Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1884-02-27
EATING POISON IN COURT.
A Lawyers Famous Defence OF
Murdercss-A Correct version

Chicago, ate poisoned biscuit before
a Michigan jury, and by that act Sc
cured the acquittal of woman
charged with attempting to murder
her husband From that time until
now the story of the poisoned biscuit
has been told throughout the North
west many hundreds of times by law
yers and others, but it has seldom been
told correctly. SO far as known, the
true version has never appeared III
print. Since the incorrect story oil the
matter has received such wide circula-
ton, reliable narrative of the Incl
dent will doubtless prove readable to
many.
Somewhere between the years OF
1910 and lS45 the wife of farmer oil
IIillsdale county, Mich, baked some
biscuits one Sunday morning and then
went to church, leaving her husband |
to take dinner alone. As he sat down
to his meal, however, young farm la
borer came to the house and ]oined
him at mis- repast. Each ate OF the
newly-baked biscuits, but quickly
found them unpalatable and put them
aside. Neither one had eaten more
than half biscuit. Both were soon
taken violently ill and displayed strong
symptoms of arsenical poisoning, The
young man recovered from his sick
ness after some days of intense suffer-
ing. but the farmer fingered in dying
condition for more than year, and
finally expired.
Sixteen years before this time the
farmer had married his wife for her
money. She brought him $4,000 lie
purchased farm with this amount,
and in few years he became quite
forehandel. His greatest enjoyment,
apparently, was to annoy his wife in
every conceivable manner. His favor
ite amusement was to pull their little
child out Of bed in the night and beat
it cruelty. They finally concluded TO
obtain divorce from each other. Inc
farmer agreed to give his wife lien
on his property for $1,000 for the sup
port of herself and child. The mort
cage was made out and placed in a
LAWYERS hands to await the divorce.
The wife, in consideration of the mort
gage, signed a quitclaim deed to all
her husbands property. On the eve OF
the granting of the divorce the farmer
secured the mortgage and destroyed it.
intending to put the deed on record
, after the divorce was granted. Ills
wife discovered the cheat and stoppec
the divorce proceedings. She then de
. liberately planned to kill her husband
She sought a reconciliation and wen
5 back to live with him. One day sh
l disguised herself in male attire, wen
, to IIinsdale and purchased a quantlt,
r of arsenic. This she mixed in batcl
: of biscuits and left them for her hus
l band to eat
, In short time she was arrested
I; BY law the woman could not be trle'
| for murder because her husband livet
r more than year after he was poisoned
: She was indicted for poisoning, AM
6 put on trial in lIillsdale. Mr.. Val
l Arman, then young man with Law
, office in Marshall, Mich, defended her
: A young French chemist from Detrol
/. testified against the accused. lie wa
); the only chemist that Detroit afforded
: and he was very incompetent one
d This young man swore to the jury tina
4 he hal analyzed several OF the bis
y cults which the prisoner had made 10
# her husbands eating, and had foun
o they contained arsenic. From his quar-
|, titative analysis he Swore posltlvel
that the husband had swallowed les
s. than grain of arsenic. The chemls
further swore that grain of arsen1
| was deadly dose, and that even les
1, might be fatal.
70 There were no railroads in Michiga
at that early day, and there was NJ
n another chemist nearer than Chicag
Mr.. Van Aramn, who had studie
p chemistry in his youth, and had eve
20 delivered lectures on the subject, plall
,f " saw that the Frenchman's testimor
n. was woefully incorrect. Mr.. Van a
n man contended before the jury, that
ID grain of arsenic was only a medlcln
dose and that thu defendants husban
therefore, must have become fatally
through some other agency than po
lg son in the biscuits. He could produ
III no expert testimony to substantiate h
Is theory because no experts were with
n, reach. knowing that a grain of ars
ok mic would not seriously affect the h,
10 man system. he caused number
or biscuits to be baked by a physician
the town, each of them containil
10 a grain Of tine deadly substance. FC
tunately for his client, there were no
nj of the original biscuits to be had, a
n the jury could not murmur against t
Il substitution of new ones.
1t Having proved by the physical
who made them that the biscuits we
Is properly poisoned, Mr.. Van Arm'
Oh near the beginning of his closing a
III gument, gracefully ate one of them
ed fore the jury and continued to addr'
lai them. lie remained in their sight
lis several hours, and took pains to sht
them that he swallowed no antido
'of The grain of arsenic produced no
IN effects on him. The prosecuting la