The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1890-09-24
A REMARKABLE TRIAL.
A MlSTRlA- IN THE FAMOUS CHES-
TERFiELD POISONING CASE.

Jacobs on Trial for Administering
Strychninc to Her rHusband--The Details
of the Case.
CHESTERFIELD, Sept. ia most re.
markable poisoning case has just been
brought to trial in this county. 1t was
the case of the State against Mary A.
johnson and David j. Jacobs, who are
charged with wilfully, feloniously and
maliciously administering poison to
William H. Johnson, the husband of
Mary, on the 22d of August. The case
consumed two whole days and was full
of the most revolving developments,
and, contrary to general expectation,
resulted in a mistrial, the jury standing
two for acquittal and ten for conyic-
tion. Jacobss wife and daughter and
the sons of the dead man were the
principal witnesses. Jacobs is any
thing but a handsome man. is tall, thin
and apparently about fifty years old.
Mary Johnson has seen some thirty,
summers, and isnot prepossessing by
large majority. Itwas shown during
the trial that criminal intimacy ex-
listed between the pair, notwithstand-
ing they went from house to house
holding prayer meetings.
johnson and Jacobs were neighbors,
and it seems that Jacobs's wife was
! jealous of her husband and Mary John
son, and Johnson was jealous of his
wife and Jacobs. Jacobs visited the
Johnsons daily, and frequently carried
JohnSon's wife to and from Sunday
School in his buggy, allowing his own
wife and children to walk. Johnson
was heard to remark that if Jacobs did
not stop visiting his house there would
be trouble, and it is said that Jacobs
cursed and abused the deceased.
On the 22d Of August Jacobs carried
a box Of snuff to Mary and chad some
secret talk" johnson, who was man
about 60 years of age, ate a hearty sup
! pCL UlOU oAO lCUIlC0 lUOQU .
o'clock in his usual good health, with
the exception of a bad cold. His wife
testified that she reminded him that he
had not taken some quinine which he
had promised her that morning to take,
and that she then brought the pill, or
capsule; and he swallowed it. Shortly
after retiring the household were
aroused by johnson, who had become
suddenly and violently i'll. The alarm
was given and one of his sons was dis
patched for Jacobs, who was met COM
ing and told by the boy that his father
was mighty bad Off" Jacobs never
stopped to ask one of the most natural
questions in the world: What was the
matter
Johnson complained Of the bitter
Quinine and said that his throat was
parched. He called for water all the
time and asked for something to make
him vomit, but nothing was given. His
little S9l wanted to 60 for doctor but
was tod by those attending his father
that doctor could do no good" and
none was sent for. The sick man grew
worse and CONFUSION after convulsion
followed; his limbs were drawn, the
paroxvsms became longer and more VIC
lent, his teeth clenched in sardonic
grin, and at a. m. the end came.
Jacobs was the first person to arrive
on the scene, and he and Mary took
their places at the bedside of the sick
man and watched, whispered and gave
their patient water. At first Mary, the
wife, seemed to be much distressed, but
soon became calm. After Johnson's
death, Jacobs took charge of the body
and made all the arrangements for the
funeral, etc.
Some of the neighbors were not sat-
isfied at the suddenness of Johnson's
death, and demanded that an inquest
should be held. An investigation was
held and Jacobs's daughter testified
that she found bottle Of white pow
der in her fathers trunk, who, when
called upon the second time, admitted
that he had kept strychnine for twenty
years to kill Crows. DR.. Rutledge e1-
amined the body and declared that
death had been caused by strychnine
poison.
Before and after the inquest Jacobs
and Mary met and held several "secret
talks" Mary-MrS. johnson was heard
to say that it must have been the pill
that killed her husband, and that if she
was sent to the penitentlary she would
burn everything before her husbands
folks should have them.
Jacobs and Mary were arrested, and
While being conveyed to Jail asked that
they be allowed to ride in the same
buggy, but the request was refused.
Jacobs takes the matter very lightly
and is inclined to joke over the affair.
He believes in charms ard exhibits
black cats foot, the picture # a woman
and wreath OF black hair. When ask
cd by the Solicitor who gave him the
wreath and picture, he said he could
rot remember the name. It was OBJ.
served that AIary's hair had been shin
gled, and was Of the same color as that
shown by Jacobs.
The defendants denied all improper
relations and said that no poison had
been given, and that nothing but qui-
nine had been administered and that
With no criminal intent.
Some OF the powder found in Jacobs
trunk by his wife and daughter was
tested and proved to be strychnine and
the quinine capsules found at John
sons were also tested and found to be
all right.
The theory of the State was that
Jacobs furnished the strychnine and
that Johnson's wife, Mary. put some OF
it in one of the quinine capsules and
administered it as medicine.
The jury was out about two hours,
but falling to agree, the Judge ordered
a mlstrial and the prisoners we're COM
mitted to jail.
Boy. Fight Duel
berlin, Sept. ia desperate duel
with rapiers between two schoolboys oc-
Cured here yesterday. The principals,
Oscar Lesch, fourteen, and Hans Don:
ner, sixteen, are members of the Latin