, 1876-06-05
BRITA NELSON,
How Sho Dntchcred litr Husband Decause
She Dfs1lked l1ltn---Her TFtn1 anl 4tc.

How Sho Entcllcred licr Husband Decause
She Dfsllked lllm---lIer Trtn1 and Ac-
quittat.
M7utch IN 81. L.out. f;to1,. Remorras.
ROCK ISLAND, ILL.,, juBe l.-t)ne Of tho most
Interesting trials for murder that l,Hs been he
fore thu courts f0r ycaFs terminated to-day In
the aGgu!ttal Of l'rtta Selsou, Swcdc woman,
a@ctl about Is. She, eighteen months aeo, mar
rtetl Peter Nelson. miner, and removed to tho
coal-!n!ntng district If iaptls CITY, ,nilcs north
of this city. At tho time Ut tic marriage she
had MI Ilcgti.natc child three mouth. old, hut
this fact dill not interfere with the honeymoon
Of Peter. They liyc,! happily together for year
OF 40, when the sanctIty IT their home was inyal
ell by fnan named Peter Hlcklans, who, By
his persuasive manners, won the gutd will u
Mrs. Nelson. liz boarded with the family for
four months, during which time Mrs. Nelson
formed dislike for licr hushand, anil ncrau,t
attached To- Wick1and, the latter encouraging
Ier With such remarks as that IL were better
that one soul should live than two te lost, and
two would be lost, and wislN,l that she sflOuld
not live with her husband, a,tl that lie had bet
ter be put out Of the way. Acting under the
influence ot tllis ADVICE anl prompted by livr
9Th OF JANUARY last she attacked him with un
ux rs he lay upon L lounge sleeping. ehc
struck Tim ul",n the head seventeen
Ss nTs Th .uo tss al sos sTe1 % # have the css sSwi
instant death, a'ul then cut It's throat from
ear to cor. She carried the body [nto the road,
over TOO fect frutn TIM 1nnse, md, returning,
gathered together The blHaly clothes, and,
placing them In n tub of water, removed the.n
10 the cellar. She then lay down uWm tile
!ou,lgc, where silc rrtnaitcd until u ,leighbor,
who had discovered The dead bpdy y the road,
called and entered the house. When qlics-
tiu,lvl ah tn the causc Ut her husbands death
she rrlatcd the above facts without esineing the
least emotion Or eoNetrIl With rrfcrece ~ the
atrucity. She was arrested on tie charge of
murder, and confined to jail in this city, Ttle
trial commenced nine days agD, AMI has bren
vigorously prosecuted IN lmth stlrs. T. Z. Par.
nentes, States Attorney, ias been asssfed by
u. n, Sturgcss, while she retained as couusel
KenwVrtay s. i}eardsley.
The prosecution lad little else to 10 than
submit to the Court her own testimony bcfnrc
| the COroner's jury, which testimony was given
| without prevarcatlon and Indifference even
| pointing Uut the nauncr III which sile did the
dcsd, his struggles after each blow, and the
her last confession. which was ll,u'le TWO Or
three days after l1cr arrest, to tic Jntl fhysi.
clan, to the effect that ehc had cArrlc!i out the
| plans suggestcl ty hrr .pazaInour, Wivslund.
Thu only plca tl!at could be ,nade, by the de
frnsc was That of insanity. After the txamina
! tion of the witnesses established the fact
Of the homicide, medical experts vert
introduced Il, show the etate of her mind
The testimony ot witnesses shows that she, al
tho time of committing tue dred, lat'ured under
Il fit of emotional insanity. These experts con
sisted nf Drs. 4. Mcfarland, q jacksonville
j. Z. Fcck. ". Middleton, aLu AEbc Clearts, o.
| Davenport; s. c. PIl,niiner and u. n. kcnlcr
uf tlIls city. Ur. Mcfarland, who Aas Aad tLir.
| ty years' experience trratlug eases Ut insanity
gave 1t us his opinion that the atroctous, cold
l,lontled manner In which the deed Was dnne, q!
we'll ~ the seeming uncuncern Of the prisoner
| to hitlt her crime, stamped upon the case tht
complexion Of insanity. In nircty-niue caSea ou
| Of a hundred, sane persons will plan escape q
| conrcalnent. The fact alsu of the woman be
ing nLout six months in pregnancy, strengthen
ed this conclusion. All his experience 1soult
hear him out In eaying, that in the Wcstcr'
country pregnancy Was productive ot very re
| tnn1kable changes tn the minds III women Whlcl
he attributed III part tn the climate. Miss Di
ClcavcR, n graduate Of the State University 0
Iowa, aud iur several years Second Assistln
Physician Of the fnsane Hospital at Mt. Plcaf
ant, Ia, gave 1nurh the suu,r testimony as tn
above, stating that on q personal examination
NJ the woman she. .fnnnd her dull and uIcntAll
weak 10 degree nf imhcci!ity. The testinon
OF the other physicians to ttr extent Of their es
pericnce, was iu accord with that Of Dr.. NcFa u
| iantl.
This testimony was the argument Of tn
COUNSEL used In tue defense Ut the woman
kcnworthy and Heardslry conducted the cas
| With great fairness, and have gained verdict 1
accord with the sytnpathits Of the people. I'll
Jury was mt twenty y-onc hnurs. Mrs. SelA,
gave birth to boy in her eel! at the Jail ytstel
DAY morning. This fact was properly w!tlllel
ft01n tho jury. Confinement 1sns hnstcnrd b
tho excitement of the trial, the prisoner beln
in the Courtroom up to the evening previous.