Wichita eagle., 1888-05-30
MARRIED HIS M0THER-IN-LAW.
The Husband Dead and the Wife Charged
With Poisoning Him.

RED OAK. To-. May Coco. r. johnson,
who died at Villisca few days ago under
suspicious circumstances, married his
mother-in-law The latter has just been
lodged in Jail here charged with poisoning
him, and the case comes up for trial at the
August term of Court. johnson died after
an illness of two weeks. The physician
attending him thought at first the
illness was only bilious attack.
but as the man grew worse the
physician noticed symptoms that indi-
Gated poisoning Another doctor was call
ed in consultation, and he, too, recognized
symptoms of poisoning. But Johnston
was too far gone and died the next day
A post-mortem examination was held and
the presence of II large quantity of arsenic
in the dead mans stomach was discovered.
At the inquest it was developed that the
mans. wife bought box of trough on
rats" about the time he was taken sick
and one of the step children testified that
the woman put it by the flour barrel. 1t
was in testimony that the woman objected
to doctor being called, and that she gave
the sick man all the food he took, as well
as most of his medicines. The dead
mans brother testified that the for
mer insisted on his calling
doctor again a few days before death came,
dilll ODlcCtcu " IL UCilS lSlU " HIS VILE
when she offered to attend to it. A mer
chant testified to hearing the women re-
mark in his store that her husband was no
account and she would be far better with
out him. While the postmortem was in
progress the woman who had gone to the
home of her law, Oscar johnson,
living near by, was seen to enter an OUT
house on the latterS premises, and upon
her leaving it, a box of trough on rats"
nearly empty, WAS found in the vault
During the inquest the woman testified
that the box was on a shelf in the pantry
at her home but betrayed the first signs
of perturbation when told to go with an
officer and get it. She went. but the box
was not found
The cOroner's jury returned verdict of
death from poisoning, but shrank from
specifying as to the prisoner, ABUSING
the words administered by person
or persons unknown" So the
woman was not arrested on a coroner's
warrant After the funeral, the brother
OF the dead man Swore out an information
charging the widow with being the
polsoner, and after a preliminary eXamina-
ton lasting two days, the woman was held
to answer. Being unable to give bonds,
she was brought here and lodged in jail,
She IS about 45 years of age, small in
stature, with sharp features and rest
less, piercing eyes. During the in
quest and the preliminary examination
she exhibited no feeling over the death
of her husband, and maintained the cool
est sort of demeanor, except when the
matter of finding the box of trough on
rats" came up. Johnston was her third
husband, and she his second wife. Her
other husbands died in Kansas. and both
died with diseases which puzzled the ply
sicians Johnston was 80 years old, and
had been sickly and unable to do much
work for year or more. His wife took in
They had been married four
years. There We're no children except two
of the woman's By a former marriage. No
evidence was offered that they had lived
together, but there was testi-
mony that the woman had frequently re-
ceived calls from another man.