The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1873-08-22

body which in certain marked features
correspondent very strikingly to that of
DIR. Parkman. As such it was identi-
fed beyond doubt by those who were
best acquainted with him when living
and if there had been doubt it would
have been set aside by the testimony of
the dentist, who positively recognized
the mineral teeth as part of set which
he had made for DIR. Parkman several
years before.
Under these circumstances there
seemed only one course to be pursued
to arrest Prof. Webster. His ar
rest was in fact determined upon as
soon as the janitor had made the first
of these discoveries in the vault.
That very night the officers repaired
to his house in Cambridge. He
was informed that another search
was about to be made at the Medi-
cal College, and it was felt to be desir-
able that he should be there at the
time. He responded willingly to the
summons. On the way back in the car
riage to Boston, conversation turned
upon the efforts that had been made to
find DIR. Parkman's body, and Prof.
Webster named a lady in that part of
Cambridge known as the Port" who
was understood to have some informa-
ton bearing on the case. He proposed
that they should call upon her on the
way. The officers, however, thought
that that errand had better be deferred.
On reaching Boston the carriage was
driven past the street leading to the
Ma1ioa1 Nnl1ann and 1raxr % he
door of the Jail,
"What does all this mean ?" asked
Prof. Webster of one of his conductors,
as they led him into the inner office.
''Dr. Webster, was the officers reply,
"you recollect told you at the bridge
that sound ngs had been had above and
below the bridge. Wehave been sound
ing in and about the college We have
done looking for the body of DR.. Park
man. We shall not look for his body
any more and you are now in custody
on the charge of the murder of DR..
Parkman.
AT first Prof Webster was but little
affected by this announcement, except
that he wished word to be sent to his
family. He soon became visibly ex-
cited, however, and afterward greatly
FRUSTRATED. Later in the evening he
was taken to the Medical College and
confronted with the remains which had
been found in the vault His agitation
here was extreme he attempted to
drink, but could not and the help of
the officers was necessary to enable him
TO stand. His perspiration was so pro-
fuse as to be noticed by others through
his clothing.
"Why don't they ask Littlefeld ?"
he said, as he was put into the carriage
to be carried back to the Jail. He
can'explain all this. He has the care Of
the dissecting-room."
And then he was left in his cell for the
night, in apparently. great distress of
mind and body.
On the following day he casually re-
marked "This is no more DR.. Park
mans body than it is my body and
how in the world it came there l don't
know" And then he added 81 never
liked the looks of that Littlefeld, the
ianitor. opposed his coming there all
/ could"
Poor man 1t is not strange that
such bungling attempt to divert sus-
picion from himself in two different
directions at the same time, was regarded
as betrayal of guilty secret which he
alone + possessed.
The sensation produced by the arrest
of Prof. Webster, followed as it was by
the prompt verdict of the Coroner S
jury laying the murder of DIR. Parkman
to his charge, and his indictment by the
Grand Jury for the crime was profound;
and when the case came to trial the fol-
lowing March, before the full bench of
the Supreme Judicial Court of Mas5a-
chusetts, Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw
presiding, assisted by Associate Justices
Samuel Wilde, Charles A. Dewey, and
Theron Metcalf, it attracted uncommon
attention throughout the country. The
prosecution was conducted by Attorney
General John H. Clifford and George
Bemis, ESQ.,, and the defense by the
Hon. Pliny Merrick and Edward ID.
Sohier, Esq.
The theory of the prosecution was of
course plain. 1t was that Prof. Web
ster, in debt to DR.. Parkman, and har-
assed beyond endurance by his creditor,
secured his presence in his rooms at
the Medical College on the fatal Friday,
at time when he would be free from
ordinary occupations and interruptions
for several days and that he then and
there murdered him with the intent of
utterly destroying the body piece by
piece in the fire or by chemical means,
in the use of which he had skill and ex-
perience in which process he was dis
covered and arrested, with the unde-
stroyed parts of the body of the victim
still on his hands. The several details
of this theory were supported by the
amplest and strongest sort of circum-
stantial evidence, some of which has
already been presented.
Prof. Webster's plea was Not guilty.
and his defense was restricted to the
proof of his previous excellent charac-
ter and high standing; of his natural
bearing during the days Immediately
following pr. Parkman's disappearance,
when, as was alleged, his hands were
reeking with the blood of murder and
also of the theory that DIR. Parkman
had been seen on the streets of Boston
subsequent to the time of his interview
with the prisoner at the Medical Col
lege. Could the latter point have been
established to the satisfaction of the