the agent the
full amount OF the insurance upon her
brothers life, s,,0o, and also a small amoant
the proceeds of the will. A difficulty
arose soon after between the sisters on ac-
count Of this unes usl disposition OF his prop
erty. Some four months ago Mrs. Gray wen,
20 the Probate Judge, 20 ascertain regarding
the settlement Of the estate Her investigs-
tons were unsatisfactory, and soon after this
time she openly charged her sister Sarah with
having poisoned their brother for the purpose
Of obtaining the insurance. This was OF course
Indignantly denied, and led TO an open rupture
between them. As the prisoner stated in her
evidence, she refused TO acknowledge Mrs.
Gray AZ her sister after she had charged her
with such a terrible crime.
About this time Sarah went TO the sheriff and
stated that her sister had accused her Of mur-
dering her brother and desired an inyestigs-
ton OF the matter, a. II was being talked OF
among the neighbors. More recently she hSs
visited prosecuting attorney Jones, with
the same request. Since then, sheriff Nicola
deputy sheriff Ridgway and detective Munci.
have been quietly engaged in working up
the case, and AT length reached poist
Nnert tDey deemed ~ adylsable 20 AZ
rest Sarah and have the body examined
Regarding her name, the accused says tbs
several years ago she married a man named
Charles Newton Smith. but was divorced from
him soon after. She then assumed the name Of
Victor Tor reasons best known 70 herself She
stated TO the jury that that was not her name.
she testified that she kept poison in her house
both arsenic and corrosive sublnate. WIN
asked for what purpose she kept them. she SAID
that she procured the former 10 Kin rats. and
the latter TO make a cosmetic wash. She said
the arsenIc was kept IN a paper, under the car
pet.
The investigation was continued till ala
O'Clock last evening, without the evidence of
the prisoner being finished, when the Jury Ad-
1ouTned 70 this m )rning. The woman VA
taken to Jail and locked up for safe keeping
She manifestS considerable feeling, and especi-
ally " hen entering the Jail was much affected
at the disgrace Of being thrust INTO a cell q
felon. The case n in NolNed in seemingly iaer .
plicable mystery. While il n evident that a
murder was committed, IL IL a matter Of great
doubt whether the perpetrator Of the foul CRIME
" i'll ever BE- known.