Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-10-05

saturdays Proceedings.
NEwFANE, oct. ., 1888
Inc first witness to take the stand Sat
nrday was Dr. Holton He said he had
been to the Dummcrston post office and
nad made experiments and seen them made.
lie was convinced that the top of the chair
must have been more than seven or eight
inches from the counter. The body might
have brought it forward as near as that
In placing the chair he found that the rock
ers struck the front Of the counter in such
a way as to leave quite a space between
the back OF the chair and the upper edge
OF the counter when the chair had no
weight in it. A person could either have
fallen into the position in which the BODY
was found or could have been placed
there. In his opinion it would be difficult
to tell whether the marks on Miss Knapp's
BODY indicated violence before or after
death, or were attributable ~ putrefaction
The mark on the back Of the head he was
quite certain was due to putrefaction This
IS one OF the places where decay first com
mences. He could not tell why spots came
IN one place sooner than another. IL was
IA mystery. He could not account for them
any more than he could for the appearance
OF decay IN one part Of a pumpkin sooner
than III another. The point over the ear
might have been the place whore decompo.
sition began. The inside of the brain might
have been colored from without. Putre-
| faction had 50 far advanced at the time of
the examination that he could not give an
| opinion rs to the cause of death 1t might
have been produced from the condition of
the lung, or from npopexy, or from the
rupture of IA blood yes sci at the base Of the
brain. There might have been "A disease Of
| the hnnrt ,ybi.1, l..
after death Marks Of violence would he
liscernible in few hours after death.
One of the first questions DR. Hoton was
asked in his cross examination was, is
! there any other way to account for the
marks ON the neck than by decomposition =
YES, he answered, II should think they
might have been made 10y the collar. or the
person might have been hung" To his
mind, though marks of violence might he
distinguished two or three DAYS after death
from decomposition it would he very diff
hcult to detect the difference in weeks
time. Decomposition may begin at any
point in the body. 1t is usually seen in the
neck first II upon examination week
after death he found the membrane next
to the skin raised up, he should say violence
had been received at that place near the
time of death. Blood found in the brain
2l or - hours after death would indicate
blow. If there were no diScolorations at
other points of the body he Thought the
marks might Ice of some significance.
When asked On re direct examination as
to what he attributed death to, DR.. IIoton
said it might have resulted from consump-
ton He had known persons to die sud
denly Of that disease who had one lung gone.
Such was the diagnosis Of three or four
cases which came within his knowledge.
He testified that he attended Miss Knapp
when she had typhoid aud rheumatic fever
during the iOs. He last saw her profes
siunally in 1856 She had "A cough at this
time and was short Of breath She came
to him few years ago and complained Of
having a bad spell in the morning He Oh.
served "A murmur of sounds in the heart
then, the result he thought Of rheumatic
fever. She then expressed to him an APP
prehension of sudden death. which she
feared would come in one Of these bad
spells When asked to explain the signif
canoe of chills in the morning, DIR. Holton
said they indicated tuhercular consumption.
This conversation, when Jenevra said she
feared sudden death would befal her, was
six years prior to her death. a blow suf
iicient to have culored the brain would in
his opinion have fractured the skull He
should not have passed upon the cause Of
/
animation
Mrs. Martha Reed said the dead woman
passed her house every day when she at
tended the post office She had had n
cough for two years to her knowledge. IL
put her out of breath to 90 up hill Jenev
ra had told her that she felt chilly in the
morning and had to wear her shawl to
keep warm.
X A. Knight testified that at "A hearing
in Martin x Watermaus office last winter,
Ora, in his presence, requested Col Has
kins not tn excite Jenevra on her cross -ex-
animation as she was troubled with heart
disease and he was afraid it would affect
her badly.
Following the testimony of Mr.. Knight
was that of several young men who were
in and about the mill near the post office ON
the morning Of Miss knapp's death, and
who saw Dodge and had conversation with
him ia relation to "A cannon which he was
circulating "a subscription paper to buy
These men were George Wchber, Charles
Walker, RAYMOND Amudun and Bert Reed.
+ II the testimony of the last three of these
witnesses could Ice relied upon it would
seem almost impossible that Dodge could
. have gone into the office after Jenevra was
seen crossing the road with pitcher OF
water lie certainly could have been IN
| there but "A few moments. Charles Walk
er. il seems. left the blacksmith shop Of
-, Charles Ormsbee, with IA two horse team
lust as Dodge was coming toward the shop.
. From here Walker drove to the saw mill
a., which is near the shop and placed his
- team for loading. This took but "A few
minutes. The load was made up of long
y suuare timhers and slabs. Bert Reed As
> sisted Walker in loading the first stick OF
> timber Then Raymond AMAZON was call
. ed to assist in loading the remainder of the
, load, Reed going into the mill. 1t took but
/ little time for Amadon, as the young mel
, testified, to get to the load and as he anC
/ Walker were loading the second or third
, stick, Dodge came down where they were
Reed says he saw Dodge at the blacksmith
4 shnp lust after he called the Amadon boy
=, Walker and Reed both testified that while
4 they were putting on the first stick Of tim
i her they saw Jenevra cross the road with I
pitcher Of water, as was her custom IN th'
;, morning She wore her hat she recog
"a nized them, bowed, and spoke to them, an'
when Young Amadon and Walker were
. loading the second stick Dodge came down
where they were The boys testified tina
he remained here until they had FINISHED
loading. In the meantime he had con
- vsrsntion with them about the cannon ant
the subscription paper. Walker testlhe'
that he paid him fifty cents IN ten cen
peces toward his subscription OF one dolla
- ON the cannon that he must have talke'
,r with Dodge ten minutes before he slarte
a to the blacksmith shop, ana That II coul
" not have been more than ten minutes from
u his time that he learned of Jenevra'
p" death He testified further that he say
T.nuev come down the hill and meet Dodg
d as he went from the place where they ha
Is had their conversation Reed and Amado
~ both testified that from the time Amado
/ began tn assist in loading when Dodge cam
down. to the time WHEN they learned q
u .Jenevra's death, it was not more than
IL minutes The post Office is not IN SIGHT G
l. the place where the team stood and Dodge
u if he murdered Jenevra, must have done
N either lust before the boys saw HIM con
re- ING down where the team stood or Just al
IT, ter he left them. This would leave III
briefest space Of time for INN !" go mn
III tbe Office and kill her and place the body
the position as found.
it. Mr. Martin took the stand Saturday fore
~ unnn and testified that DR., ketrhum WI
!. expected To have testified in the case bl
x was unable To come on account OF anotht
nj important engagement. lie hau harul
of come down, however, when the doct'
,s' made his appearance
f. DIR. Ketchums testimony corroboraIe
'e- that of Drs Conland, Breck and Holtol
II, He considered it very difficult to dlstinguls
et ecehomosis produced 10y bruises from thi
produced by putreiacton' lie th"ue'
tn lint the marks found upon Miss Knapp
ry body we're caused by putrelartion.. II
G. marx ON the side of the head might be Il
ID. resi- Of pressure, violence or post morte
Its chance Had he performed the operate
de he would have removed the brain and al
We examined the spinal cord for causes
death. lie thoug ht Miss Knapp might ha'
nd died from consumption. If blood w
er -. ~, Lra;n nj the autOnsY he won