Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1881-09-02
The ReadSbOrO Murder Case,
Edison l.. Fuller Arrested, Exam.
ined, and Held for Trial.

Justice Examination Held at Reads
bore last Friday and Saturday,
Prepared from stenographic notes especially for
The VERMONT PHGNx.l
The preliminary examination of Edison L,
Fuller of Readsboro, charged with the muir
der of Melvin L. Witham, took place at
Readsboro last Friday and Saturday, before
Justice Faxon L. Brown, and resulted in hold.
ing Fuller for trial, without ball. at the De.
cember term of the Bennington county court.
Complaint in the case was made by Grand
Juror s. D. Kelly. o. e. Butterfield of Will
mington was called to Readsboro ns counsel
for the state on Thursday afternoon. and ma
pers charging Fuller with the crime of muir.
der and ordering his arrest, were made ont
and placed in the hands of the officers about
nine o'clock that evening. Officer w. A.
Brown of jacksonville, together with L. II.
Witham of Lowell, Mass. "a brother of the
murdered mani, A. J. Pike and t. d. Good
ell, proceeded to the home of Fuller, in Hart
MELVILLE, and aroused the family. On stating
their business they were admitted and no at.
tempt at resistance was made, Fuller prepar
ing to accompany them while they searched
the house for articles to be used as evidence
in the trial. They brought away with them
q pair of bullet-moulds, a double barreled
shotgun, an old pair of dirty stockings, and
pair of rubber boots with the tops cut of.
The trial was appointed for ten o'clock on
Friday morning, but the counsel for the de-
fense-S. L. Davenport and @. f. Boyd of
Wilmington, and @. j. Parkhurst of North
Adams-were not procured and in prepare
ton for the trial until the middle of the after
noon.
Abstract OF she Testimony.
The state began by calling NJ. NJ. Hough-
ton, one of the selectmen of Readsboro, to
the witness stand.
Mr. Houghton stated that he notified OF the
murder, and called up to go to Mrs Oden's, about
half-Past II O'Clock Monday night, by one Thompson
and Darwin Olden, son Of the widow Olden at whose
house the murder was committed. He went there
Immediately, and found Williams body upon the bed.
Noticed the lower glass Of the window at the
foot Of bed broken. Went up next day. and noticed
smoke on the wndOw-frame and lights and dent on
the side of the window where the gun must have rest
ed, within few inches of the window-light. There
is bank-wa four or five feet from the house, abouts
ten feet high
Cross-examination: Place about three-auarters of
mile from main road Saw the doctors make an ex-
animation Of the wound. There quite large
places-soms FIVE six marks. The folks said it was
about O'Clock the shooting took place. About four
miles from his house to Mrs. Oldens
DR.. A. W. Rice was called and sworn, and testified
that he was called to attend Witham, Monday night.
That he got there about halfpast IL. Found William
night except ocular. awe saw the wound, and dis
covered ball on the sternum breast-bone took
small scalpel and removed it, Went there the next
morning about nine O'Clock. There was large wound
in tie left side about inch below and to the left
the left nipple. / made an incision iust below the
neck down to the umbilcus, and one from where we
took the ball from the breAst-bone down this wound
the left side. The ball over the breastbone which
extracted the night before, struck the sixth rib
glanced through the ifth passed through under the
muscles, and lodged over the sternum. The other
ball we found passed through the sixth rib, through
the base of the left lung through the artery Just as
left the heart through the base OF the right lung and
directly through the sixth rib the right side about
three inches from the backbone and it was found in
the muscles OF the right side within about half an
inch of the surface.
Ques.-Did you notice any shot-marks? Ans-I
did. didn't count them; should say about ten or
dozen.
Q4-were those wounds sufficient to cause death in
stanty? Al should say they were.
Odd you examine the Window A. Yes; should
judge the lights were 1x9 glass Noticed the sash next
the light that broken was covered with burnt pow
der and the smoke radiated out upon either light.
Q.-What position was he in at the time he was
shot7 Al understood that he the edge of
the bed, preparing to go to bed-eaning over on his
right hand, talking with Miss olden. Think the
mouth OF the gun was higher than the breech, from
the shomarks on the wall which noticed on the 9TH
er side of the room. Think he was some six feet
from the window; think the end OF the gun was not
over two inches from the window, Examined ground
outside of window; garden right below the bank
wall but very weedy-so much that tracks could
not easily be seen. Found about four feet from the
house heel-track. The garden and land around so
covered with vegetation that no tracks could be dis
covered. The selectmen gave orders to havs no one
walk around there until an examination was made.
