The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-11-13
A CELEBRATED CASE.
A Kansas Mayors Death from the
Effect of Arsenic.
His Third Wife, aged Sixteen, is
Charged with his Murder.

The acquittal of Mrs. Walkup, on trial for
tho murder of her husband, tho mayor of
Emporia, Kan, terminates a case which has
attracted unusual attention and interest. The
accused is n beautiful Southern girl who met
and married Walkup, n man of forty nine,
in New Orleans, sine being then but sixteen
Within q month after the wedding the
bridegroom died suddenly, under circum-
stances which led to the arrest of the young
wife on charge of poisoning. The deceased
had families by two previous wives, and these
Joined in urging the prosecution, they having
bitterly resented his third marriage, and
being persuaded that Minnie Wallace ac-
cepted him only to get possession of his
property, which was considerable An autopsy
revealed the presence of arsenic in the
DEAD mans stomach; it was shown that the
defendant had purchased both that poison
and strychnine about the time her husband
was taken ILL and the case against her looked
black On the trial, however, strong evil
dence was edduced showing that the dead
man had been in the habit of taking arsenic
incidentally for years, and it was further
demonstrated that his constitution was so i'm.
paired as to render possible almost any kind
of collapse, independent of the action of the
poison taken into his system.
The evidence, says the New York Tribune,
established presumption favorable to the
prisoner, but taken alone it probably would
not have acquitted her. The fact that she
had bought poison Just at the time when her
husband was seized with his fatal illness,
would in the average mind, When placed in
connection with the dlscre pancy in their ages,
her frankly expressed Indifference to him, and
the temptation offered by his property to a
poor girl, have created the conviction that
she was guilty as charged. But fortunately
the defence was able to bring forward ex-
culpatory evidence. 1t was shown that she
had bought the strychnine to clean a dress
with, and the arsenic for her own use, to re-
move certain disfiguring blotches from her
face. This testimony, If not wholly
convincing, at least strengthened the
the defence as nothing else could
have done, while the medical evidence
as to the condition of the deceased mans
health, and his habit of arsenic eating, no
doubt turned the scale in the prisoners favor.
Nor is it credible that her youth, beauty and
winning demeanor produced no effect upon
that emotional Western jury. Such endow-
mens have always exerted powerful in1u-
ence in courts of justice from the time of
Phryne downward and we may be sure that
they counted here.
Not that there is any ground for suspect
ing the jury of undue bias. On the contrary
the verdict Of acquittal appears to be fully
justified by the evidence But it may be
questioned whether any Jury would have al
for the defence had the conditions been
reversed and Walkup been on trial
for killing his young wife. The case has ex-
cited Kansas and Missouri greatly, and it
will certainty take its place a cause cele-
bre, for the facts are remarkable. The prose-
cution made out most damaging exhibit on
circumstantial evidence. 1t was prima facie
s" strong that before the theory
of the defence was developed
it seemed to compel conviction.
Yet, when the case of the defence
was developed the most formidable points in
the prosecution were seen to have been met
not by subterfuge, but by explanatory and
rebutting testimony of the most substan-
tial character. In fact, from case which
at the outset there appeared scarce
ly any escape from verdict
of guilty, it changed to one in which acqut-
tai was so clearly indicated as to seem in its
turn the only conclusion the jury could
reach Poisoning cases are nearly always
full of pitfalls and difficulties, but this more
than any of its predecessors Yet the gen
eral belief evidently is that justice has been
done despite the obscurty and righteousness
of the circumstances.