The Indianapolis journal., 1890-10-21
MR.PETTIT'S GRIEF WAS GAY
Mrs. Emma Hawthorne Tells of His Queer
Actions Just After His Wife's Death.
His Relations with Mrs. Whitehead at Camp
Meeting-More of DR.. Yesger-Defense
Claims that the Jury Is Invalidated.
special to the Indianapolis Journal.

CRAwFORDsvILLE, Ind. Oct. 20.-This
morning at 10 o'clock, the Petit murder
trial was again taken up. aud the defense
took in hand DR.. j. w. Yeager, who has al
ready been on the witness-stand almost
two days, and by whose evidence the court
decided that a corpus delicti was estab-
lished. 1t is said the defense claims to be
in possession of proof, which has been as
certained within the past two days, that
one of the jurors made the remark some
time ago that if "he got on the Petit jury
he would hang the jury year but what he
would hang Petit" If verdict is re-
turned against Petit the establishment of
this conversation would be good grounds
for setting aside the verdict and motion
for new trial.
DR.. Yeager has testified that either on
Sunday or Monday of the days in question,
hearing a glass fall upon the floor in the
hall of Pettit's house, he looked around and
saw that Petit and Mrs. Whitehead were
alone in the hall, standing close together,
and Petit recovering himself as if he had
fallen against Mrs. Whitehead. The suppo-
stion intended to be conveyed was that they
were whispering to each other, and that
the glass had been knoc4ed to the
floor and broken. The State asked
DIR. Yeager one more question:
before the defense began. Yeager said
Petit came to his Office after the Methodist
conference at Brazil, in September 1882
and said he had Withdrawn under COM
piaint. and the reason he did not want sn
investigation was because 1t would involve
another person, whom he did not name.
In the re-cross-eXamination the effect of
poisons was again asked and the State OBJ
jected, but this was 0verruled. Much time
was spent in going over this subject again,
and the witness was again closely Ques-
toned upon his treatment of the case, with
out. however. developing anything new of
Importance.
When the body of Mrs Petit was shipped
to New York no certificate of death was
placed on the coffin by Yeager, but the
latter did sign certificate handed him by
the undertaken to the effect that death was
not the result of contagious disease. Do
not remember that he certified that she
had malarial poisoning, and did not think
the disease was named.
The State then resumed control of DIR.
Yeager, and asked few questions Yeager
first mentioned the matter about the
stomach of Mrs. Petit to Petit coming
home from West Peint. Then the defense
Mrs. Letita MehaIry was at Pettit's house
on Monday afternoon. but not at any other
time during the illness of Mrs. Petit until
after death. The witness then pointed out
on map the different rooms of Pettit's
house. To this the defense objected. and
filed exceptions. The witness was much
inclined to impart gratuitOus information
about the relations of Mr.. Petit and Mrs
Whitehead, and was difficult to control.
What she did tell on this subject was large
ly OH the chops and tomatO-sauce" order,
and most of her evidence was stricken out
as irrelevant by order of the court.
The next witness was Mrs. Emma Haw-
thorne, who was there Sunday. Monday
afternoon and evening. and Tuesday night,
and told about the same story that has
been told about Mrs. Pettit's illness. Tues
day night she had cOnvulsions almost every
half hour until midnight and chloroform
was used for relief. Petit had supervision
of the giving of the medicine. This night
and afterward witness heard voice in the
bedroom that sounded like Pettit's. She
took no strychnine to the house nor
gave any to Mrs. Petit. Thursday
morning Mrs; Whitehead went up
at the instance of Petit, who came down
stairs just before Mrs. Whitehead did. after
this bath. A week after the death of Mrs.
Petit she saw Petit and Mrs. Whitehead
at the Battle e-ground camp-meeting. One
meeting. she found them there alone, and
Petit said he could not bear to 60 to the
meeting because of his wife's fondness for
the service. The next night when she re-
tired. Petit and Mrs. Whitehead were on
the porch. She was suspicious of their ac-
tions and listened and was rewarded
by hearing noise down stairs
that confirmed her suspicious. Shortly
after hearing this noise aud near midnight
Mrs. Whitehead came upstairs to her bed,
which was in the same room where the
witness slept. In the morning Petit came
upstairs before they were up and accused
Mrs. Whitehead of hugging her pillow and
she said she had nothing else to hug. He
replied that she could get something else.
and she said she intended to. The conver-
sation grew even more pointed before he
went down stairs. The witness Iemon-
strated several times with Petit about his
actions, but he said it was all gossip At
the time all this occurred Mrs. Petit had
been dead not two weeks. Petit denied
all illegal intimacy with Mrs. Whitehead,
but the witness told him that she knew
better, to which he made no reply.