Odd you save the balls taken from Williams
body7 Al did. Produces balls, very badly bat
tered.l
Q.-HAYe any bullet-moulds been presented to you z
Ayes. run some balls in them. The sugs run
in the moulds weighed Just grains than either
OF the bullets taken from Williams body; the round
ball run in the moulds weighed grains less.
(The moulds of which DR.. Rice was speaking were
produced in COURT and were the same that were taken
from Fullers house the night before. They run two
Kinds OF balls-a round one, and pointed one or
slug)
o. Do you think some of the lead would be taken
from the balls which were found in Williams body ?
AIN my opinion, ball passing through two ribs
would have tendency to lose some.
8 Z aiT nT less. i
it might.
Q.gHow much do those balls weight A.-6O grains.
Odd you discover any creases in the balls resem-
bling those in the slugs made in the bulletmoulds
A.-rhe ball that passed through him had crease in
have been obliterated.
,.Q-Have you piece of the window-glass? A.
Yes. tShows piece of very thick gSss to the court
The cross-eIaminatOn developed nothing Of impor-
tance except that there was hedge about two rods
below the house, which would probably at dusk con-
ceal a man from observation at the house.
Lestina olden called and sworn. Daughter Of Mrs.
Elyira olden reside with her. and was at home last
after dark, about S'ciocE. Withsm was in the square
room in the southwest corner OF the house. sitting on
window near the foot of the bed The bed reached
about third of the middle Of the window. was
sitting by the opposite side Of the window, leaning
back against the house. should think my head must
have been about foot from where the charge pene-
trated the window. The charge went through TIC
room, but one in the kitchen where my mother sat
which shone into this room. My mother sat in sight
leading into the kitchen one else in the two rooms
Q.-What was the first thing you noticed or heard
in reference to the shooting? Al heard the report
and the smoke came into the room, and the blaze wal
very bright-so bright that II blinded me:
Q.=what was said by witham upon that report
Ale holers "Oh, I'm dead-Im dead!" He spranl
towards the foot of the bed, and as seemed under
took to sit down there and pitched on the floor, ant
rolled his back, and Strengthened out Isprunl
to help him mother grabbed the light TO go for Oar
win. Darwin is Mrs. olden's son, who had Just gon'
to uedl got the camphor bottle and bathed his fac
gaGped
he laid there. When my brother came down stairs,
called him to help lay him [Withaml the bed.
took him by the shoulders, and he took him by thu
limbs, and we laid him on the bed. bathed his fae'
with camphor, and put some spirits IN ms mouth =,
bed his hands and feet and put hot bricks around him
but he commenced to grow cold. Didn't notice an!
doctor as soon as he could He did so. Mother wen
with him to John Canedy's, whose folks came bael
with her. There was no other one in the house eA
cept Jane Whitcomb.
O. Did you look out the window after the shot wa
fired? Al didn't. 1 don't think could have seei
any one, it was dark The windows In the room
were closed, and the curtains rolled as hgh as the
could be. The windows in the kitchen were raised
The folks raked hay long they could see to rak
before they came in that night
Q. Did you hear any sound or indication that an
one was present on the outside of the house Deior
your people came in from the hay field? A shor
time before they came in, thought heard someood
in the corn. looked out and nothing, and hear
nothing more, There's hedge some or 8 feet froI
the wharGng. A path leads through the garden t
where at the end OF the hedge one may get over an
go down into the woods. 49,,
Here followed long cross-examinaton, the mai
object apparently being to connect the 0lden family
some way with the guilty party For this purpose
was shown that the Olden boy had been at times
nnfriendly terms with Witham, and had at one tim
left his home, promising TO come back only on coma
ton that Nitham should leave. That he came bael
aud Witbam didn't leave. That Witham was afraiC
from certain threats that had been made by the town
people, that a party was coming to mob him, and ha
hlled the house with guns-there being no less ina
sx in the house, four of which were borrowed iroi
the neighbors and loaded with iron slugs and the OIL
er two belonging TO the Oldens That one OF tines
guns had been recently hred-the small one, Whlc
The boy claimed to own.
Curtis Davis was next called and sworn; Live !
hartwellyie, and have known Fuller for 80 year
MET him the morning after the murder ana tola MI