Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-28
DID SHE POISON HIM?
Trial Of Mrs. Taylor for the Murder of
Her Husband

in that section. The prosecution relies upon
the statements of witnesses to the effect that
the woman did not live on friendly terms with
her husband. who jealous of her because
of her alleged intimacy with other men, and
particularly with farm hand named James
Dix. and the theory lie that she gave the de-
ceased strychnine in order to get him out OF
the way and to secure $4,000 insurance which
he had upon his life. Although Taylor died in
great agony he was buried without question.
but afterward. when the stories of poisoning
were whispered, the body was exhumed and the
stomach sent to Richmond where its contents
were analyze By the state chemist. He dis
covered unm stakable traces of poison and
has testified on the trial. According
to the Baltimore SIui the principal evidence
given at the trial yesterday was first that of Asa
g. Taylor, brother of the deceased, who said
that the day after his brother was buried he
went to see Virginia Taylor; found her at
Modesttown and told her that people in the
neighborhood suspected her of having poisoned
her husband. He took her 10 see DIR. Bowdoin
On the way over she said she would never con-
sent to have the body exhumed. and that if she
could prevent it. it should not be done. Witness
had urged her to have IT done to clear herself
OF suspicion and to get the =. 900 for which her
husbands life insured IN the knights of
Honor. Mrs. Taylor told witness that it had
only cost her husband S11 to join the order
and that she would rather lose the 50 900 than
have her husbands body taken up. After Dr.
Bowdoin told her that he could not tell posi-
lively whether her husband had died from
strychnine. she consented to have the body
taken up and an autopsy held. She did not APP
pear to the witness to be grieving much over
the loss of her husband. Witness had never
visited his brothers house after his marriage
to the prisoner, but was on friendly terms with
him. Witness heard much talk in the neigh
borhood about the prisoner being the cause of
his brothers death. and he took steps to have
post norton held.
VIM. Northam swore he was asked by Mrs
Taylor to see that her husband was securely
put away, and Vim. Petit testified to having
visited the prisoner in Jail. who asked him
where Jim Dix was, and TO tell him to save his
money. he was the only one to whom she
could look when she got out of jail
The first witness for the defense was Miss
Eliza Gardner. an elderly woman, and aunt of
the accused who had lived several years as
domestic iii Iaylor's house. She stated that
she heard the deceased say some time last fall
he intended to get poison from Temperance
vile TO kill rats with. When cross-examined
she became very nervous. She admitted that
she had had trouble with Taylor's wife and
the farm hands On one occasion she
and Mr.. Taylor had fracas because
James Dix did not have warm food
for breakfast. At another Mrs. Taylor hustled
her out of the door and told her she had better
lind home elsewhere. Her peculiar ways
emphatic gestures and odd sayings created
much merriment in the courtroom. As she
iclt the eltlC dutI tSSlllR lDt commonwealth :
attorney, Miss Gardner said: Judge. l am
tired of you. Good by. and am going to leave
YOU She missed her way out, wandered into
the bar and got tangled up among the lawyers.
but vas finally extricated by the sheriff and
taken cut.
John W. Colonna. whose sister is the wife of
Mrs. Taylors brother. said he had heard Tay-
Tor say about the first of last December that he
had been using strychnine TO kill rats. He be-
came much confused on crOss-exanination.
THE ACCUSED WOMAN TEsr1FIEs.
After several other witnesses had testified to
the friendly relations between the deceased and
his wife. Mrs. Virginia Taylor. the accused
woman. was placed on the stand As she rose
from her seat in the bar and walked to the wit
ness-bOx every eye in the building was directed
to her. She was clad in deep mourning. and
showed remarkable composure under the try
ing ordeal. She gave a minute account of her
husbands illness. how she found him sitting at
the table on Wednesday. December ID, with his
head III his hands. complaining of pains inside
and III his back. That night. just before going
to bed. he took glass Of whisky, and how
she WAS aroused about 10 o'clock by his
jumping or jerking in his sleep. She
related how the next morning, when
several of the neighbOrs were there helping
about killing the hogs. she went in the house
and found him in another spasm and tried to
give him some medicine the doctor had left
but could not. She gave an account of his
final attack on the following Saturday night,
when, after she had gone upstairs to bed, her
husband called to her and told her he was feel
ing uneasy. She went down in her night
clothes and got sugar from the kitchen and
sweetened the hop-drops left by the doctor
and gave il to her husband. She gave a vivid
account of how the fatal spasm came on. She
left her husband in charge of Vim. Parks and
James Dix. and taking with her her little ten
year old boy went out in the dark night TO
secure help from her neighbors. returning Just
after her husband had expired. She con-
k-A.z
nine. but said her husband had re-
quested her to get it. She was not in trouble
when she bought the strychnine. as stated
by Mr. Oldham, but was trying TO recall the
name Of some medicine which she had prom
ised to get for her old aunt. She had not been
indifferent to her husband during his illness
The doctors had said that he was in no danger
and she was busy at the time with work that
could not be neglected. and neigbors were with
him all the time. She said had given her hus-
band no medicine except that left by Dr. Bow
den. She had. however. given him some house.
hold panacea Just after his first attack and had
given him whisky several times during his ill
ness. II she had given him anv poison she
didn't know it, She had handed the strychnine
TO her husband. who had used some of it to
kill rats, but could not tell what be had done
with the rest OF 1t. She had opposed the
disinterment of her husbands BODY
because she knew his wishes in
the matter. Had heard him say he would not
allow one of his family to be cut up BY the doc
tors. When DR.. Bowdoin explained it to her
and informed her that the law would not re-
gard her wishes in the matter she consented to
the post-morten. She confessed that she had
kissed Jim Dix several times and sat on his
knee, but said her husband knew all about it,
and did the same thing with both married and
single women She Indignantly denied that
she had ever been guilty of any immoral con-
duct with Jim Dix. She had Rugged and kissed
several of the men who mad testified against
her, giving their names. and said that il was a
kissing neighborhood. She denied ever having
said that she hoped her husband would never
come back from his fishing expedition in
Gargatha Bay. Said Oliver Lucas had never
told her not to kill her husband
nor did she hide any barrels of -four or other
property to keep it from being sold. She and
her husband had never had any serious trouble;
he had never charged her with infdeiity, but
had told her to be careful or else people might
talk about her and Dix. Said she had never
sent DIX word to save his money to support her
when she got out of jail. In fact she contra
dicted most of the damaging statements of
every witness brought forward by the prose-
eution- Her answers were prompt and fire.
quently amusing. She was subjected to a
long and rigid cross-examination with
out having any portion of her testimony
shaken. Considering the fact that she
10 an uneducated woman. unable TO read
or write, and that she was never before
in courtroom, her testimony was yerv re-
Ian